Announcing the Winner of the 2020 Strongest Town Contest
When the fifth annual Strongest Town Contest launched at the beginning of March, few people could have known how quickly or how completely life as we know it would soon change. Yet even as phrases like “social distancing” and “flatten the curve” became part of the vernacular, as hundreds of millions of Americans hunkered down at home, and as the world turned generally upside down, many of us have been reflecting as never before on what makes our neighborhoods, towns, and cities special.
While no one wanted a global health emergency to be the backdrop of this year’s contest, we’ve heard from a number of you that the contest took on new significance—not just as a welcome distraction from so much distressing news, but because it feels more important than ever to bring attention to the characteristics that help make a community strong and resilient in the face of crisis.
We were fortunate to start this year’s Strongest Town Contest with so many wonderful cities. From among all the nominations, Strong Towns staff chose the 16 we felt best embodied the Strong Towns approach. We’re grateful for the work these communities’ representatives did to get into the competition in the first place—not to mention the additional work required for each successive round.
After a gauntlet of three rounds—a written application, a short photo essay, and a podcast interview—two towns emerged as the finalists: Beloit, Wisconsin and Watertown, South Dakota. Beloit advanced on the strength of its beautiful downtown, riverfront, wide variety of neighborhoods, the town’s support for local entrepreneurs, and more. Watertown advanced, in part, because of its own historic downtown, fiscal resilience, civic engagement, and community partnerships. Representatives from the Beloit and Watertown were interviewed on Monday by Strong Towns president Chuck Marohn. Once again, voters were faced with a tough choice: Which of these amazing communities should be named the winner of the 2020 Strongest Town Contest?
We would have been proud to name either Beloit or Watertown as this year’s champion. But, alas, there can be only one. And so, it is with great pleasure that we announce the winner of the 2020 Strongest Town Contest:
WATERTOWN, SOUTH DAKOTA!
From the beginning, Watertown distinguished itself as a town actively pursuing a Strong Towns approach to economic growth and development. In Round 1, we learned about Watertown’s culture of collaboration, justifiable community pride, fiscal responsibility, abundant entrepreneurial ecology, and more. In Round 2, we saw photos that illustrated the town’s strength. These included community-wide efforts to restore an historic opera house, the country’s #1 two-year college, and amazing nonprofits.
In Round 3, a podcast interview with Strong Towns Community Builder Jacob Moses, we learned about zoning changes that helped create housing options for people of all ages and abilities in Watertown, how switching to two-way streets (and ending parking minimums) boosted the already vibrant downtown, and Watertown's "secret weapon" in building a stronger community.
And in Round 4, Mayor Sarah Caron talked about why Watertown offers the benefits of a small town and many of the amenities of a big city, how Watertown’s experience mobilizing to confront flooding prepared it to combat coronavirus, the benefits of a town owning all its own utilities, and much more.
As the winner of the Strongest Town Contest, Watertown will receive a visit later this year from Chuck Marohn, to celebrate the victory and share the Strong Towns message. Representatives from Watertown will also be invited to accept the award at the National Strongest Town Conference in Pensacola, Florida. (The conference was originally scheduled for April 30-May 1, but has been postponed due to coronavirus.)
Thank you again to Beloit, Wisconsin and the other Strongest Town contestants, and thank you to the thousands of you who voted.
