While you were busy making a difference in your home town, you might have missed these thought-provoking posts:

1. Top 10 Reasons to Support Your Locally Owned Businesses – Institute for Local Self-Reliance
2. 4 Easy Steps to Squash the “There’s No Parking” Argument – Strong Towns
3. How to Design a Pedestrian Mall That Works – Governing
4. How to Bring More Artists Into City Planning – Next City
5. The Secret Keeping Some Rural Businesses Alive – Forbes
6. Why neighborhood toy stores are thriving while Toys R Us goes bankrupt – The Washington Post