Economic Decline & Hardship - Degradation of the local economy, closure of locally owned businesses, and new jobs that pay much less than old jobs - these hardships are afflicting hundreds of communities. Economic decline can arise from globalization, factory closings, robots taking jobs, damaged or depleted forests, fisheries, or crop lands, trade disputes, disaster-driven crop or livestock losses, corporate or financial predatory or monopolistic practices, abusive employers, and many other sources. Compounding these problems, state and/or federal governments may be unable or unwilling to fulfill financial commitments or historical expectations (infrastructure, health, education, disaster assistance, crop and flood insurance, safety net funding, etc.). Bankruptcy or insolvency of local governments, utility and special service districts, or schools and hospitals may result, and these in turn reinforce decline and can lead to even more institutional failures.

Loss Of Critical Facilities & Services - Many communities are suffering the closure of critical facilities (schools, hospitals, medical clinics, government branch offices such as post offices, vehicle license offices, fire, police and sheriff stations, etc.). Loss of nearby health care services (doctor, dentist, walk-in clinic, pharmacy, hospital, ambulance) is a growing problem, life and property threatening storms are occurring much more often, diseases are spreading north as the climate warms, and other threats such as possible epidemics and pandemics all point in the opposite direction. Not only must critical facilities and services be preserved or restored, in many cases they need to be strengthened.

Underinvestment In Infrastructure & Utilities - Energy, communication, transportation, water, wastewater, storm protection, and other local infrastructure are increasingly unable to meet local needs (for capacity, distribution, or both). Resources are increasingly mismatched to storage and distribution facilities. Many communities are struggling with widespread roadway and utility infrastructure deterioration, sometimes including collapse or threatened collapse of bridges, water supply lines, or other critical local infrastructure.

Environmental & Public Safety Threats - Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, derechos, and tropical force winds are growing in both frequency and intensity. The harm caused by wildfires and community-wide fires started by wildfires is also growing. Fires in California and elsewhere have destroyed tens of thousands of homes and buildings over the last few years. Sea level rise is flooding more coastal communities and eroding beaches and shores. Dust storms and desertification are spreading in pace with growing droughts. Pollution and toxic chemical health threats, ranging from polluted drinking water, to air hot spots, to contaminated lands, to toxic algae blooms, are popping up all over. Severe degradation impacts many communities' natural features: rivers and creeks, lakes, beaches, shorelines, wetlands, adjoining lands, etc. Pests or invasive species threaten agriculture, fisheries, and tourism in many communities.

Social Problems & Unmet Needs - Some communities have large homeless or impoverished populations, and many have significant unmet community needs for health care, senior facilities, mental health services, drug rehabilitation services, before and after school day care, and much more. Many communities are having significant problems with drugs and related criminal activity, and in some cases this must be managed while struggling with rising levels of distrust between local police and the communities they serve.

Economic Opportunities - The "adaptive economy" requires shifting to a new path that is growing because it helps meet real needs while adapting to our changing circumstances. Thousands of businesses, large and small, are already providing employment and community prosperity across America in the adaptive economy. Every aspect of our economy is changing. How we do everything is changing. Of course there are major opportunities in clean energy and electric vehicles, but there are many opportunities spread across every business sector. Every aspect of what we do must adapt, and that process will create a multi-trillion dollar adaptive economy. Local choices can also expand opportunities to spend locally and recycle into the local economy funds that might otherwise leave the community. Finally, instead of offering costly and counterproductive tax breaks, communities can seek new employers offering better jobs by selling the actual unique opportunities their community offers.

Efficiency Boosts Prosperity - Local communities have numerous opportunities to increase the dollars retained and re-circulated in the local economy. They can protect agricultural land via restraints on community sprawl. This reduces local infrastructure, school and urban service costs and improves governmental efficiency. Those dollars can then go to meet other community needs. Similarly, efforts made to improve the efficiency of both local government and community use of costly resources like energy and water will reduce dollars leaving the community and instead retain those dollars to multiply locally.

Prosperity Needs Identity & Identity Needs A Center - Communities will not thrive unless they nurture and cultivate a strong civic and community identity. This is difficult to accomplish in a landscape of scattered commercial sprawl, but it can be much easier if the retail, cultural, political, governmental, law enforcement, medical care, and educational institutions of a community are concentrated in something like a community or town center. This fosters interaction and enables a multitude of beneficial synergies. A development pattern that retains, strengthens and reinvigorates a strong community center is an opportunity many communities have to build community prosperity.

Community Investment - We can, if we choose, invest local funds to build and rebuild what the community needs. Making these investments often requires gaining voter approval, and in economically struggling communities, that isn't easy. The funds may come from a voter approved bond measure, or from a ballot measure allowing the collection of particular fees and taxes for the specific purpose of constructing or reconstructing some important community asset. Only broad community support is likely to make this possible, so consensus building leadership is required. Even if sacrifice of current consumption is necessary, communities will not thrive nor will public safety be protected without adequate investment in infrastructure and public facilities. Citizens will support sacrifice if the goals are clear and the community is united behind those goals. One only has to look at public behavior during WWII to see the great capacity that can be mobilized under the right political circumstances.

Environmental Restoration - People are often shocked when they see the results of environmental restoration efforts. Dirty, dusty, barren places can be turned green, growing, and alive. This may involve parks, roadways, open land inside community boundaries, community rivers, creeks and lakes, beaches and wetlands in coastal communities, and much more. In some cases, restoration may be specifically focused on abandoned factories that have left degraded and polluted land behind, or on abandoned mines or other extraction sites that have been left behind in very poor condition. Community efforts to restore such places can be huge opportunities, usually delivering their benefits in a plethora of ways and over an extended period. Such restoration projects can create or restore recreation businesses, allow the land to be reused because it is no longer hazardous to health, and free up land for attractive and usable community spaces. All of this contributes to community revival, to community thriving, and to a better quality of life for residents.