Streator, IL vs. Watertown, SD
Welcome to this first round match-up in the fifth annual Strongest Town Competition! In this round, 16 towns are facing off, and eight will advance to the next segment of the contest based on your votes. We invite you to read the answers that representatives from these two towns provided to questions about economic resilience, citizen involvement, land use and more, then vote for the strongest.
Can’t decide? If you’re looking for inspiration, check out how we describe the Strong Towns approach, or maybe take a look at the questions that make up our Strong Towns Strength Test.
You may vote once per day in each match-up.
Round 1 voting closes at 12pm CDT on Thursday, March 12st.
Note: All entries are lightly edited for clarity and readability.
STREATOR, IL
Entry submitted by: Tara Bedei, Jody Ogle
What is your favorite thing about your town?
Our volunteers are second to none. Our tourism board is all volunteer. Volunteers also put together the Fourth of July Celebration, the Christmas Parade, Light Up Streator (holiday lights), Labor Day Celebration, and more. When the Walldogs Mural festival came to Streator in 2018, we had more than 600 volunteers doing everything from feeding the more than 250 artists, hosting them in their homes, and even delivering them water.
What is the biggest challenge your town faces, and what are you doing to address it?
Currently, housing is one of the largest issues. Most of the nicer homes are just outside of city limits. Inside the city, we’ve had years of generations moving away. Once our older citizens move into a nursing home or pass away, the children are saddled with a house in a town that they have moved far from. These homes often times sit vacant, and eventually become rentals or fall into disrepair. We also have many out of town landlords who, through the years, have rented out their properties without investing back into them. Streator budgets $50,000 each year to demolish worn down structures and homes.
The City of Streator has recently launched its housing redevelopment program. One of the first tasks was to create a rental property registration. Rental properties were split into three groups. The first group was the properties who have had multiple ordinance violations. Inspections looked for health and safety issues with the properties. Another portion of the housing redevelopment plan is to assemble lots for housing infill. Conversations have been held with area real estate developers to see if there is interest in creating new owner-occupied housing in these parcels. The roads, sewer, and utilities are already in place, potentially saving the developers (and the city) on the project.
What transportation options exist in your town for people of varying ages, abilities, and means? How easy is it to live in your town without regular access to a car? What transportation investments has your town recently made or is it in the process of making?
Streator, as a whole, is quite walkable. Those without a car are often seen on bicycle or walking. Streator has partnered with other local communities to offer the North Central Area Transit system. This ride system is especially helpful to those who need rides to health care services outside of Streator.
Tell us about your community's local economy. Who are the key players, big and small, and how do they help your town to be financially strong and resilient? What local businesses are you most proud of?
The key players in the local economy include the City of Streator, The Streator Area Chamber of Commerce, the Streator Incubator, START (Streator Action and Revitalization Team), the Illinois SBDC at Starved Rock Country Alliance and the Greater Livingston County Economic Development Corporation (GLCEDC).
The Streator Incubator offers low cost start up spaces for entrepreneurs looking to open a new business. The facility is held within the former Armory, keeping the building from sitting vacant. They also host sports teams and a place to walk indoors. Another piece of the business is a commercial kitchen that is available to rent by the hour. It hosted a pop-up café last year.
A few of the downtown building owners have re-worked their footprints to allow for multiple smaller businesses to open inside of their larger buildings. This has acted as a type of retail incubator, giving us multiple new businesses.
There are several notable businesses in Streator. We are heavily involved in manufacturing. Vactor is one of the largest employers, and it is expanding onto the facility and adding 90 jobs. Owens Illinois, Streator Dependable, US Truck Body, Coras, Flink, and Stertil ALM also provide many manufacturing jobs. OSF Center for Health is in the former hospital and is working to evolve rural health care. They also launched Live Well Streator to tackle such health problems as healthy eating, activity, and drug use prevention.
If we took a walking tour through your town, what would we see? How does your community use its land productively to promote long-term financial resilience?
