This article from The Guardian is not current, but it’s relevant. It’s the story of a town in Japan whose circumstances are familiar there and may sound familiar to many of you – losing population, low birthrates, and all of the ramifications that can have on the future of the local economy. It’s also the story of the citizens who have consistently committed over two decades to priorities they knew would take some time to bear fruit. And it’s working.Years ago, it was common to hear about how Japanese companies planned for success that would be sustainable over decades as a contrast and sometimes criticism of American companies who tended to focus on annual or even quarterly results no matter the long-term sacrifices.
Relying on inbound migration to boost your workforce, and putting energy into accelerating that flow, has certainly become a key part of many economic development programs of work. Competition is high, foreign immigration can be complicated, and people who move in for a job or to go to school can just as easily move out. But on the community development side, the “grow your own” piece of the work that is about encouraging both family formation and “stickiness”, simply providing people with a directory of private sector services and hoping for the best is not what I would call best practices.
Here are links to some more coverage you may find interesting: