It's Time to Focus on the Local
I wanna talk about small towns, local systems, and human scale design.
Hey there everyone, my name is Paul Cloutier. I work in a small town in rural south east Kansas, called Humboldt. It’s about 2000 people and is from the 1850s. I helped found an organization called A Bolder Humboldt and we are working to restart the economic engine here. We’re fixing up old buildings, starting businesses, helping other start businesses and generally doing what we can to make the town we want to live in.
This newsletter will not only be about Humboldt, it will be about small towns in general and human scale design. How to make local economies that work and are regenerative. I write about stuff here in town as well as other towns doing it, about architecture, planning, local politics, restoration and maintenance, and just whatever seems related to working on community building. I’m also a city council member in Humboldt and help out with state level politics, so local government and how cities and counties work is a big interest around here.
So, follow along and feel free to respond back to any emails I send out 1 a week or 2 to let me know what you’re thinking.
In the meantime, tell your friends!