All too often in our cities and towns we find ourselves making decisions that affect young people without receiving their input. This month in the Asset Champion we highlight a few communities that have worked to include the voices and efforts of youth in their push to create positive change. By involving young people in our attempts to influence civic decisions, we ensure that their voices and opinions are heard. We also greatly reduce the risk that, in our attempts to improve our communities for young people, we actually create a more hostile environment for youth because of our lack of consideration for their thoughts and ideas.
Asset Building as an Economic Development Strategy
Asset building as an economic development strategy? It is almost a no-brainer 
, says St. Louis Park City Manager Tom Harmening. According to Harmening, asset building helps to create an inviting community, one in which individuals and families want to live and create an investment in. It makes perfect sense, but who would have thought that asset building would be an important key in the economic development of a city?
Iowa Students Lobby for Keg Registration
“Iowans to Reduce Underage Drinking , a group of young people and adults from across the state, is lobbying Iowa’s senators and representatives to pass a statewide beer keg law in this session of the Legislature.” So read the opening lines of the January 29th, 2007 press release announcing the final time that Iowa students would lobby for keg registration before statewide legislation was passed to adopt this measure and cut down on underage drinking.
The Mayor’s Youth Council of Northfield
The Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) of Northfield, Minnesota is a city-commissioned group run by 15 diverse youth community members. As a result of the efforts of the MYC, youth now sit on the interview teams any time a new police officer is hired in Northfield, the group meets regularly with the city’s Library Board to discuss planned renovations to the public library, and they have partnered with other groups in town design a skateboard plaza for local youth. The Mayor of Northfield has been quoted repeatedly as saying that the creation of the Mayor’s Youth Council is one of the greatest hallmarks of his term in office.
