Lancaster City Renewal Driven by Stores Like Re:Purpose

Re:Purpose Thrift Store

Last night I found a store in downtown Lancaster that exemplifies the energy that is renewing the city. It is called Re:Purpose and it calls itself an “upscale thrift store.” Their formula is to buy the choicest second hand clothes, merchandise them in a smart way and sell most items for under $10. The effect is an appealing collection of clothes at rock bottom prices offered in a cool environment. It is located in the new artMARKET at Building Character at 342 N. Queen St.

Flyfishing and Craft-Brewed Ale

Elk Creek Copper Ale

How much can craft-brewed ale improve a flyfishing trip? A lot. It can improve a tired Pennsylvania town, too.

Penn’s Creek runs out of a cave in Center County, Pennsylvania and its upper reaches snake their way through steep, forested hills east towards the Susquehanna River. It is home to large brown trout and it is my favorite place to fly fish, especially in October. In October, the fish are active in the cool water and late afternoon sun stimulates hatches of caddis flies which the brown trout rise to eat. The hills are bright orange and the sky can be the deepest blue.

Lancaster Pennsylvania: Rise of the Creative Class?

Mural on East Grant Street

Richard Florida, in his book “Rise of the Creative Class,” says that “access to talented and creative people is to modern business what access to coal and iron ore was to steel making.” He goes on to argue that place is critical in attracting creative people- they want to live in places with a high quality of life, and where they live, business will follow. Is Lancaster, Pennsylvania one of those places?

Fig: Advertising with a Social Conscious

Fig

In the 15 years that I’ve lived in Lancaster City (PA), the downtown has been transformed from a dull and disappointing city-of-yesterday into a vibrant, cultural hub. A major factor in this transition has been the growing art scene. And interestingly, with the growth of art, has come the growth of business. A symptom of this, and perhaps even a cause, is Fig.

Detroit: Buy a Home for $1,000

House in Detroit

I’m in Detroit on business. Over dinner my host told me that it is possible to buy a home in metro Detroit for $1,000! When I was incredulous, he insisted its true. He has toured several homes for sale at this price.

I researched the matter and found evidence to support this. Unemployment in Detroit is now at 14.9%. The median prices of homes sold in Detroit in June is $56,000- one year ago it was $103,000 and the national average is about $170,000. 

Simple Technology to Build Community

How can technology build community? Here are two examples.

List Serve Connects Middlebury College Lacrosse Alumni

Many a spring morning I open my e-mail in box to find a list of subject lines that looks something like this:

Midd 2. Amherst 1

Midd 4. Amherst 3

Midd 5 Amherst 5!

Midd wins! 6-5

What is it? It’s a series of messages delivered to the Middlebury College Lacrosse Alumni listserv- an e-mail list subscribed to by a bunch of people who played lacrosse at Middlebury and now want to stay in touch, catch up and hear minute by minute updates from someone sitting in the stands of the game against Amherst furiously typing into their Blackberry. It is simply great fun to get these messages, and even more fun to engage in the kind of back- and-forth dialoge that last happened in person sitting in the locker room in Middlebury Vermont 20 years ago. The result? A community sticks together over many years.

Concerned Neighbors Linked by Google Groups

After a neighbor was mugged near my house, a group of neighbors met and decided to work together to make a difference. Work began to improve lighting, increase visibility, get more frequent police patrols and generally stay in touch. How best to do this? Google Groups provided a great solution. We set up a Google Group (in minutes), promoted it, and now it has become the communciations hub for the neighborhood. People post news, check for updates, and share documents.  Try it out for yourself. http://groups.google.com/

Lancaster Stock Exchange: Community Builder?

My friend from squash, Trexler Proffitt, who is also a Professor of Organization Studies at Franklin and Marshall College has proposed a Lancaster Stock Exchange. When I heard the idea, my first response was, “Huhhh?” But there may be something here.

Think about the rationale for the idea (according to Trex): There is entrepreneurship in the Lancaster area and entrepreneurs need capital. There are investors who would like to fund profitable ventures in this area- some who are particularly interested in community building ventures. Small enterprises (above $250k but less than $10M) are under served by traditional methods of procuring capital. They are neither “micro enterprises” nor are they large enough to raise capital through larger exchanges. Hence, Wall Street meets Water Street!

Currently the idea is in the concept stage, but knowing Trex, stay tuned for more.