I’m attending a magazine conference in Austin this week, and one of the people sitting next to me started waxing eloquent about his intense desire to operate a neighborhood magazine (he publishes a magazine that is all about consumer marketing). Anyway, he lives in Minnesota and started talking about how the neighborhood he lives in has been "empowered" by a neighborhood revitalization program run by the state. He said part of the program involves the state funding neighborhood initiatives and allowing neighborhood governing groups to establish priorities and decide what to do with neighborhood block grants, TIF money and the like. He said the program has brought neighbors together along with making neighborhoods more vital. Something to think about for our neighborhoods?