Daily Blog: Big Opportunity for Small Towns

The title of the article was “The Next Small Thing.”

Consider the following observations from Travel and Leisure’s editor-at-large, Peter Jon Lindberg, in the May 2009 issue, p. 72:

• “Downsizing is the order of the day.”

• “If any trend has defined the recent trajectory of travel – and of consumer culture in general – it is the cult of the very small.”

• “While most Americans still supersize anything they can, a determined (and increasingly influential) minority seeks refuge in a modest scale.”

• “Connoisseurs will gravitate to small things even if they’re inconvenient – especially if they’re inconvenient.”

• “In Europe tiny is not a choice or a value; it’s a way of life.”

• “. . . fortunately for sellers, people will pay a lot more for something there’s less of.”

• “. . . how much of the appeal of undersize things is about the promise of quality, authenticity, intimacy, and a personal touch . . .?

Doesn’t this line of thinking make an optimistic case for the innovative leaders in the “small” cities of America?