Pittsburg, KS vs. Sharon, PA
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.
Photo Credit: Michael Fienen Photography
Pittsburg, KS
Entry submitted by: Dawn McNay, Daron Hall, Jay Byers, Sarah Runyon, Brittan Brenner, Blake Benson, Abigale Fern, Brett Dalton, Joe Dellasega
What is your favorite thing about your town?
In Pittsburg we have the small-town feel and family atmosphere with all the amenities of a large city, but without all the hustle, bustle and noise. We live in the “sweet spot” between a metropolitan city and a rural community. Pittsburg has the kind of atmosphere that all people desire – where they can find a meaningful job, medical care, a low cost of living, entertainment options, a vibrant downtown, arts and cultural experiences, and great educational opportunities. Our resilience, along with a strong sense of community, is a proud legacy from the immigrants that came to Pittsburg to work the coal mines. In Pittsburg, everyone matters. Each person’s contribution is significant and everyone can have a noticeable impact. We have the kind of atmosphere that draws people in and makes them feel like they belong. In a recent public input meeting, citizens were asked to give us "one word that describes Pittsburg to you." The top response was “home.”
What is the biggest challenge your town faces, and what are you doing to address it?
The biggest challenge is our geographical location. Nestled in the far southeastern corner of Kansas, we border three states with varying tax structures. We compete with communities in our own state, but also in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. We have made strategic investments to make Pittsburg a place where people want to live, work and play. We created a community development department to address housing; provided incentives for businesses both small and large; invested in our park system; strengthened our partnership with the university; created more retail and entertainment options; revitalized our downtown district; supported increased access to healthcare; made Pittsburg a safer, more walkable city; and added over 1,400 new jobs in the last five years.
A region founded on coal mining, Pittsburg was once an ideal location for zinc smelting industries. Our history presents a set of environmental challenges, but we have transformed two contaminated sites into new development opportunities. Working with local property owners, the EPA and KS Dept. of Health & Environment, we turned these once abandoned areas into productive assets for our city.
Water is our most abundant resource, but it also presents a set of unique difficulties. Surrounded by a flood plain, our growth is restricted by our immediate boundaries. By completing a comprehensive land use plan, we are working to addresses these difficulties to provide strategies for future growth. The land use plan gives a roadmap to manage our flooding issues and transform our unique waterways into attractive amenities to enhance our built environment.
Our destiny is not defined by our zip code. Pittsburg is a place where anyone can build a business, raise a family, and have an excellent quality of life.
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?
Historically, Pittsburg has not been the most bike or pedestrian-friendly city, and sidewalks in many neighborhoods were inconsistent. However, great strides have been made over the past several years to improve access to active transportation.
In 2014, the City of Pittsburg established the Active Transportation Advisory Board, a volunteer committee focused on the planning and development of non-motorized transportation. In 2015, the City of Pittsburg partnered with Live Well Crawford County and PedNet to produce a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. At the same time, the city modified its zoning and subdivision regulations, requiring sidewalks for new development. In 2017, Pittsburg residents voted to implement a new sales tax to fund additional street repairs and to create a five-year sidewalk improvement program. With the help of these citizen-led efforts, the community has seen over $2.7 million in public and private dollars invested in walking and biking paths over the last five years. Together, we are making Pittsburg a more connected city.
In addition to the new walking and biking paths, residents can access the Pittsburg Area Community Transit, or P.A.C.T. bus, a service offered by the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program (SEK-CAP), with stops at popular retail, educational, medical, and service locations throughout the city. In 2018, the city partnered with SEK-CAP and Pittsburg State University to provide an additional bus from the downtown district to the PSU campus. These public transportation options are available to everyone in the Pittsburg community regardless of their ability to pay.
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 Pittsburg area economy was built by some of Kansas’ most notable entrepreneurial success stories. NPC International, the world’s largest franchise owner of Pizza Hut and Wendy’s restaurants, was founded by Pittsburg resident Gene Bicknell in 1962. The company now employs over 35,000 people across 1,200 Pizza Hut and 400 Wendy’s locations.
Miller’s Professional Imaging, the nation’s largest professional photo developing lab, was established by Pittsburg photographer Bill Miller just two years later.
Watco Companies, one of the world’s largest short-line railroad operators, was founded by local couple Dick and Kaye Lynne Webb in 1983 and now has over 2,000 employees around the world.
Pittsburg resident Ken Brock purchased a fledgling phone book directory company in 1974 for $3,600. Today, Names & Numbers is one of the nation’s leading phone directories, with almost four million directories in circulation throughout 68 different markets.
Pittsburg educator Harvey Dean began creating academic curriculum in 1971 and would eventually establish Pitsco Education, one of the world’s leading providers of educational tools and curriculum.
