Manitoba small towns: the decline and rise [Video]

Scattered throughout Manitoba’s prairie expanse are hundreds of small towns, villages, and communities. Some are thriving; some are on the verge of disappearing forever.

In a three-part series, CTV News Winnipeg takes a tour of the rural south and explores what’s behind the boom or bust of small-town Manitoba.

PART 1: Inside a Manitoba ghost town, a group of ladies works to keep it alive

It’s eerily quiet in Lauder, Manitoba. Abandoned homes line the streets, a rusty swing set in an overgrown yard creaks in the wind. The town is a ghost of what it once was, yet inside there is a small community that is thriving.

Read more to learn the tale of a ghost town – a story that is all too common among Manitoba’s prairie towns.

PART 2: ‘Low property taxes, friendly neighbours’: How some Manitoba communities are selling small-town living

Amid a struggle to attract …