What It Takes To Revitalize A Small Town

Involved and Excited Community Members

Revitalizing a sleepy community takes a village! One of the most important steps in the revitalization process is to gather community members together who are excited about the prospect of the town growing and becoming a vibrant hub of activity. That includes bringing together residents, business owners, and community leaders in discussions to understand their ideas, goals, and concerns. 

In Weldon, North Carolina, residents are encouraged to submit ideas for projects and events through the “Weldon in Action” website. This is a great place to start for residents and visitors who may not have the time to devote to meetings and get-togethers but would still like to make an impact!  

Weldon In Action is hosting the next in-person discussion in January (the third Thursday at 5:30 PM). We’d love for you to come with ideas and help us create an action plan! 

Interesting and Fun Opportunities

Once you’ve begun discussions with key players about revitalizing your small town, it’s worth sitting down to hash out exactly what makes your little town so special. The interesting and fun opportunities you come up with are the backbone of what will bring new life into your community. These opportunities don’t have to just be activities that already exist in your community, they can also be ideas for new, fun adventures in town! 

For example, Weldon features an aqueduct that was part of the remarkable engineering feat in the early 1800s to construct the Roanoke Canal. What ideas do community members have to attract tourists and locals alike to admire this interesting piece of history? Currently, efforts are underway to create a 2.5 mile pedestrian and biking loop of the canal!  

A Commitment to Preservation

Oftentimes, a community can lose its attractiveness when inroads are made to constantly build towards the future without respecting the history of the past. For example, Weldon has struggled to hang on to its unique charm after the building of the north-south interstate highway and emergence of large commercial stores along the main roads. Fortunately, even with these modernizations, Weldon still has a lot of unique beauty to share!

Let’s show off what our small town of Weldon has to offer! 

Support for Local Businesses

Local businesses can do wonders for giving a community a warm and unique small town feel! Finding ways to promote shoppers to buy local is an important part of revitalizing a small town. This includes small actions, like sharing social media posts of local businesses, to larger campaigns, like organizing events for Small Business Saturday.

We’d welcome your ideas on how we can better support the local businesses of Weldon too!