You would see a town on the verge of a comeback.
Downtown is in the process of redevelopment with new buildings under construction. New businesses are opening. A new greenway trail was added to utilize the Vermilion River.
A new arts movement is taking place. Nearly 20 murals have been added in the last few years. SHS weld shop is creating metal sculptures. A Pluto monument was added to celebrate Pluto’s discoverer, the astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, a Streator native.
The Streator High School is updating the auditorium. After years of financial struggles, the grade school district is finally being taken off of state financial watch lists.
You would also see the need for housing improvements, streets that need repair faster than we can fund them, and more redevelopment needed.
How easy is it to become an entrepreneur or a small-scale developer in your town? What kinds of support are available for a resident who wants to open a business or build on a small vacant lot?
Streator has seen numerous small businesses open in the last five years. We have a branch of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the Starved Rock Alliance at the Streator Incubator. We are able to refer people to the SBDC for start up advice.
Streator also offers TIF, an Enterprise Zone, and an Opportunity Zone as development incentives.
START Streator was originated from the downtown revitalization plan. This committee works closely with the city to improve the downtown area. Some of the outcomes have been the creation of a façade improvement grant and a vacant property database to connect business owners with property owners. We have focused on new business recruitment and support based on sales tax leakage data. Last year, we put together a Commercial Property Open House with information sessions, and we will be following it up again this year. We also partnered with realtors for properties and NCI Artworks for art. We also sell special Streator mugs to raise money ourselves. The funding has been used to plant flowers in the downtown planters by partnering with the Streator Garden Club and the Streator High School horticulture students and bike racks through a partnership with the Streator High School Welding students.
At Strong Towns we believe that financial solvency is a prerequisite for long-term prosperity. What steps has your community taken to ensure its financial security? Do local leaders adequately do the math on new investments proposed in your town to ensure that they’ll be able to afford them now and afford their maintenance in the future?
The Streator City Council works hard each year to provide a balanced budget. They’ve put aside $1.5 million into a reserve fund in case of emergency. We also have worked on keeping a good bond rating, so that when we have to borrow we save the taxpayers money on interest rates.
When the city looks at new investments for TIF funds, we review the costs versus the funds that would come back in to make sure that the project is affordable.
At Strong Towns, we believe that local government is a platform for strong citizens to collaboratively build a prosperous place. How are residents in your town involved in shaping its future? How do residents’ experiences, struggles, and concerns directly inform the projects undertaken by local government? Provide one or more examples.
Streator has several citizen-led boards that provide input to the city. START, previously mentioned, provides input into the downtown and other improvements needed to support the revitalization. Another example is the Parks board, which provides input from citizens to the city on park and recreation needs.
When the city proposed the rental property inspection program as a way to improve our housing stock and to decrease trouble properties, a call to the public for landlords went out. The feedback helped the city put together a process that would help the city accomplish our goals without being overly burdensome to the property owners who do a good job.
Image credit: Watertown Convention & Visitors Bureau. Photographer, Chad Copus (South Dakota Department of Tourism). Used by permission.
Watertown, sd
Entry submitted by: Sarah Caron, Kristen Henderson, Jan DeBerg, Greg Blow, Matt Roby, Nancy Turbak Berry, Liam Culhane, Chris Schilken, Jim Seurer, Michael Heuer, Tim Sheehan, Julie Knutson, Christine Dolney
What is your favorite thing about your town?
Many remark it is the people, lifestyle or peace of mind. Some say it is the outdoor sports. Others claim it is the art and culture. The specific answers to the question of what is favorite are many, but all will agree that Watertown is special.
Watertown collaborates. The team spirit is abundant, and the community is proud of all it has to offer. Throughout its history, leaders have enthusiastically praised innovation, self-determination, and careful planning so that future generations can prosper. Watertown is home to both a Community Foundation and Development Company that predate most in the country, providing support to the community so that Watertown can flourish both financially and culturally. Community pride is magnetic, contagious, and summarizes that hard-to-describe feeling which is the cumulative favorite thing about Watertown.
