Sharing our Context
ABCD and Rural Communities
I live on 5 acres of woods, surrounding by several hundred acres of woods, on a small island on Lake Michigan in the US. We are a 30-minute ferry ride from the mainland. Our tiny community has about 700 full-time residents, a couple thousand people who have a second home here and come for the summer and/or vacations, plus numerous visitors who vacation or come for the day. People here are very creative.... lots of musicians and artists, plus people being creative about coming up with different ways to earn money. Much of our economy is based on tourism. We were one of those seasonal folks - We've had our house for 15+ years and moved here full-time 3+ years ago. We're excited these days because there are a number of new babies being born, which means their parents - young couples/families - are staying here and choosing to raise their children here (at least for now). Biggest challenge right now is internet.... expensive, unreliable, not fast, doesn't reach everywhere.
As we like to say here... "we are it"....meaning if we want something to happen, we all have to make it happen. As a result, lots of engaged folks.