ROADWORK AHEAD

The Blue Whale of Catoosa. Miami’s last-of-its-kind hamburger bird. The bright neon lasso flashing atop the Western Motel’s vintage-style sign in Vinita.

These aren’t just quirky sights along Oklahoma’s stretch of the legendary Route 66. For the business owners lovingly tending to them, they’re important tourism assets. And for Jennifer Wilding, who traversed the storied corridor to write The Byways Report: The Scenic Route to Rural Prosperity, they’re marvels—mini destinations that link each community’s charming past to future promise.

“It’s not just about the buildings or the diners. It’s about the people,” she said. “You can’t tell the story without the people.”

Published by the Kansas City Fed in early 2026, The Byways Report shows how Americans’ ongoing love of the open road can help small towns build their economies through route-based tourism. By highlighting data alongside the experiences of people who live on those routes, the report illustrates the economic capacity of existing byways.

Route 66 at 100: “The story of America”told along crucial conduits

The Byways Report arrives as Route 66 marks its 100th anniversary, a commemoration with pivotal tourism opportunities. The report offers data-driven guidance for rural communities to harness their byways’ economic power. 

Small towns and rural areas, each with their unique origins and character, can attract visitors and boost prosperity when connected by a byway—that’s the thesis of The Byways Report. One could say Wilding was destined to write it. She was, after all, born off Route 66, in Rolla, Mo. Years later, living in West St. Louis County, she would pedal her bike along old alignments, exploring little towns and getting to know the area’s history. She’s traced portions of the historic route several times over the decades, both for leisure and most recently for work. 

As a community engagement adviser with the Kansas City Fed, Wilding has spent years studying the intersection between the economy and community development. As Route 66’s big anniversary neared in 2025, Wilding saw an opportunity to link her role at the Kansas City Fed with economic development opportunities happening across America’s byways. 

“If I could choose just one topic related to the Fed for a project, it would definitely be Route 66,” she said. “I get to make a tiny contribution to something that’s been important to me my whole life. It’s a thrill.” 

The Kansas City Fed works to foster a robust economy and maintain financial stability. According to Jeremy Hegle, assistant vice president and community affairs officer at the Kansas City Fed, achieving those aims requires strong communities; with that in mind, the Bank tries to advance economic development across its seven-state district. The Byways Report, Hegle said, exemplifies this effort and further underscores the Bank’s dedication to serving the nearly 20 million people in its region.

“Over years of community development, outreach and research, we’ve built strong ties with communities throughout our district—large and small,” Hegle said. “The 100th birthday of Route 66 was the perfect moment to spotlight the amazing work happening in these places.”

Hegle said the Bank was uniquely suited to publish The Byways Report for several reasons.

• Route 66 runs across four of the seven states that compose the Tenth Federal Reserve District: Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. 

• Serving nearly half a million square miles of land in the middle of the country, the Kansas City Fed is one of the Federal Reserve System’s most-rural districts.

• In 2025, the Bank launched the Center for Agriculture and the Economy, which has a strong focus on rural communities like the ones featured in The Byways Report. 

In a speech last February introducing the report, Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid said tourism was an important industry in many of the rural regions in the Tenth District, and byways are crucial conduits for that industry. Schmid also noted that the regional structure of the nation’s 12 Reserve Banks shared strengths with byways such as Route 66.  

“Route 66 is the story of America, a set of distinct regions and economies, linked together to form a more powerful whole. The fundamental importance of regionalism to the nation’s development and ultimate strength continues today in the structure of the Federal Reserve. We are your bank, and we work every day to make sure you have a voice in the nation’s economic policy,” he said in his remarks. 

“This report is just one example of how the Fed invests in understanding the regional economy, while also contributing to the region’s economic success.”

How a byway can generate between $250,000 and $450,000 a mile

Wilding spent months on preliminary research and interviews, then took to the road in the summer of 2025 to collect stories and anecdotes along Route 66 in Oklahoma. No playlists or car snacks for her, she said. Instead, she used her time to relay notes from conversations and what she saw into a small digital voice recorder, capturing vivid illustrations of the offbeat, sometimes beautiful sights that make up byways travel in the report. 

“Traveling the back roads, you motor straight through that town. On the approach, there are old houses made of local stone or wood, the kind of houses folks mean when they say, ‘They don’t build ’em like that anymore.’ … You spot evidence of local haunts that give this town its sense of place,” she writes in the report. “The museum that does a beautiful job of explaining the town. The bike trail that runs through, or the bridge over a wild mountain stream. The bookstore in what used to be the bank. The humble cafe with a four-star omelet. The shop with handmade goods. Some empty storefronts, with the names of the last business still painted on the glass, and they’re part of the story, too.”