All of these companies maintain a significant presence in Pittsburg and are extremely supportive of the community, giving back to local schools and non-profit organizations. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect is that from the shoulders of these giants, a new generation of entrepreneurs is emerging. Companies like PRG Prototyping, Progressive Products, LimeLight Marketing, Silvercreek Medical Reimbursement Solutions and more have found early success and plan to continue growing their local footprint. The diversity of business and industry gives us economic resilience, a specific strategy of our economic development efforts.
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?
In walking through our town, it quickly becomes clear that we are a town of movers and shakers. Pittsburg is unique in its ability to transform places into destinations by the strategic collaboration of various community organizations to meet the needs of our residents.
In the past year, the city has placed an emphasis on the need for strategic land use, resulting in the creation of a future land use plan for the city. This plan provides not only a snapshot of current land uses, but also recommendations and goals for the city moving forward to continue guided, sustainable growth in Pittsburg.
You will notice a focused effort to build density within our city limits and revitalize existing neighborhoods. Since 2015, our land bank program has taken blighted and tax-delinquent properties and put them back into productive use. We had a record year in 2019 with a total of 15 properties sold, and 25 new homes are set to be built on former land bank lots in the next two years. This program and other city housing initiatives work together to incentivize home ownership and improve neighborhoods throughout the community.
Another example is the city’s Mid-City Renaissance Plan, a strategic community vision in partnership with the EPA to transform a brownfield site into a destination for outdoor recreation and entertainment in our city’s core.
Yet another great example is Block22, a unique live-learning community that combines student housing, a small business incubator, a space for entrepreneurial development, and exciting commercial and retail establishments. Working together with our university and a private development group, the city was able to save four of Pittsburg’s oldest historic buildings from demolition and transform the iconic intersection of 4th and Broadway.
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?
As a community built by dreamers and doers, Pittsburg prides itself on providing opportunities for entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into reality. The entrepreneurial spirit is seen throughout Pittsburg – from our largest, most successful employers to our small boutique shops downtown.
The unique economic development partnership between the City of Pittsburg, Pittsburg State University, and the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce fosters an environment ripe with small business support and the various resources necessary to help entrepreneurs grow and thrive.
The Small Business Development Center, which is located downtown inside Block22, helps dreamers take their first steps by providing services such as business planning, marketing, financial planning, and more. Their one-on-one support and various workshops help entrepreneurs succeed along every step of their journey.
Pittsburg also is proud to offer start-up capital via the city’s Revolving Loan Fund, made possible through a quarter-cent economic development sales tax. Many of our small businesses are able to get off the ground thanks to loans from the RLF. Those various support mechanisms have helped lead to impressive growth in Pittsburg’s business community and has reignited economic activity and prosperity in our downtown district, which is populated by local entrepreneurs and small business owners.
In a report that was just published by LendEDU, Pittsburg ranked very high nationally in terms of net number of business openings in recent years. Pittsburg ranked number 171 in the country and number four in the state of Kansas after it netted 26 business openings between 2015 and 2016. Specifically, Pittsburg saw 95 businesses open and just 69 businesses close over this period of time.
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?
Seven years ago, the City of Pittsburg created a five-year financial forecast and five-year Capital Improvements Program to provide a framework for the city’s long-term financial success. These tools help to identify capital equipment and operational needs.
The planning processes provided insight into areas where costs were rising faster than the tax base could support. Staffing changes were made while in other cases it meant applying equipment and technology. Strategic contracting for irregular tasks also proved to be effective at cost control. Re-engineering healthcare and related services and moving to a reference-based pricing model allowed for healthcare costs to remain static for the last six years.
Maintaining service required attention to revenues. Strategic tax increases for public safety and infrastructure significantly improved these services and avoided raiding other sources. Leveraging local funds with state and federal grants financed projects that had been needed for decades. The city’s loan fund uses an analytical model to validate the city’s return on investment and has proved to be a catalyst for growth. The use of state housing incentives has kickstarted new residential development. The land bank has facilitated the acquisition of non-performing properties for conversion to productive reuse, which corresponds to our focus on density vs. sprawl.
Sound fiscal management and strategic investments have resulted in average of 2.5% growth in sales taxes revenue over six years and the first significant growth in assessed valuation in over a decade, without significantly increasing the city’s footprint or putting undue strain on our taxpayers. This work has also resulted in a bond rating increase from A+ to AA- by Standard and Poor’s in 2015.
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.
Pittsburg residents can engage in the local decision-making process by becoming a member of one of 13 citizen advisory boards. These boards are made up of volunteers who care about the community and want to take an active role in making it an even better place to live. Advocates of active transportation, sustainability, downtown development, economic development, parks and recreation and more are involved in helping our city leaders make decisions about Pittsburg’s future.
