Editing Totnes (section)

==Economy==
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Totnes has attracted a sizeable "alternative" community, and the town is known as a place where one can live a "[[New Age]]" lifestyle.<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Siegle
  | first = Lucy
  | title = Shiny hippy people
  | newspaper = The Guardian
  | date = 8 May 2005
  | url = http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/story/0,,1623868,00.html
  | access-date = 2 July 2008
  | archive-date = 17 May 2008
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080517045820/http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/story/0,,1623868,00.html
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref><ref>[http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article3764657.ece Totnes, Devon: the home of boho chic] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517082215/http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article3764657.ece |date=17 May 2008 }} (retrieved 4 December 2008)</ref> There are a number of facilities for artists, painters and musicians, and there is a twice-weekly market offering antiques, musical instruments, second-hand books, handmade clothing from across the world, and local organically produced products. In 2007, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine declared Totnes the capital of new age chic. In 2005, ''Highlife'', the British Airways magazine, declared it one of the world's Top 10 Funky Towns.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Siegle|first1=Lucy|title=Shiny hippy people|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/may/08/britishidentity.ethicalliving|access-date=9 July 2016|work=The Guardian|date=8 May 2005|archive-date=26 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826011938/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/may/08/britishidentity.ethicalliving|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2007 Totnes was the first town in Britain to introduce its own local alternative currency, the [[Totnes pound]], to support the local economy of the town.<ref name="RobS">{{cite news
| last = Sharp
| first = Rob
| title = They don't just shop local in Totnes – they have their very own currency
| newspaper = The Independent
| date = 1 May 2008
| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/they-dont-just-shop-local-in-totnes--they-have-their-very-own-currency-818586.html
| access-date = 2 July 2008
| archive-date = 22 October 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121022223837/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/they-dont-just-shop-local-in-totnes--they-have-their-very-own-currency-818586.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref> Fourteen months later, 70 businesses within the town were trading in the "Totnes Pound," accepting them as payment and offering them to shoppers as change from their purchases.<ref name="RobS"/> The initiative was part of the [[transition town]] concept, which was pioneered by [[Rob Hopkins]], who had recently moved to Totnes.<ref>"Take note – Totnes will be quids in!" in ''Totnes Times'' 7 March 2007, p.6</ref> The Totnes pound was discontinued in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Intriguing Tale of the Totnes Pound: An Exploration of a Unique Local Currency |url=https://www.tannerbates.co.uk/blogs/news/the-intriguing-tale-of-the-totnes-pound-an-exploration-of-a-unique-local-currency?srsltid=AfmBOooJCDROX45FRX1Ka94TIWxny6V39YOYafOfhEoo8SxoFzpsxxrR |access-date=Feb 19, 2025 |website=Tannerbates}}</ref>

Emphasising the town's continuing history of [[boatbuilding]], between 1998 and 2001 [[Pete Goss]] built his revolutionary but ill-fated 120-foot [[Team Philips]] [[catamaran]] there, which had to be abandoned mid-Atlantic when it started to break up.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news/012002/23/team_philips.shtml|title=Team Philips wreckage found on island|date=23 January 2002|publisher=BBC Devon News|access-date=16 August 2009|archive-date=24 October 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041024155608/http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news/012002/23/team_philips.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

Loss of revenue from [[Dartington College of Arts]], which moved to [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]] in 2010, was partially offset by increased tourism due to interest in Totnes's status as a [[transition town]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20120919182029/http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Town-s-Transition-boosting-economy/article-2912655-detail/article.html Town's Transition boosting economy] (retrieved 30 November 2010)</ref>