"In areas like ours, everything we've ever had we fought for. It wasn't just handed to us," says Anna Hutchison, a community activist and one of the founders of the North Edinburgh Social History Group. For decades, Anna tells the author, the community has had to struggle for the basic amenities others in the city take for granted,…

This case involves a small town in the southwestern United States. Background descriptions of the community and school are provided, including historical and demographic information. As the community and school transition from a small ranching town into a bedroom community for the large city nearby, tensions related to race and wealth erupt in a…

The purpose of this paper is to provide an alternative operationalization of amenities that does not privilege certain kinds of natural resources and climatic conditions and that can be used for assessing the quality of life in small towns. The amenity inventory presented here extends previous literature by including a broad range of amenities…

Decorah, Iowa (pop. 8,172 in 2000), is, in many ways, a typical small Midwestern community facing many of the same issues as most other areas such as a brain drain and a continuing struggle to find ways to stimulate the local economy. Perhaps the strengths and successes of the approaches used in Decorah can be attributed to its ability to identify…

In many American communities today, the methods of construction, as well as the almost exclusive orientation to the convenience of the automobile, limit the functioning and independence of the aging population, and offer little opportunity for human interaction. Sarah Susanka's "Not So Big" series of books points toward a new way of…

This study investigated the historical development of the Gage Park community in Chicago, Illinois, including its population changes, education, income, racial composition, housing and crime. The results indicate that the community, which in the past has been primarily composed of persons of German ancestry, has experienced an influx of Latino and…

How do and should students develop--emotionally, socially, intellectually, morally, and spiritually--on a college campus and, more particularly, as members of a residential learning community? What advantages does a learning community offer over the more fragmented and specialized cafeteria of courses in place on most campuses? What new structures…

Examines theoretical and conceptual issues around promoting the growth of virtual learning communities and considers issues around using communication technologies in formal and informal learning environments. Highlights include: the theoretical context of community; categories for examining virtual learning communities; emphases of virtual…

Discusses the impediments to rural information services for community development in Nigeria, including skepticism towards information, poor roads, nonchalance of government officials, and rivalries. Highlights the nature and characteristics of a community and community information needs and services; identifies four components of community…

Discusses pros and cons of "personal anthropology" as a teaching tool for university students, particularly in a small town. Reviews the social history of "city forming" and "city maintaining" processes in Oswego, NY, and illustrates how beginning undergraduates can study these processes. (CJM)

This paper describes the extent and characteristics of extension activities undertaken by the Department of Adult Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. It examines the concept of community, the university-community dichotomy, arguments on university community service, literacy development, community development activities, seminars, training…

Engelhard is a very isolated rural community in Hyde County, North Carolina, economically dependent on seafood, small scale agriculture, and logging. In the mid-1980s the agricultural crisis, the decline in seafood landings, and changes in timber industry technology contributed to rising unemployment. Several decades of declining population and…

Describes a strategy for a community development program that was to identify and connect needs and services through coordinated networks of organized citizens, businesses, agency staff, and local government. Reports that the strategy resulted in such programs as a county information service, a family life center, an interagency council, and a…

This report describes the Colorado Rural Revitalization Project (CRRP) and the participant rural communities between 1988-1991. The CRRP, established in 1988, consists of a partnership among rural Colorado communities, Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.…

Presents a case study of the integration of a community survey and a community development seminar into a total community effort. Describes the results which included the initiation of new action programs in recreation and housing, the involvement of more citizens in leadership roles, and the development of communication networks. (LRA)