Our regional airport bustles with sportsmen traveling from afar to enjoy the world-class fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation. Along with the locals, visitors enjoy Watertown’s outdoor shooting range, lakes, parks, campgrounds, trails and wide, open nature. Art enthusiasts burst with pride over the Redlin Art Center featuring the works of America’s favorite artist and beloved Watertown resident, Terry Redlin. Others come for the opportunities: to build a family, lead a fulfilling life, feel safe, have a satisfying career and be involved. Those who prioritize healthy lifestyle cite the fantastic Prairie Lakes Wellness Center as reason to live in Watertown.
Friendly, down-to-earth people and small town charm top the list of favorite things, as does the carefully restored historic Goss Opera House where community members gather to indulge their souls. You will not find Watertown’s unique mix of features anywhere else in the world.
What is the biggest challenge your town faces, and what are you doing to address it?
While every city has an economic spectrum, Watertown’s median household income is below both national and state average. The biggest challenge faced by this city of modest means is money.
Watertown consistently overcomes the threat of budget shortfall with responsible governance. Community organizations provide residents unmatched quality of life despite budget constraints.
Watertown’s Boys and Girls Club is the finest in the nation thanks to unrivaled community support. Our Club provides a safe, fun learning environment after school and on no-school days, and summer programs for only $25 per year. This allows parents to participate in the workforce without the burden of daycare expense. All children are welcome regardless of economic status, normalizing the Club. The Club dramatically reduces financial stress for these families, promotes dignity, and leads to healthier families. It also gives Watertown an advantage with workforce.
People Against Childhood Hunger (PACH) provides backpacks full of food for students to take home for non-school hours. What began as a small group working at a church blew up into a community-wide effort to alleviate food insecurity. Hundreds of volunteers provide service to distribute food. A similar program, 4 the Kids SD helps students pay lunch account balances.
The Community Foundation provides grants to support arts, culture, and community. Examples just in the last year include grants for the Goss Opera House, a downtown park, downtown sculptures, and projects at the zoo. The Development Company invests in the community’s financial future through a focus on industrial parks, workforce development, housing, and downtown redevelopment.
Throughout the community, collaboration and community spirt help Watertown tackle its challenges.
What transportation options exist in your town for people of varying ages, abilities, and means? How easy is it to live in your town without regular access to a car? What transportation investments has your town recently made or is it in the process of making?
Residents of all ages with no regular access to a car have several transportation options.
Watertown’s Community Transit operates 13 buses and vans carrying passengers six days a week from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM (4:00 PM on Saturdays). Riders appreciate the safety, reliability, cleanliness, and fun and friendly drivers. Passengers, including those in wheelchairs, choose regularly scheduled routes to shopping areas or enjoy door-to-door service for individual needs. Nearly 65,000 rides were provided in 2019 to riders age 3 and up at a price of $3 within the City and $5 to outlying areas.
Partnerships with local health care providers let passengers ride free to visit local doctors, dentists, optometrists, and therapists. Rides to public polls on voting day are also free. The many financial supporters whose support allows Community Transit to keep growing and improving its services include the City of Watertown, Codington County, and Watertown Area Community Foundation.
Within easy walking distance, downtown residents can find groceries and other supplies, boutique shops, professional services, appliance and furniture retailers, work out facilities, barbershops and salons, banks, the Post Office, and a wide variety of food, beverage, and entertainment options.
Watertown also has a taxi service, Lake City Cab Co., Inc., and is served by Lyft.
For the past 20 years, the City of Watertown and the Watertown Area Community Foundation have built an extensive network of bicycle/pedestrian trails linking various neighborhoods, Lake Kampeska, and other attractions. Thirty miles of paved trails traverse local parks, offer rest stops, and visit points of interest along the way, including Bramble Park Zoo, the Terry Redlin Art Center, and Stokes Thomas City Park.
