Effective economic development creates harmony and balance. Many community leaders have sought economic development, without a clear understanding of what it is, what virtues does it bring, and at what costs.

Economic development is a term that has historically described a group of community leaders successfully lobbying a large employer into their community with high-paying jobs. This strategy was enacted, unfortunately, because many municipalities lost their financial footing—and local residents struggled to find sustainable employment to support their families. While we applaud these initiatives, we feel it is misguided. For there are countless examples of areas that were able to lure in high-paying jobs, but it actually deteriorated the overall quality of life for the residents.

Every community should be able to compensate every one of its residents and provide them with a high quality of life.

Unfortunately, our society is replete with areas that have seen staggering rates of economic growth, but it coincided with staggering costs of living. In these areas, the pursuit of economic development actually lessened the quality of life for their residents. Many urban areas face this struggle.

On the other hand, our American economy has not found a viable and scalable economic engine to replace the manufacturing base that started to deteriorate in the 1970’s.

Thus, urban areas have found economic prosperity—but it has come at the expense of cost of living and quality of life. Conversely, rural areas have a low quality of life, but do not have a viable economic engine to sustain family life.

However, there is a viable economic development playbook to a few fortunate geographies that can offer high quality of life and economic prosperity. For these geographies to capture this opportunity, it will require uniform support from their civic leaders and a dedicated effort from the entire community.