My 30 day local challenge

I believe in local communities.

That is what brought me to Elmhurst 2.5 years ago.  After living in the city of Chicago for 16 years, we wanted to be part of a community.  Not just a neighborhood, but a community.  My husband and I grew up in small towns and enjoyed knowing our neighbors, visiting local shops and being part of the civic fabric of those towns.  We took a hard look at 5 different suburbs - I may have made an extensive scoring sheet in Excel (but that is beside the point) and Elmhurst was the winner.  Why?  It was the best of both worlds for us.  Close to the city with an easy commute both to downtown and to the airport (where I spend a lot of time) AND a real community.  Friendly people, local shops and restaurants - not to mention it is just darn cute.  We had very clear criteria.  I wanted to live somewhere that didn't look just like everywhere else.

This brings me to now.  I love the local shops and restaurants in Elmhurst.  I also love the chains who come into our town and offer us convenience.  I love everything about shopping in Elmhurst, but I am becoming very alarmed at the number of businesses (especially local) that are going out of business.  It seems like every single month there is another business that is closing it doors.

When that happens we all lose.  We lose variety. We lose memories.  We lose the flavor that is a community.

Every time I hear that another business is closing I start to think about what I could do to make a difference and help support our local businesses.  It feels overwhelming and unstoppable.  What I finally realized was that I had to start with my own behavior.

I shop a ton online looking for the best deal
Target is my happy place
A lot of my dollars go downtown while I am at work

Quite simply, I don't prioritize our local community.

So, I am challenging myself over the next 30 days to spend nearly all shopping and services within the city limits of Elmhurst.  I want to change my own behavior and make sure that I doing my part to support my community.  I want to show that nearly everything we need...is right here.

I want my money to stay in my community.

So, here goes.  I will update on my progress.  I know some days will be easy and some days I will hit roadblocks, but at least I am trying.  Hopefully I will pick up a few people on the way who want to do it too!  Until next time, I leave you all with this info graphic from a group called CustomMade.