I liked this post "Can small towns be cool". Of course, the answer is 'yes' but it takes some vision and some work to make a small town 'cool' or whatever term you use for successful in your town.
I've come to terms with the fact that there are communities out there whose idea of 'cool' is to do nothing, watch the community decline, and gregariously grouse about how bad things are getting. However, in Hickman County, there are people passionately involved in making our communities way cool.