30's and younger are key to reinvigorating America's towns [video]

US towns and rural areas have more power now in attracting new residents and keeping current residents than they have in decades.

Throughout the US, these areas have been losing the fight against brain drain, but changes in technology and lifestyle preferences are giving power back to communities and making them less dependent on traditional economic development and large companies.

With the working world becoming much more mobile and many people being able to work remotely, it's easier for people to live wherever they want. It's easier than ever for young people, especially, to turn an idea into a digital business, and also pretty easy for anyone with a good idea to start a business that can win customers throughout the world.

People in their 30's and younger are rejecting the life their parents chose – the vanilla existence in a subdivision in a bedroom community with no character. They long for authenticity and are attracted to nostalgia. They also tend to reject and not trust many larger companies.

The result? Many people are beginning to choose where they live based on lifestyle choices rather than jobs.

The evidence is all around you, from eating local to craft brewing. It's no coincidence that both of these economic movements wouldn't have been sustainable 20 years ago when companies had to be large to compete.

I believe that people in this age group are going to be the salvation of small towns and rural America.

What are you doing to attract them? More importantly, what are you doing to keep young people who are already living in your community from moving away? From incentives to initiatives, you need to get going.

We recently visited Salem, New Jersey, to tour the city for a Main Street Salem project kickoff and were heartened by what we saw. For example, there are currently 3 community gardens in the city. Whereas most would look at such projects as a nice hobby for some residents, Main Street Salem recognizes that it provides a number of valuable benefits:

• Teaching people to garden helps them become more self sufficient and builds community.
• Access to fresh foods improves nutrition.
• Families are gardening together, strengthening their bonds and giving them something in common.
• Exposure to foods people have never eaten encourages them to try things they otherwise wouldn't.
• Gardening helps people better understand nature and biology, and helps youth consider careers they may not have considered or even known of.
• The ability to grow their own foods is encouraging some citizens to pursue businesses in the food industry.

I had the opportunity to speak with two teenagers who were working in one of the gardens the day we toured, and got a bit of our conversation on video (watch below). There aren't many places you can go that teenagers want to talk to an adult stranger about what they're doing, but the Olive Street Community Garden is one.

As an economic developer, Main Street promoter, entrepreneur, Master Gardener, and Mom, I was encouraged by this trip on many levels.

What are you doing to help give young people a reason to want to live in your town, and to encourage them to dream? Let me know in the comments and we might just want to do a feature article about your efforts.