The Taylor HOME program provides funding for rehabilitation or reconstruction of single-family homes for eligible applicants.

Which small town is stronger?

10 March 2022

Taylor, Texas and Norwood, Ohio are examples of great townmaking in national Strongest Town Contest

As Americans call for better cities, Taylor, Texas and Norwood, Ohio are rising to the task. Their dedication to sound bookkeeping, citizen-led development, and great transportation has earned them national recognition in the annual Strongest Town Contest, and brought them through initial voting to face off in the Elite Eight round.

During the first round of the contest, community advocates introduced Taylor and Norwood, giving voters a taste of the projects and practices that help them strive for resilience. Now, contestants will provide photo-tours of their community so that the whole nation can see what a walk through town feels like.

Highlights:

• The Strongest Town Contest is a celebration of communities that are putting their focus on townmaking practices that build resilience and prosperity.

• The Elite Eight round features a photo tour of each community. Voting opens on Monday, March 14.

• 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

What these cities are doing right

The predominant way our cities are built takes precious resources and squanders them on rapid growth that eventually turns into massive debt and fiscal insolvency. In order to ensure a prosperous people, the communities highlighted by the Strongest Town Contest are working to apply a time-tested approach 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

"The contest is about the journey, not the destination," nationally recognized engineer and Strong Towns founder Charles Marohn said. "It's not a snapshot of where a place is as much as an examination of how they are trying to get to someplace better."

The city of Taylor nudged out the fellow Texas city of Navasota in round one of the competition. They are proud of their many transit options, which include cycling and walking trails, a low-cost on-demand transit program, and a downtown Amtrack station. Taylor is also working to balance new developments, including welcoming a Samsung manufacturing plant, with improving existing assets, such as their old Taylor High School, which is now a multi-use campus with 100% occupancy thanks to a small developer.

Norwood is a former manufacturing town that is working hard to reinvent itself after several plants, including a GM, left. They are working to improve transportation options by reworking its main thoroughfare to make it more walk-friendly, as well as by encouraging new local business to ensure there is plenty to walk to. Community groups are springing up to reinvigorate positive discourse, and there are plenty of small development projects in the works to give new life to old buildings.

20 Norwood residents were honored at this year’s Gems of the Community celebration, which recognizes citizen efforts to make Norwood resilient.

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.

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.

Media Contacts:
Strong Towns - Lauren Fisher, Communications
lauren@strongtowns.org / (844) 218-1681

Norwood - Mary C. Miller, Norwood Together Board President
mcmiller1952@gmail.com / (520) 603-3282

Taylor - Stacey Osborne, Communications Director
stacey.osborne@taylortx.gov / (713) 456-9429

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