After driving more than 1,100 miles, she came back with dozens of such observations and discoveries, including: 

 • Young entrepreneurs preserving the past in Miami, Okla., by restoring old gas stations.   

• The Cherokee Nation telling its story and a vintage café creating memorable experiences using giant character statues and neon in Vinita, Okla.

 • A group of creative residents bringing new life to Route 66 in Clinton, Okla., through a grassroots co-op.

 • A retired artist using art and the history of the Dust Bowl as economic development tools in tiny Sayre, Okla.

Wilding said the report isn’t about fixing small towns; it’s about honoring and acknowledging what makes them special. It’s an appreciative look at small town economic development, said Maree Forbes Gaughan, managing director of the National Travel Center. Gaughan, who contributed to the report, said the publication elevates the impression of rural America instead of portraying smaller communities as downtrodden or stuck in the past.  

“The report helps those who live along byways understand their communities’ own value, which is foundational to having any of this economic development happen,” she said.

“To have something like The Byways Report developed and presented by the Federal Reserve raises the profile and credibility of our efforts to preserve and promote scenic tourism,” she added.

In addition to stories from the road, the report centers on findings from the National Travel Center, including that a byway can generate between $250,000 and $450,000 per mile per year in visitor spending when it:

 • features heritage and cultural locations,

 • offers visitors plenty of places to visit and opportunities to spend money,

 • includes destination-distinctive accommodations and local cuisine and 

 • is well promoted.

Attitudinal barriers, not structural problems, were often the biggest hurdles to overcome, Wilding said. Community leaders didn’t necessarily see tourism as a viable economic development option. Route 66, Wilding said, counters that assumption. Though not all byways can match its iconic status, Route 66 fundamentally serves as a link between towns. Smaller communities might collaborate to highlight connecting roads or even establish new scenic routes. According to Wilding, each community offers its own individual identity and culture.

“You have folks who’ve lived in a town forever, and they don’t see some of the things that make their town special, so you sometimes have to convince longtime residents of a community what’s special about their place,” she said. 

“We found many examples of when newer or younger residents were able to do this.”

The Byways Report: filling a gap in the narrative around scenic tourism  

Wilding said the report is made for easy sharing, allowing anyone to suggest it to local leaders or neighbors. In the months since it’s been published, the Kansas City Fed has sent more than 2,000 copies of the report across the country, and the digital edition has been downloaded more than 500 times. Wilding has spoken at national conferences and been cited in speeches and newspapers.

At least part of its success is due to the report filling a gap in the narrative around scenic tourism, said Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association and manager of the Preserve Route 66 initiative for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.   

“One of our biggest pain points is around numbers and metrics. Anytime you ask for investors or to spend public dollars on Route 66, they say ‘prove it.’” said Martin, who also contributed to the report. 

“I hate using terms like gamechanger, but the report has been a really big deal because it’s proving what we’ve been seeing on the ground here in Oklahoma. Investing in small towns and investing in the main streets is absolutely returned.” 

While much of the appeal of route-based tourism is based in history and nostalgia, The Byways Report argues that it can evolve to meet the unique needs of a small community. To do that, Martin said he hopes more people understand the value of these roads beyond dollar amounts.

“Tourism is not about some great new shiny thing. You also have to make sure that the thing that has kept the road important, which is that connection to its people, stays preserved also.”

With The Byways Report, the Kansas City Fed shows its commitment to keeping that connection alive and supporting the people in its region—the ones who keep the diners running, maintain the old roads and welcome strangers passing through. 

As Martin said: “How lucky are we to have an opportunity to show people from all around the world what the American spirit is all about?” 

Wilding knows just how lucky. 

“It is 9:27 a.m. on Wednesday, June 4, 2025,” she recounts in The Byways Report. “The thunderstorms that swept through Vinita, Okla., yesterday have moved east. The storms kicked up serious wind last night, and neon is fragile. By nightfall, the cowboy on the Western Motel’s new neon sign had gone dark. I am glad to see him lit up again in the morning.”

With that reassurance, she once more took to the road.

Ten steps toward strengthening or starting a byway

1. Take an appreciative view of what your town has to offer visitors.

2. Think in terms of collaboration, not competition.

3. Don’t try to do it all on your own.

4. Embrace entrepreneurism as an economic strategy.

5. Preserve your past to secure your future.

6. Make space for many stories to be told and for communities to tell their own stories.

7. Create experiences that engage visitors.

8. Pass the torch to the next generation.

9. Encourage volunteers.

10. Attract the support of state officials and others by making the case that tourism is economic development.