Staging the Town
Staging the TOWN!
By Evelyn Alemanni
Every realtor understands the importance of staging a home for sale. You can quickly and easily improve a home’s street appeal, its welcoming aspects, and the subtle and overt impressions a home makes on potential buyers. The time and minimal investment often pay off in terms of sales completed more quickly and higher prices. What if you could extend that thinking to your entire town, city, business district or college campus?
What if you could enlist entire neighborhoods, even municipal properties such as parks, libraries, city hall, to “stage” themselves? That's what realtors in Bloomington, Indiana did. How in the world did they accomplish it? First of all, the Bloomington Board of Realtors had challenged its members to take part in improving the city’s livability. Armed with this mandate, a local realtor, Gretchen Scott, learned that America in Bloom is a non-profit organization run by volunteers. The mission is to help improve American towns and cities by providing a framework within which they can make positive, visible changes. Each year, they give awards for the best cities in each of the population categories.
Intrigued, Gretchen met with current and past participants.
How does America in Bloom work? It is a non-profit organization whose board consists of all volunteers. The judges are also volunteers, and support comes from sponsorships and grants. Participants enroll in the program and pay an entry fee based on population or entry type. They are visited by a team of two judges who visit each entrant in a category. Judging visits take two days. Entrants are evaluated in four sectors: residential, commercial, community involvement and municipal. Each sector is rated in their efforts in horticulture, heritage, and environmental awareness. So you can see, it’s a very holistic program that evaluates how a town is “blooming” in many aspects.
Each fall, the organization hosts an educational symposium and awards in a different city. In 2013, the event will be in Orlando, Florida September 19-21. After the awards, entrants receive their evaluation which can range from 20 – 40 pages. Many have said that their evaluation is more valuable than an expensive consulting report in terms of relevance.
But let’s get back to Bloomington. Gretchen organized a committee – garnering support from every corner of the city, including Indiana University. Committee members all commented that even though they had lived in Bloomington for years, they learned new things about their hometown, and met people who would become lifelong friends.
Was it worth it? Would you recommend it to your best friend? Bloomington won in its population category. Who wouldn’t want to live in a town named by America in Bloom as one of the best in the country?
Sadly, Gretchen Scott passed away in May, 2012. She is remembered by many as the Energizer Bunny who put the "bloom" in Bloomington.
By Evelyn Alemanni
Every realtor understands the importance of staging a home for sale. You can quickly and easily improve a home’s street appeal, its welcoming aspects, and the subtle and overt impressions a home makes on potential buyers. The time and minimal investment often pay off in terms of sales completed more quickly and higher prices. What if you could extend that thinking to your entire town, city, business district or college campus?
What if you could enlist entire neighborhoods, even municipal properties such as parks, libraries, city hall, to “stage” themselves? That's what realtors in Bloomington, Indiana did. How in the world did they accomplish it? First of all, the Bloomington Board of Realtors had challenged its members to take part in improving the city’s livability. Armed with this mandate, a local realtor, Gretchen Scott, learned that America in Bloom is a non-profit organization run by volunteers. The mission is to help improve American towns and cities by providing a framework within which they can make positive, visible changes. Each year, they give awards for the best cities in each of the population categories.
Intrigued, Gretchen met with current and past participants.
How does America in Bloom work? It is a non-profit organization whose board consists of all volunteers. The judges are also volunteers, and support comes from sponsorships and grants. Participants enroll in the program and pay an entry fee based on population or entry type. They are visited by a team of two judges who visit each entrant in a category. Judging visits take two days. Entrants are evaluated in four sectors: residential, commercial, community involvement and municipal. Each sector is rated in their efforts in horticulture, heritage, and environmental awareness. So you can see, it’s a very holistic program that evaluates how a town is “blooming” in many aspects.
Each fall, the organization hosts an educational symposium and awards in a different city. In 2013, the event will be in Orlando, Florida September 19-21. After the awards, entrants receive their evaluation which can range from 20 – 40 pages. Many have said that their evaluation is more valuable than an expensive consulting report in terms of relevance.
But let’s get back to Bloomington. Gretchen organized a committee – garnering support from every corner of the city, including Indiana University. Committee members all commented that even though they had lived in Bloomington for years, they learned new things about their hometown, and met people who would become lifelong friends.
Was it worth it? Would you recommend it to your best friend? Bloomington won in its population category. Who wouldn’t want to live in a town named by America in Bloom as one of the best in the country?
Sadly, Gretchen Scott passed away in May, 2012. She is remembered by many as the Energizer Bunny who put the "bloom" in Bloomington.
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