Given La Plata’s present growth pressures, I want to talk about Strong Towns, established in 2009, this is a national non-profit organization, promoting a new way of thinking about how towns grow, to be sustainable and resilient communities.
Their website -https://www.strongtowns.org/
Strong Town Principles:
· Strong cities, towns, and neighborhoods need strong citizens working together to improve the community.
· Local government is not the lowest level of government, but the highest level of collaboration for strong citizens working to build a prosperous place.
· For local government, financial solvency is a prerequisite for long-term prosperity. Land is the base resource from which community prosperity is built and sustained. It must not be squandered.
· A transportation system is one of many means of creating prosperity in a community, but never an end unto itself.
· Job creation and economic growth are the results of a healthy local economy, not substitutes for one.
The Strong Town Approach:
· Relies on incremental investments ("little bets") instead of large, transformative projects.
· Favors resiliency of result over the 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 ("chaotic but smart") and not top-down systems ("orderly but dumb").
· 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 ("do the math
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/10/9/we-need-growth-but-only-if-it-generates-real-wealth
This concludes this latest La Plata Town Council Ward 4 Update. I hope you find this podcast informative and useful.
Let me know what you think. I look forward to your questions and comments.
My email address is djenkins@townoflaplata.org
Talk to you soon!