Tell us about your community's local economy. Who are the key players, big and small, and how do they help your town to be financially strong and resilient? What local businesses are you most proud of?
Our vibrant, diverse economy benefits from geography and unique local resources. We are located on I-29 between Fargo and Sioux Falls, surrounded by rural homes and communities for which we are the employment, commercial, and healthcare hub. Circled by productive farmland, we are in the middle of hundreds of glacial lakes, with one of the largest located within city limits. Agriculture, manufacturing, education, healthcare, retail, recreation, and tourism are all key players.
Lake Area Technical Institute, the nation’s #1 technical college, produces highly skilled workers. Municipal Utilities helps attract and grow businesses by keeping rates low. Watertown Development Co., a public-private partnership, takes the lead in attracting and keeping businesses. A large financial community provides credit for borrowers, while our Ag Co-Op provides massive support for agriculture.
Manufacturers range from Terex, global leader in boom truck construction (investing over $80M in local expansion), to smaller homegrown companies whose workers reliably turn out world class products. Dakota Tube, #1 hydraulics manufacturer in the U.S., is just one of many locally owned companies that are a huge source of stability and pride. Glacial Lakes Energy provides jobs, dividends to local owners, and markets for farmers. Prairie Lakes Healthcare System, one of our largest employers, operates a regional hospital, cancer center, and many specialty clinics, all complemented by a variety of independent private practitioners.
Revitalization of our historic downtown is well underway. Over a dozen new businesses, many owned by young entrepreneurs, offer services, retail, entertainment, or food and beverage, complementing treasured downtown mainstays, longtime furniture and appliance dealers.
If we took a walking tour through your town, what would we see? How does your community use its land productively to promote long-term financial resilience?
Kids fish from a bridge on the grounds of the stunning Redlin Art Center. The lovely view graces our gateway. Behind it is the massive edifice of Terex, a primary local employer. To assist business growth, the city partners with its development company, WDC to purchase and develop land. As a result, the town has a diverse manufacturing base providing well-paying jobs in industrial parks near airport, rail and highway.
Through mixed-use development, we pass into the tree-lined residential area around our award-winning technical college and continue to downtown.
Lovingly preserved historic buildings and overflowing flower baskets frame a concert in the street and happy people enjoying the atmosphere. Cranes dot the skyline as they move building materials to any number of new construction and redevelopment projects underway. While downtown certainly suffered during the era of infatuation with cars that spurred a bit of sprawl years ago, it wasn’t enough to kill the core. Many apartments, a grocery store, shops, restaurants, and businesses bear witness that downtown persists and thrives.
Nearby parkland all along the river is allowed to flood occasionally as the city bought it for that purpose. Upriver rests Bramble Park Zoo, a source of education, entertainment and pride.
Reinvesting in developed areas is a priority for Watertown. Revolving fund loans are available for businesses to improve their property. The city reconstructs one block of deteriorated alley downtown in addition to street repair activities annually to refresh roads. It promotes restoration of private property.
Companies rally around WDC, supporting and following, in-filling and expanding as needed. WDC buys and remodels vacant buildings, then leases or sells them. Repurposing yields resilience.
How easy is it to become an entrepreneur or a small-scale developer in your town? What kinds of support are available for a resident who wants to open a business or build on a small vacant lot?
Watertown is a great place to develop or start a business. Help abounds. From the one-man shop needing shared rental space to the fully mature company looking to establish a new home, all are welcomed warmly.
The town certainly appreciates the few large employers that move and shake us but the small businesses are our backbone. They are the safe proving grounds for ideas and techniques that are the vital kindling to the fire in our economy. They pop up quickly and are sometimes gone before noticed but often catch on and grow. Start-ups and small businesses nimbly answer the ever-changing needs of this town that values innovation. Mentors stand ready at the nation’s top tech school, in the local development company (WDC), in our chamber of commerce, service clubs, and partner industries.
