This handbook is intended to help local officials and community and cultural leaders to decide whether cultural planning makes sense for their community. Such planning can identify and mobilize cultural resources to spur economic development, advance cultural preservation efforts and enhance a community's overall quality of life. (p. 7)

CONTENTS
Portland's Cultural Revolution: A Foreword by Bill Bulick.
Introduction: Writing the Stories We want to Live.
What is Cultural Planning?
Why Plan?
Developing a Cultural Plan for Your Community: A Five Step Approach.
The Nuts and Bolts of Cultural Planning.
Results of a National Study.
Making It Happen In Your Community: 14 Recommendations for Effective Planning.
Conclusion: Cultural Planning Works.
Appendix A. Case studies: Profiles of Seven Communities and their plans. 
                         Charlotte, North Carolina. 
                         Houston, Texas. 
                         Kentucky. 
                         Lewiston and Auburn, Maine.
                         Northampton, Massachusetts.
                         Rapid City, South Dakota.
                         Shreveport, Louisiana.
Appendix B. Resources for Community Cultural Planning.
Notes.
Bibliography.