A little about us
For the people who
give a town its future.
The chamber team wearing six hats. The downtown director asking what comes next. The neighbor who sees what a vacant storefront could become.
How Towns Grow exists for people like you. We explore what communities are trying, what the evidence says, and which lessons might travel.
This is the written companion to the @TownSpark video channels: a place to spend more time with an idea, follow its sources, and find a practical next step.
Curiosity, with a useful destination.
Our stories focus on local economies, downtown vitality, chamber membership, and quality of life. Growth can mean a stronger local business community, a more useful public space, or a place where people want to stay. Population alone doesn’t tell the whole story.
Who’s behind How Towns Grow?
How Towns Grow is published by Ryan McNeill, founder of Hallpass Digital and TownSpark. Hallpass provides marketing services; TownSpark helps chambers promote their members and make that visibility easier to demonstrate.
These businesses may benefit when a reader becomes a customer. This publication is owned by the same founder. When a story recommends either business, we disclose that connection in the article and explain the relevant fit.
How we approach a story.
- Prefer primary sources and link readers to the underlying evidence.
- Distinguish a program’s reported results from our interpretation.
- Explain costs, constraints, and local context when they are documented.
- Avoid unsupported rankings and claims of personal visits or interviews.
- Use AI-assisted research and writing with source checks and editorial validation; article bylines identify the publication.
- Update or correct a story when the evidence changes.
Have a town we should learn from?
Share a project, a useful source, or a lesson that deserves a closer look. Send Ryan a note .