Watertown is large enough to have all varieties of business but small enough to give face-to-face meetings with the mayor & WDC director who are there to serve. Home occupations are encouraged via clear and simple zoning regulations. WDC, a shared investment group of dozens of local employers pooling funds, works to strengthen the town. It purchases vacant and outgrown buildings, then refurbishes and leases or sells them as appropriate to facilitate start-up and expansion. Leadership Watertown classes introduce novices to the lifelines and pathways needed to thrive.
Infill development receives priority. 82% of all permits are issued on the spot. Development and economic health committees operate as sounding boards finding ways to streamline processes and eliminate roadblocks. First District Association provides guidance. Credit is very accessible because of the large number of local, regional and national banks. Agencies work together to meet the needs of the business community.
At Strong Towns we believe that financial solvency is a prerequisite for long-term prosperity. What steps has your community taken to ensure its financial security? Do local leaders adequately do the math on new investments proposed in your town to ensure that they’ll be able to afford them now and afford their maintenance in the future?
The community culture is financially conservative, and Watertown’s excellent bond rating reflects fiscal discipline. A complete separation of tax dollars between capital improvement and operation & maintenance has necessitated careful funding analysis of all expenditures, ensuring sustainable amenities. The City has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association every year since 1982.
Watertown’s founders laid out a superb foundation for sustainable growth. Conservative leadership has resulted in a community able to provide a high quality of life at low cost. A strong culture of pride in the robust, yet modest structure of the community persists.
No single action accounts for the financial security Watertown enjoys. Rather, the combination of utility ownership, strategic transportation links, locally owned nonprofit healthcare providers, and top-notch schools all help enable essential services at a reasonable price. Careful investment in infrastructure and amenities has resulted in fiscal stability.
The beautiful lakes drew settlers who built a prosperous town center in Watertown’s earliest days. They established community-owned utilities of water, sewer, garbage, gas and electricity. They invested in schools and a hospital and preserved some of the best land for public parks. They built a sturdy airfield to accommodate large aircraft and after WWII formed a development company to ensure diverse employment opportunities. A few decades later they created the first community foundation in the state, providing opportunity for philanthropists to help secure the town’s future. Foresight of early leaders created rock-solid groundwork that continues to accommodate growth.
At Strong Towns, we believe that local government is a platform for strong citizens to collaboratively build a prosperous place. How are residents in your town involved in shaping its future? How do residents’ experiences, struggles, and concerns directly inform the projects undertaken by local government? Provide one or more examples.
Watertown citizens are heavily involved in local government. Besides the City Council and its subcommittees, citizens serve on at least 12 boards and commissions ranging from 4 to 22 members, each comprised of a varied group of individuals. The community has achieved notable success in including more young people and otherwise expanding the diversity of members. Members take their roles seriously and bring new ideas and points of view to the public forum. Boards and commissions regularly make important decisions and provide valued recommendations.
One such commission convened in 2019 to review our Home Rule Charter and consider changing our form of government. This group of community-minded citizens, 11 men and 10 women, was fully engaged, calling witnesses to inform their discussion and diligently studying the issues. It was evident they understood the weight and far-reaching impact of their decision. The Commission ultimately recommended the City adopt a Council/Manager form of government, in part to avoid uncertainties previously created by policy inconsistencies in the area of development. Members took the lead to educate the public, and the citizenry overwhelmingly approved the change at the ballot box.
Citizens are consistently involved in making things happen in the community beyond formal government operations. A few years ago, hundreds of citizens participated in an ongoing process to envision the community’s future from many angles, and their recommendations often have guided governmental decisions ever since. Likewise, successful capital campaigns enable the Boys and Girls Club, Goss Opera House, Watertown Development Company, Watertown Community Foundation, and the United Way to thrive in ways that typically dovetail with local government efforts.