Community

Shrink street widths. Increase parking. Add bike lanes and sidewalks.

"They can’t believe how many people have registered," she noted. "There are 17 people coming from Troy, Montana, alone. . . Troy, Montana!"

"The question that people need to ask themselves _ and their community leaders _ is, ‘Is my community a good place to grow old?’" she said. Steps to make it so, she added, "will make the community a better place, not just for the elderly, but for all."

Experts will work with several partners and a selected town over 18-24 months to help it "explore new growth strategies and fully engage local residents, by combining the best elements of New England town meetings with ground breaking new technologies."

The term “comprehensive plan” means the vision of what the community wants to become and the steps needed to meet that goal.

"The process created a public consensus that crossed political and interest group lines," says Dickson. "We proved that high density development is good for the environment and good for business."

Americans are more likely now than in the past to pack up and leave a community if they sense it’s declining.

The next time you’re feeling a bit under the weather and need some medical advice, don’t call a doctor.

Call a real estate developer.

"We knew it was coming. The pity is we didn’t do anything about it."

he Vision Vessel, though, is designed to rocket democratic discourse into the podcasting age by fusing racy design and dirt-cheap technology.