352 Ecological Restoration and Design
Box 18.2 Holistic self-development
In Blue Mound, Illinois, the notion of team effort is well understood. In the early
1980s, leaders in the community realized that they had to make some changes in
order to better their economy. This would require extensive planning to implement
all of the recommendations made for improving the community, which most towns
would find difficult, if not impossible. In Blue Mound, the townspeople believed that
revitalizing the town did not have to depend on financial assistance; it could be
accomplished through cooperation and hard work.In many small towns around the country, Main Street has deteriorated and in some
cases disappeared. If Blue Mound did not make significant strides to bring new busi-
ness into town, they would be facing a loss of their downtown. Leaders in Blue
Mound soon realized that financial assistance would have to come from local resi-
dents; they could not rely on state and federal governments. Local leaders came
together and devised a plan of action, sending out more than 60 letters to residents
and businesses in the community to invite them to a town meeting to discuss the
issues. Representatives from a local community college were also invited to partici-
pate in the discussion, which proved to be advantageous because the college had
just started working with the University of Illinois–Champaign-Urbana on ways to
help small communities improve their local economies.The town meeting proved successful, and it led to several other meetings with the
University of Illinois, which became interested in the project of revitalizing Blue
Mound. The university provided a team of graduate students to help the village cre-
ate a development programme that would extend through the year 2000. The village
invested $1500, and the university absorbed the other costs. By 1983, the Blue Mound
Development Corporation (BMDC) had been formed as part of the comprehensive
plan that the university had designed for the community. A vision statement was
formed, and numerous recommendations were laid out for the town to follow, includ-
ing ‘designing appropriate land use ordinances, expanding public services, improving
local business and economic climate, upgrading the appearance of the downtown,
improving housing and social services and strengthening the village financial condi-
tion’ (Kline, 2000, p92). This farming community was able to support retail businesses
and new housing, and the residents agreed that they needed to improve these ele-
ments of the town in order to attract new people to the community.The BMDC, made up of seven people, had an annual budget of less than $1000;
however, their vision did not include using money for community development. They
wanted to invest people into the project so that all of the residents were part of the
town’s progress, and it worked. Some of their early attempts to improve businesses
in the community backfired; for example, they helped the local metal-making com-
pany expand, but after it did, it moved to a bigger city. However, most ventures were
a success. The local newspaper relocated to a new, larger building on Main Street
after changing ownership in 1986, and after renovating its space, it had room for
other businesses to move into the building. A barbershop, an attorney’s office, and
a golf pro shop moved into the extra space and set up their businesses. Soon after,
several other businesses began moving into the downtown area, including entrepre-
neurs in the area.