Strong Towns Hosts Competition to Find Successful, Resilient Communities
Throughout the next month, Strong Towns, a national nonprofit working to build financial resilience in America’s cities, towns and neighborhoods, is hosting a competition to determine the strongest town in the world. This is the third annual “Strongest Town Contest” and this year, Strong Towns is pleased to announce that it received applications from communities in 22 states and Mexico.
Teams of applicants (including government staff, citizen activists and nonprofit leaders) were invited to apply to the contest by answering a series of questions about their community, and 16 towns have now been selected to compete in a bracket-based competition to determine which is the strongest. Towns are judged based on criteria like financial solvency, citizen engagement, transportation options and ability to adapt to new challenges. Learn more about Strong Towns’ principles here: www.strongtowns.org/mission.
From March 5 – 30, readers of the Strong Towns website will be invited to vote for the strongest town in daily bracket-based match ups, much like the NCAA’s annual basketball tournament. First round voting will be based on answers to a short series of questions, and subsequent rounds will include photo essays, podcast recordings and a final webinar showdown for the championship.
The 16 towns selected for the initial competition are: Brewton, Alabama; San Bruno, California; Pensacola, Florida; Palmetto Bay, Florida; Twin Falls, Idaho; Westmont, Illinois; Mishawaka, Indiana; Annapolis, Maryland; Marshall, Michigan; Muskegon, Michigan; Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico; Tupelo, Mississippo; Niagara Falls, New York; Kent, Ohio; Greenville, South Carolina; and San Marcos, Texas.
Follow the competition at strongtowns.org/strongesttown.
About Strong Towns:
Strong Towns is a national media nonprofit whose mission is to advocate for a model of development that allows America’s cities, towns and neighborhoods to grow financially strong and resilient. Strong Towns reaches an audience of more than 150,000 readers and listeners per month, and has over 2,000 members in all 50 U.S. states and around the world. Learn more at http://www.strongtowns.org