Strong Towns visits 2021 champion for congratulations, special message.
A little more than a month after claiming the Strongest Town title, Lockport Illinois will host a victory celebration at City Hall (222 E 9th Street) on Thursday, May 20 at 7 p.m.
The event will feature speaker Charles Marohn, founder and President of Strong Towns. Marohn will congratulate the city and speak about what it means to be a Strong Town, discussing a strategic approach to becoming more prosperous and economically resilient.
This celebration is open to the first 75 Lockport residents and community members who register at this link. The presentation will also be available to watch live on the City’s YouTube Channel, Lockport TV and on LCTV, Comcast Channel 6 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99.
Lockport is doing the work to become fiscally resilient and build prosperity for its residents by:
- Relying on small, incremental investments (little bets) instead of large, transformative projects.
- Emphasizing resiliency of result over efficiency of execution.
- Designing to adapt to feedback.
- Focusing on bottom/up action and not top/down systems.

Lockport, Illinois
More than 33,000 votes from all over the world were cast in the four rounds of this year's contest.
The team that nominated Lockport to compete in this year's competition included Ben Benson, Bren Cann, Brittni Calderon, Lisa Heglund, Mayor Steve Streit, and Lance Thies. The team answered questions on a variety of topics, from housing and transportation, to economic development and how the town has addressed the challenges of the pandemic. They also submitted a photo essay of some of the things that make their town great, sat down for a podcast interview with Strong Towns program director Rachel Quednau, and participated in a webcast with Strong Towns president Charles Marohn.
Strong Towns helps local leaders identify the cause of decline in our cities and take action to build a stronger, financially resilient future. The Strong Towns movement is reshaping the North American development pattern with a return to bottom-up, incremental growth.
For comment from Strong Towns, to connect with someone who nominated a community, or for more information about the contest, contact Lauren Fisher.
Past Winners:
2020 - Watertown, South Dakota
2019 - Pensacola, Florida
2018 - Muskegon, Michigan
2017 - Traverse City, Michigan
2016 - Carlisle, Pennsylvania