Does your place matter?

Does your place have meaning to others, as well as meaning to you?

Plenty of places have private meaning for people; but in our work at Place Matters, we’ve found that places most likely to attract support for protection are those that also have public meaning. So an important initial question to ask is whether the place that matters to you also matters to others.  

The distinction isn’t always clear; a first test is to consider if the place has meaning for anyone outside your immediate family or circle of friends.

If you care deeply about a particular place, the answer to the question of whether it matters as much to others may seem like a self-evident “yes,” or even irrelevant. Still, we encourage you to consider this question honestly, and early on. It may save you many frustrating months of effort trying to save a place for which there are no other advocates.