And the Strongest Town Award goes to...
Photo by Doug Kerr
We started with 16 towns from across the United States. Some were large and urban, others small and rural, but all shared a passion for community, for strong neighborhoods and for local businesses. These towns competed in a series of tasks to showcase their strength and resilience through words, photographs, interviews and finally, a live broadcast.
The winner has proven its commitment to safe, accessible transportation with a recent road diet down its main street, new bike/walk trails and bus routes. Children in this town regularly walk to school. Its community organizations have come together to improve the public realm through parks, gardens and events, and its local colleges play a central role in the life of the town. Diverse residents make their home in this place, and challenges like the loss of factory jobs are met as opportunities for growth and transformation.
During the course of the contest, residents from the town explained:
“We have a great base of people that believe in this town.”
“I’m glad that I came back here to raise my kids.”
“The level of connection between residents, neighbors, nonprofits and borough is excellent here… Most of the great projects in town are all because of collaboration.”
We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2016 Strongest Town Contest: Carlisle, PA
The East Coast town of 19,000 has a long history dating back to the Revolutionary War. Some of its most famous and popular draws include: historic Dickinson College, the US Army War College, several beloved restaurants and its car shows. In each iteration of the Strongest Town contest, Carlisle stood out for its diverse and supportive community, which has helped to shape this town into a truly wonderful place to live.
Carlisle's win was by a narrow margin, with Carlisle taking 52% of the votes and Hoboken taking 48%. It’s clear that we have another very Strong Towns in Hoboken, NJ and many more who competed in earlier rounds of this contest. We encourage you to read more about these towns and their successes as inspiration for your own communities.
We're planning to host this contest again next year. If you'd like to help us make it even better next time around, please share your feedback below:
Thank you for voting, sharing and participating in this contest. Keep doing what you can to build Strong Towns.
Carlisle neighbors helping neighbors
(Top graphic by Matthias Leyrer)