How many independently-owned businesses are there in your city?

The Indie City Index looked at all the metropolitan areas in the U.S. to come up with a rank of which areas are great places to put a strip mall full of chain stores, and which places would rather support a family business.

Read about the study and about the importance of strong local economies here.

Have you seen any “Buy Local” signs around your town? Well they’re all over the place, and it turns out they actually work. In places with “buy local” campaigns, residents spend more money at locally-owned stores.

When you spend $1 at a corporate chain, only $0.15 of that money stays in your town. But when you spend that same $1 at a local store, $0.45 stays local. That’s a pretty big difference when you consider all the financial troubles local economies are facing these days.

The thing about an economy is that every financial transaction is somehow connected to every other financial transaction. And all those financial transactions are connected to the economic, political, and social health of an entire nation, which is connected to the rest of the world.

Something worth thinking about the next time you’re itching to spend a dollar.