Guest Blogger | Michael Tolle

Today, TNP is pleased to have author Michael Tolle as our guest blogger! He is the author of What Killed Downtown? Norristown, Pennsylvania, From Main Street to the Malls and manages a blog called The More Things Change... 

I invite our readers to subscribe to his blog as well as other blogs in Norristown, as they are the voices of what is going on around town. It's important to follow sources like The More Things Change.., Norristown Diary, Norristown Project, and Times Herald to stay in the loop and get the most information related to Norristown. Times Herald also has a page of all community bloggers in town for you to follow, check it out at http://www.timesherald.com/blogs

Today's guest post from Michael Tolle gives you an idea of what you can expect to read on his blog and why Norristown became his interest.


"In January 2013, I returned to Norristown to market my just-published book, What Killed Downtown? Norristown, Pennsylvania, From Main Street to the Malls. I spoke at several locations, and answered questions from a wide array of people. What impressed me most from the experience was that time and again, the interest of my audiences in Norristown’s past sprang overwhelmingly from a desire to make its future better. Question after question came to me, almost all of which can be summarized as “what can we learn from the past in order to build a better future?” I was deeply impressed by the experience, and it spurred me to undertake blogging as my continuing contribution to this effort. I quickly learned that the very same desire animated several groups and individuals in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and chose to focus on the towns along the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia and Reading, because while all of them share a common history from their founding until about 1980, the differences in their current situations—which is substantial—offer an excellent opportunity to exchange of ideas about improving their respective urban environments in today’s world. Norristown, however, will always remain “first among equals” for my attention.

As a historian, I have set myself a two-fold task, attempting to put urban history in the service of urban activism. People in small towns like Norristown are struggling to improve their urban environment. I try to link these people and organizations together, encourage them, and offer guidance were I can help. Encouraging awareness and cooperation among urban activists is my primary goal. 

A second component is to offer a sequence of lessons in urban history, designed to attack the pervasive myths about what happened to our cities and towns after the Second World War. Urban activists—and just those who care—are my intended audience. Those who seek to improve their urban environment will continue to make mistakes as long as they continue to believe in myths about what happened to their communities. These mistakes can be avoided only if people understand the Truth, and reject the many pervasive historical fallacies in our collective understanding of how things came to be as they are.

I invite you to read, learn and then apply your knowledge to improve the quality of life in Norristown. I am proud to assist “The Norristown Project” in the good work it is doing."

Read more from Michael Tolle at http://themorethingschange.michaeltolle.com/ and purchase his book on Amazon