Perhaps the best example of civic engagement in our community is Imagine Pittsburg 2030 (IP2030), a strategic plan to address Pittsburg’s opportunities and challenges through the year 2030. The planning process was initiated in 2010 by the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce and involved stakeholders from the healthcare, non-profits, education, local government, business sectors, and our faith communities. To maximize community input, the IP2030 steering committee engaged the Bernard Group to facilitate multiple town hall meetings, focus groups, one-on-one interviews and surveys. From this input emerged a common vision, along with four specific core areas of focus: Housing, Economic Development, Infrastructure and Public Wellness. The plan was later updated in 2017 to include two more focus areas: Education and Marketing.
Since 2012, Pittsburg has experienced approximately $480 million in planned or completed projects. Many of these are a direct result of community input received through the IP2030 planning process. This initiative continues to gain momentum as we educate our citizens with bi-monthly community conversations around topics people truly care about. These informational sessions have been a valuable mechanism to gather feedback and get people involved in their community.
Photo Credit: Courtney Saylor
SHARON, PA
Entry submitted by: Courtney Saylor, Bill Dodd, Samuel Walker
What is your favorite thing about your town?
Sharon's volunteer base made up of people who truly care about this town produced some impressive work that can be used as a model for small Rust Belt cities. The scrappy, resourceful citizenry and a willingness to get their hands dirty are our favorite thing.
What is the biggest challenge your town faces, and what are you doing to address it?
Loss of people who live here has resulted in excess housing (lost manufacturing jobs leads to lower population). In an effort to keep taxes low, local city government is under capacity, which makes it very difficult to enact programs to battle blight and move the city forward. In the last couple of years, very active citizen groups have pushed for and gotten results in collecting data via a crowd-sourced, entirely volunteer mapping initiative of blighted homes.
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?
Sharon is 4 square miles and in the last year the state has completely revamped the main drag's sidewalks. In the last decade, a downtown streetscape and revitalization effort has been underway and the city also got a grant to install a bicycle lane leading from downtown to a nearby park. Outside of county and medical organization transportation efforts, a large population of our underserved elderly live next to downtown and can walk or ride scooters to shopping.
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?
In the last five years, $140 million (nearly all private) has been invested in our downtown and first concentric (walking distance) toward the revitalization of our city’s economic structure. Our key players include JCL Development, the Winner Family and a campus of Penn State University. Sharon is home to Daffins Candies - the best darn chocolate there is - Black Knight financial services, Ellwood Crankshaft, and is the original location of the now-popular chain Quaker Steak & Lube restaurants. JCL and the people behind it have purchased a number of buildings downtown and are rehabbing them into things like coffee shops, gift shops, a gym, performing arts space and apartments along the Shenango River. The Winner family own the multiple story fashion store known throughout our region particularly for formal attire and a popular, throwback 1950s diner. They also purchased the old Westinghouse plant and are converting it to business space. Currently, The Landing is home to art studios, a cheerleading and gymnastics studio and they're looking into an aquaculture firm with programs at Penn State.
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 indications of visionary promise next to neighborhoods that represent huge investment potential. The city's current efforts are targeting demolition of perhaps 300 dilapidated and abandoned homes in the city. Our community development director has plans to raze about 60 houses in one neighborhood at the edge of downtown near the campus that would be ripe for redevelopment and new housing. Word is that a large investor who grew up here is interested in enacting a home-ownership program here that has been successful for his foundation in another state.
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?
There are many recently formed entrepreneur groups specializing in various demographics. From newly formed young professionals to gig industry acceptance we are working to network our future. Our biggest positive is an “outside the box” regional Chamber of Commerce that might just be a trend setter for the US.
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 city has been operating under a home rule charter form of government for about 10 years and has turned the finances around quite a bit from the old form of government. In 2008, Sharon was on the brink of being designated an Act 47 community in Pennsylvania, essentially going bankrupt. The changes to the taxing structure - wage tax can be increased if city council lowers real estate taxes by a corresponding amount - has benefited the city but the biggest change is having a professional city manager in charge rather than an elected mayor. The current city manager, finance director and community development director are a perfect storm of experience, drive and talent for the city. We're on the precipice of something great. We need to do better, but our citizen groups meet regularly with city officials and are proposing a GIS based smart city approach to all data collection and presentation.
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.
Sharon has several very active citizen groups focused on economic development, revitalizing our neighborhoods, the arts and recreation. More and more people are attending city council meetings regularly and volunteering to be part of the solution and not just complain. In 2017, three task forces studied blight, public safety and vision and planning and presented a report to council. Many of their suggestions were taken and became part of the city laws, including rental licensures and lifting residency requirements for the police department to attract more applicants for the open jobs. A group of concerned citizens is currently working with the city manager and the school district in an effort to quantify the number of rental properties/transient students in the area as the cost continues to go up for the city school district and there is a need to plan for these students and their families.