Every town has its story — the names and dates, the reasons for its founding and growth, and sometimes the causes of its decline. But beneath those standard histories, every town has another origin story. And that one always starts with the landscape. A confluence of rivers, the sheltering flank of a mountain, mineral deposits or rich timber or good grassland — there was something in the nature of the place that made people stop to camp, and then come to settle.
A railroad might arrive later, then a highway, and the town might prosper and grow. But things evolve. Economies change, trains stop running, young people move away, downtowns lose vitality. That’s when we’re called in, to help communities rethink, and redesign, their futures.
And we look first to the history, and to the land itself. We believe the solution to a small town’s challenge is inherent in the place.
