It has been almost a year to this date since  I have  blogged.  In that time we have seen an explosion in the so-called social media  arena (who thought it could get any more expansive?) and the field of community economic development is certainly no exception.

I stopped blogging because I felt there were many great blogs relative to economic development dotting the landscape.  For example, Richard Florida's blog at www.creativeclass.com is superb as is CEOS FOR CITIES blog.  Of course the gold standard remains PLANETIZEN at www.planetizen.com.   Then there are the literally dozens of bloggers who cover specialized beats on every topic from transportation to historic preservation.   Moreover, there are some simply amazing blogs that cover a specific geographic area or city.

Frankly, I also stopped blogging because I have more work than I can handle as a community economic development consultant and as a consultant on downtown and neighborhood entrepreneurship.  IMoreover, I have added consulting on retail incubators to my repertoire so time has been scarce. 

However I am back and have found my niche-- I think.  I want to write for the community economic development practitioner.  Of course I will  address one of my favorite topics which is downtown and neighborhood  entrepreneurship--but I do not plan to limit myself to that area alone.  I have another blog that I have allowed to "dehydrate" over the last year--that can be found at www.retailincubation.com .  The topic covered there is painfully obvious.  I plan to revive that very soon.  With the interest in retail incubation increasing, my hope is that blog can begin to serve as a clearinghouse of sorts relative to that topic.

This initial piece will be brief, but it is something that I have been giving some thought to over the last few months.  That is--too many blogs simply are written to showcase the writer or to "parade about" technical knowledge that, frankly,  very few people are interested in.   They are vanity blogs if you will--and believe me, they do not resonate with people engaged in the practice of community economic development.  Yes there are exceptions, I cited a few above and there are others.

However, as I have traveled from one end of this country to the other over the last year I have been startled to learn that few economic development practitioners(or downtown/neighborhood revitalization people) actually read these blogs.   Too many blogs are pedantic and written for the academic or for the person so immersed in economic development or urban planning theory that they have nothing better to do than prattle on about this or that.  Frankly, I think many of these blogggers are frustrated academics who have never actually run an economic development agency or a community development agency(I have).  

There is a thirst for practical information for the person trying to revitalize a neighborhood or bring back a sense of community or save their downtown.   Citing some arcane textbook or some academic article simply does not help those folks.  If you are running a CDC in a tough part of town--the last thing you need is a link to an article on planning theory.  You want practical advice--and that is what I plan to offer.

 I  happen to read those textbooks and arcane articles, but because I harbor that interest doesn't mean most people do.  So over the next few months, you will get practical advice on community economic development.  Best......
Chuck

www.economicvisions.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.retailincubation.com