Nationwide Strongest Town Contest launches 7th year with suite of intra-state match-ups
Highlights:
• The Strongest Town Contest is a celebration of communities that are putting their focus on townmaking practices that build resilience and prosperity.
• Contest begins with Sweet Sixteen voting on Monday, February 28 and concludes with the announcement of the 2022 champion on Friday, April 8.
• The 2022 Strongest Town will be visited by nationally recognized author, engineer, and advocate for strong communities Chuck Marohn. This city will also be featured prominently on the Strong Towns website with a series of articles outlining their efforts to provide citizens with a good life in a prosperous place.
• Voting is open to anyone.
• Full Contest Details / Press+Partner Kit
• Contest begins with Sweet Sixteen voting on Monday, February 28 and concludes with the announcement of the 2022 champion on Friday, April 8.
• The 2022 Strongest Town will be visited by nationally recognized author, engineer, and advocate for strong communities Chuck Marohn. This city will also be featured prominently on the Strong Towns website with a series of articles outlining their efforts to provide citizens with a good life in a prosperous place.
• Voting is open to anyone.
• Full Contest Details / Press+Partner Kit
A contest for progress
Cities across North America are using more and more resources while providing less for residents—less safety in transportation, less of a robust local economy, less commitment to sound public finance.
The Strongest Town Contest launched in 2016 to spotlight communities that are leading the way to a better future. No place is perfect, and most of them are fighting against inertia from risky finance and wasteful development practices adopted after WWII. But the 16 communities selected to compete in the contest are pushing forward with a tried-and-true approach toward restoration, one that:
- Relies on incremental investments (little bets) instead of large, transformative projects
- Favors resiliency of result over efficiency of execution
- Is designed to adapt to feedback, to evolve over time to meet the changing needs of the community
- Is inspired by bottom-up action and not top-down systems
- Seeks to conduct as much of life as possible at a human scale
- Is obsessive about accounting for its revenues, expenses, assets and long-term liabilities
“If your small town has a compact, time-tested design and a dedication to incremental growth, it doesn’t matter to us if it only has one diner and one gas station,” said Strong Towns Content Manager Jay Stange. “It can be stronger than a city of three-quarters of a million people with unsustainable, auto-centric malls producing minimal property tax value to the town.”
Each round, a different aspect of participating communities will be featured on the contest website, and the public will vote on which towns are best applying the Strong Towns approach to create a thriving place.
Round 1 Matchups:
Durango CO vs. Santa Clara CA
Brighton MI vs. Jasper IN
Frankfort KY vs. Middlesboro KY
Chauncey OH vs. Norwood OH
Salem MA vs. Yellow Springs OH
Navasota TX vs. Taylor TX
Champaign IL vs. Jersey City NJ
University Place WA vs. White Salmon WA
We’re interested in highlighting towns and cities who are doing the hard work of becoming stronger, putting in place the processes, systems, and commitments that build enduring resilience and longterm prosperity.
Jay Stange, Strong Towns Content Manager and Contest Organizer
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 a town representative, or for more information about the contest, contact Lauren Fisher.
Find logos and promotional images here.
Use #StrongestTown on Social
Twitter: @strongtowns
Facebook: @strongtowns
Instagram: @strongtownspics
Past Winners:
2021 - Lockport, Illinois
2020 - Watertown, South Dakota
2019 - Pensacola, Florida
2018 - Muskegon, Michigan
2017 - Traverse City, Michigan
2016 - Carlisle, Pennsylvania
