Economic Vitality: How can we improve our communities?

Many describe a vital community as one that has a combination of some of the following characteristics: it is comfortable and safe, with good quality housing and infrastructure and low crime rates; has "good" jobs with benefits; is experiencing growth in population, jobs and wages; has strong civic organizations; is proactive; and is diverse and flexible enough to withstand economic change. At the same time, they often say vitality is as much a sense of a community feeling "alive" as it is a list of numbers.