Strongest Town 2023, Round 3: Saranac Lake, NY vs. Port Washington, WI
Welcome to the third round match-up in the eighth annual Strongest Town Contest! This time, four towns are facing off, and two will advance to the championship round based on your votes. We invite you to review commentary from Strong Towns members about why they think each of the contestants are doing the work to make their communities stronger and more financially resilient—then vote for the strongest candidate!
Can’t decide? If you’re looking for inspiration, check out how we describe the Strong Towns approach.
You may vote once per match-up. Round three voting closes at noon CT on Thursday, April 6. For rules, and to follow along with the contest, visit the Strongest Town Contest page.
Note: All entries are lightly edited for clarity and readability.
VOTING FOR THIS ROUND IS NOW CLOSED. RESULTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY, April 7.
SARANAC LAKE, NY
Commentary by Deepti Panuganti.
What is one thing about this city (or that this city is doing) that most reflects a Strong Towns approach?
Saranac Lake, with its location within Adirondack State Park, historic downtown, narrow streets, and its progressive housing policy (it never had an exclusive single-family home zoning policy) makes it uniquely well-suited to a Strong Towns approach. Saranac Lake has used these factors to its advantage and implemented many excellent initiatives, including a ban on parking minimums, expanded pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and a new mixed-use development downtown.
Among these new projects, one that stands out is their commitment to a transparent and user-friendly budget sheet, that is published on their website. Budget transparency provides the town residents with the financial data that they need to make informed and educated decisions on future policy implementations. It lays the foundation to make resilient plans to maintain and improve the city’s multi-use infrastructure. It also gives residents the power they need to initiate policies from the ground up, instead of being dictated from the top.
What is one thing that seems to you to be an obstacle or challenge to this city’s present or future financial strength and resilience?
Saranac Lake is currently facing a local housing crisis driven by an influx of short-term rentals and “zombie” housing. While there have been some attempts to address this problem, this can pose an ongoing issue for the community. A housing shortage can create a situation in which the town builds more housing without a full consideration of resiliency and accessibility that is needed for long-term sustainability. So far, Saranac Lake has had strong policies in place to protect the interest of the residents, and the restriction on short-term rentals is a step in the right direction to curb this problem. The town should be careful to continue to consider long-term sustainability when proposing additional solutions for the housing crisis.
What is one question you would like to see us ask this town’s representatives?
While the limitation on short-term rentals may be a good start to address Saranac Lake’s housing crisis, my concern is with the exception of this limit in cases where the goal is improving “zombie” houses. While this may be a good stop-gap solution, it poses the risk of not solving for the driving factor behind these derelict houses in the first place and simply increasing the number of short-term rentals. Has the town looked into what may be driving this increase in disinvested homes, to better understand, and in doing so attempt to address, the root cause of the issue? What other initiatives is the town considering to address this problem?
Any final thoughts on this city's submissions for Round 1 and Round 2?
I love the importance given to nature in Saranac Lake, and how accessibility to nature is driving a lot of their initiatives. It's great how the vast nature reserve is being utilized twofold—as a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly access route to the city center, as well as refreshing time spent outdoors!
Deepti Panuganti is a part-time student of Urban Studies in NYC, and is passionate about advocating for inclusive towns and cities that serve the needs of the many and not the few. When not working or studying, she loves to explore different neighborhoods in New York, both within the city, as well as the beautiful upstate villages along the Hudson.
PORT WASHINGTON, WI
Commentary by Kayvan Afrasiabi.
What is one thing about this city (or that this city is doing) that most reflects a Strong Towns approach?
Part of the city’s Five Year Strategic Plan is to implement a “cost to service” model to be used for all new developments, which will forecast the cost of municipal services to a development versus the return said development gives back the city via taxes. If done correctly, this could go far to discouraging wasteful, financially insolvent sprawl, and encouraging mixed-use density in the city’s most valuable and efficient land.
What is one thing that seems to you to be an obstacle or challenge to this city’s present or future financial strength and resilience?
The future land use plan has some of the southern land in the city—dubbed “VK Land,” currently 172+ acres zoned for agriculture—to be designated as “medium density residential” for future development, but would still in fact be single-family homes. With plots as large as a third of an acre, it may amount to sprawl unless a mixed-use node/main street of some sort is curated in conjunction with developers. Other “Opportunity Sites” in the plan may also draw economic activity away from downtown, but they may be positive improvements, nonetheless. Hopefully, the tax incremental districts around downtown, the planned improvements to the walkability of downtown, as well as the “cost to service” model will help keep the investment where it’s needed most.
