This project has captured attention, both far and wide, (even getting featured in an Italian coffee table book on small-town design). The idea seems to carry with it something engrained into the American psyche — those images of Rockwell paintings: charming small towns, young families walking the streets, men reading newspapers outside of cafes.

Images of the creators: artists painting, welding, throwing clay and just MAKING STUFF.

The idea behind such a small town seems to capture the imagination of several different groups of people:

1. The young family looking for affordable-living outside the city.

2. The post primary career crowd (AKA retirees) looking for a navigable, quiet yet culturally rich community.



3. And finally — the entrepreneurs and artists. They’re looking for cheap workspace and living.

What they need is RUNWAY. They need to be able to stretch their savings (or the part-time coffeeshop wage) into time and space where they can launch that THING that they’ve been dreaming about.

Yes, the Hogansville project, OR the HGVL project, it’s attracted attention. Young families have moved to town. Not a week goes by that an artist doesn’t ask about available spaces for rent. We still get emails along the lines of, “Hey, I read this article about a crazy project in middle Georgia… are you guys still working on this?”

The answer is: yes. The longer answer is: it seems to be gathering momentum!

HERE’S A LINK TO THE VERY FIRST ARTICLE.

Take a look at some of the wishlist items from the original article: