Q: Can individuals invest in CoolTowns as well?

Here’s the exact question someone just posed, “Can I invest small amounts of money in this fund or other New Urbanist projects? There don’t seem to be any ‘socially responsible’ mutual funds that screen out sprawl.”

The short answer is yes, but… The industry hasn’t matured enough to the point where large sums of money (ie billions in pension funds) can be trusted to be invested in what is considered a relatively new market, however, that does mean there are smaller sums of money (ie millions in high net worth individuals willing and able to take risks) available as progressive equity funds. Unfortunately, right now these start out at $25,000 per accredited investor. Such a CoolTown-oriented fund was identified in this recent blog entry.

The best way to invest individually is to buy a home or start a business in an up and coming cool town.

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neilkt