What is one question you would like to see us ask this town’s representatives?
I received an email from the submitter with some explanation of how the “cost to service” model is formulated. I’d like them to reiterate to the Strong Towns community at large, but also perhaps ponder on the central question the model posits: What is the “magic number” for a development’s municipal value to be considered “sustainable”? After accounting for not only street repair, services, perhaps even environmental and cultural factors, should Port Washington strive for its developments to break even, or run a surplus to give the city a rainy-day safety net?
Any final thoughts on this city’s submissions for Round 1 and Round 2?
The submitters did well to mention the State Highway 33 project that led to building the divided road with trees, roundabouts, and a bike–pedestrian trail on one side. It could have easily fallen trap to the classic DOT blunder of building a dangerous stroad. Thankfully, what ended up being built is the best of both worlds: safely accommodating cars, slowing them as they approach downtown, as well as giving pedestrians and cyclists a safe, separated, scenic, and useful space within this facility.
What I love most about Port Washington is being able to see St. Mary’s Church from multiple angles on its high hill while walking around downtown. That, as well as the historic lighthouse and the views of Lake Michigan on the marina, provide cultural monuments that give visitors and residents a welcoming sense of place.
Kayvan Afrasiabi is professionally a control systems engineer, but personally an active transportation and land use advocate in Rogers, Arkansas, part of the Northwest Arkansas metro area. He is a Strong Towns member and a volunteer with numerous local nonprofits in the community that can consider themselves Strong Towns adjacent: touching on active transportation education, soft and hard surface trail building, slow street creation, donation bicycle repair, and land use/zoning reform. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn or by email at kayvan.afrasiabi@gmail.com.
PORT WASHINGTON, WI
Commentary by Amy Lang
What is one thing about this city (or that this city is doing) that most reflects a Strong Towns approach?
It sounds like Port Washington is doing a lot of great work that is aligned with a Strong Towns approach! I love that they are using a cost-to-service model to determine the cost of providing infrastructure to new developments and then comparing it to their tax revenue. This is a fantastic approach to ensuring that the city will be sustainable. They have also ensured transparency in handling city finances by posting the five-year plan on the website along with the budget, and residents are able to easily see how their tax dollars are spent.
What is one thing that seems to you to be an obstacle or challenge to this city’s present or future financial strength and resilience?
Despite the fact that the city is actively working to promote narrowing streets and increase pedestrian safety, the downtown is divided by not one but two large, high-speed roads. It’s wonderful they have done some work to narrow one of them, but they only narrowed it from 48 to 42 feet. Most likely traffic will still be faster than is comfortable for pedestrians and the width of the highway will be difficult to cross safely on foot. I’m concerned they are not not going far enough with their changes. In addition, the other downtown highway was expanded from two lanes to four, with 11-foot lane widths and a 35-mile-an-hour speed limit. These high-speed, wide highways don’t go far enough to create what could be a pleasant, walkable downtown.
What is one question you would like to see us ask this town’s representatives?
I would like to ask about the new urbanist approach beyond the downtown streets. Are their plans to extend the Strong Towns approach for walkability and compact development?
Any final thoughts on this city’s submissions for Round 1 and Round 2?
Port Washington sounds like a wonderful town in a beautiful setting on Lake Michigan, and the city is taking the steps to be a Strong Town as demonstrated by the lovely photos submitted! They are taking advantage of their lovely downtown through mixed-use development making great use of vacant lots, and standing up to the controversy over using them for local businesses. I love their focus on financial sustainability and their willingness to be transparent with their constituents. I am also impressed with their willingness to remove parking minimums as an impediment to development and their densification of the downtown area. Finally, they are demonstrating a commitment to safety through the adoption of Vision Zero and zero traffic deaths. Downtown Port Washington currently has a Walkscore of 73, putting it in the Very Walkable category. It is clear that Port Washington, WI is making great strides toward a Strong Town approach!
Amy Lang is a passionate advocate for the Strong Towns approach and serves on the Bike and Pedestrian Board of the City of Boca Raton. While she spends her days working in Sales and Leadership Training, nights and weekends she dons her Super-Advocate cape and is likely to be found gathering signatures for traffic calming or bike lanes.