"The growth is in the person, not the place."

I thought of this quote the other day, as I was researching workforce development programs at community colleges for my summer internship. The quote comes from Melvin, a community college student we met at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville. His was one of the most inspiring stories we heard during our time in Southside.

Melvin grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, eldest child of a single mother. He told us about succumbing to the temptations of the street early in life, fathering children and getting involved in drugs. After a stint in jail, and with his thirtieth birthday approaching, Melvin decided he needed to do something to turn his life around; he was determined to be a father to his children in a way his never was. He got a job driving a truck cross-country to pay his child support and keep his kids on the right path.

Melvin continued to better himself by moving south from New York to Martinsville, to go to Patrick Henry. He decided to relocate to Martinsville because he liked the people, and he thought the city was a place where he could earn a second chance. He enrolled at Partick Henry, got a job in the Athletic Department, and is now student body president. He hopes to get a job working at a community college so that he can help others like himself, looking for second chances.

Melvin's story drove home a few key points for me about the challenge of redevelopment in a place like Southside. First, the most important resource Martinsville has is the people who live there, who love the community and want make it better. Outside money can be a bridge to redevelopment, but truly revitalizing communities will need people to cross that bridge. Second, buildings are not a panacea to blight -- a shimmering downtown will not save Martinsville. Only deep investments in human capital, education, and healthcare can transform neighborhoods. And, finally, in order to get it's second chance, Martinsville needs to make it easier for its people to pursue their own second chances. The programs described by Dr. Angeline Godwin, president of Patrick Henry, are a great first step toward that goal. The community college's investment in the New College Institute, programs in advanced mechanics, and a new childcare center on campus for students will help Martinsville in it's transition to the new economy.

Can the hipsters save us?

One of the enduring themes of our trip was that of place-based development. One of our trip leaders describes this as “improving quality of life for folks where they are”. The directors of research centers, incubators, and businesses we are meeting with talk about it as “making Virginia a great place to live first and to work second”. A town planner described the competing challenges of development and gentrification as determining whether “the hipsters are going to save us”.

This challenge is the central research concern of economists like Elizabeth Currid, Ed Glaser and Richard Florida. Our trip demonstrated that many of the same arguments that are made about arts and culture as a driving force in the economic development of large cities also apply in smaller centers. In her book about place-based creative economies, The Warhol Economy, Elizabeth Currid argues forcefully that government policy plays an essential role in attracting or repelling cultural producers. Thoughtful policy-making (whether zoning, permitting or tax credits) can build vibrant and dynamic cultural zones. The first step is recognising that art and culture generate real growth and jobs. The role of governments, as Currid argues, is to do everything they can to leverage culture: as a tourist attraction, an amenity and as a job and wealth generator.

Against that backdrop, my three “place-based” lessons from the trip are:

1.  Physical place matters

The most successful community development strategies leverage the existing physical, cultural and human assets of a location. We were lucky enough to hear from Pete Eschelman about using Roanoke’s physical environs to design America’s toughest marathon (sidenote: it continues to amaze me that people will pay good money to be exhausted, hungry and in need of a shower. Most of my friendship with Nate Betcher has involved recognising how very little we have in common).

We also visited the gorgeous mixed-use warehouse district of Danville, which puts converted buildings in many major cities to shame. Finally, we were privileged to share in the story of the development of FloydFest and the growth of Floyd as one of the destination locations for those passionate about the American music scene.

2. Meaning-making matters

Arts and culture help people and communities make sense of themselves and their place in the world. They are means to feel heard, and included. Events like FloydFest put communities on the map, and give them a positive story to tell the world.

3. Community superheroes matter, but they aren’t enough

On our travels, we were grateful to be welcomed into the homes and workplaces of many social entrepreneurs – people at the very heart of a town or city’s revitalisation. It would be easy to characterise these powerful indviduals as the single catalyst for change in moribund economic landscapes. But the reality, of course, is more complex. Each of these individuals acknowledged that their own success was linked to community support, dedicated and responsive government officials and a manageable regulatory environment.

The arts and cultures of our cities and towns matter. They tell us who we are and whisper about what we might become. They enrich our communities in every sense. Currid again: "Creative industries require a different type of policy-making that cultivates the social world in which art and culture thrive." Some of the communities of Southside it appears, are well on the way.