Frequently-Asked Questions
Questions? You're in the right place.
Whether you’re exploring Our Towns for the first time, considering becoming a member, or simply curious about how everything works, you’ve come to the right place.
What is Our Towns?
Our Towns is an intentionally curated, community-centered platform designed to help people discover and connect with meaningful local businesses, resources, events, experiences, and gathering spaces.
More than a traditional business directory, Our Towns was created to encourage a more thoughtful and intentional way of exploring the communities around us.
Through local businesses, resources, event calendars, community stories, and thoughtfully curated categories, Our Towns seeks to support meaningful local connection, creativity, stewardship, curiosity, and community-centered discovery.
Our goal is to cultivate a welcoming ecosystem that feels grounded, human, thoughtful, and connected to the heart of local community life.
What makes Our Towns different?
Our Towns was intentionally created to feel more grounded, thoughtful, community-centered, and human than many modern online platforms.
While many digital platforms are designed primarily around algorithms, trends, speed, advertising, popularity, and constant online engagement, Our Towns focuses more intentionally on meaningful local discovery, authentic connection, thoughtful participation, and support for the people and places helping shape the heart of local communities.
Our platform includes both local businesses and local resources because we believe healthy communities are supported not only through commerce, but also through connection, creativity, stewardship, outreach, education, wellness, gathering spaces, and meaningful community experiences.
At the heart of Our Towns is a desire to encourage a slower, more intentional, and more community-centered way of exploring the world around us.
Is Our Towns only for businesses?
No.
While Our Towns includes thoughtfully curated local business listings, the platform was intentionally designed to support a broader community ecosystem as well.
In addition to businesses, Our Towns also includes local resources, organizations, outreach programs, farms, community spaces, events, educational opportunities, wellness-focused offerings, gathering spaces, creative experiences, and other meaningful community-centered resources.
Our goal is to help people more intentionally discover and connect with the many different people, places, experiences, and resources that contribute to the heart of local communities.
How do I participate?
There are many ways to participate within Our Towns.
Some people may participate by exploring local businesses, resources, events, farms, makers, gathering spaces, and community experiences throughout their local communities.
Others may choose to participate more actively by becoming members, sharing events, contributing local visibility, supporting thoughtful community initiatives, or helping strengthen meaningful local connection within the communities around them.
As Our Towns continues to grow, opportunities for participation may continue evolving through community involvement, local partnerships, events, collaborations, and thoughtfully curated member experiences.
At its heart, Our Towns was created to encourage curiosity, exploration, stewardship, thoughtful participation, and meaningful connection with the people and places helping shape the heart of our towns.
What does intentional curation mean?
Intentional curation means that Our Towns is designed with thoughtful care, atmosphere, community alignment, and long-term vision in mind.
Rather than functioning as an open platform focused solely on quantity, algorithms, advertising, popularity, or constant online engagement, Our Towns seeks to cultivate a more grounded, community-centered ecosystem that supports meaningful local discovery and thoughtful participation.
Intentional curation may include thoughtful consideration of:
- category alignment
- overall platform atmosphere
- community-centered participation
- respectful interaction
- quality and authenticity of listings
- thoughtful representation
- and alignment with the broader spirit and purpose of the platform.
Our goal is not to create exclusivity or unnecessary rigidity, but to help cultivate a welcoming, thoughtful, and intentional environment that supports meaningful connection, creativity, stewardship, curiosity, and the heart of local community life.
How are businesses, resources, and events selected for Our Towns?
Our Towns is intentionally curated rather than automatically populated. Every submission is thoughtfully reviewed to help ensure it aligns with the atmosphere, purpose, and community-centered vision of the platform.
We consider factors such as category alignment, authenticity, respectful participation, quality of information, and how each listing contributes to the overall experience of the community.
Our goal is not to create exclusivity, but to cultivate a welcoming environment where businesses, resources, events, organizations, farms, makers, and gathering places contribute positively to the heart of local community life.