All too often, eager locals find their great ideas held up by months of bureaucracy until, in many cases, the idea fades and dies. One city nestled in the rolling hills and wooded forests of Southern Indiana, however, has a different story. Through conscious and deliberate collaboration, with a daily focus on a city-wide comprehensive plan, the city of Jasper is a place where “things get done.” Its most recent venture: creating a people-centered downtown. 
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Timed with the needed replacement of century-old water pipes, the city took advantage of the construction to fully renovate their downtown square.  “When you're going to dig everything up, when you put it back, you want to put it back nicer than what it was before,” explained Jasper’s Chamber of Commerce Director Nancy Eckerle.

- Strong Towns (01/2024)

​“On my very first time I left home with two $20 traveler checks and when I came home I still had those $20 traveler checks. That was the goodness of the people,” he said.

At 68 years old, Schnell has hit 48 states, Canada and Mexico on his bike.

He says each biking trip means being gone for close to 3 months at a time.

- 14 News, Evansville

Located in Santa Claus, Indiana, the Splashin' Safari waterpark jumped from #3 to #2 this year in USA Today's 10 Best Readers' Choice Travel Awards for the best outdoor water park in the nation.

The City of Jasper and the Thyen-Clark Culture Center was jointly presented the 2023 Indiana Uplands Quality of Place Attraction Award! 
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The Quality of Place Attraction Award recognizes a community, organization, or group that has coalesced around a project or program that welcomes both residents and visitors to enjoy the arts, cultural, and natural beauty found only in the Indiana Uplands.

The City of Huntingburg has issued a Request for Qualifications (PDF) from an artist or artist team to design and implement a new public mural in Huntingburg, Indiana. The artwork will be part of a larger master plan for an alley activation project designed by LAA.

Indiana University’s Center for Rural Engagement and ServeDesign Center commissioned this study, which proposes a series of projects to revitalize alleyways and urban voids.