Citizen Development = Higher Value Per Acre
Sugar Daddy Cheesecakes, a successful small business that’s bringing value to downtown Medicine Hat, AB. (Source: Instagram/@sugardaddycheesecakes.)
Conventional thought would tell us that the new commercial developments in a city should be the most productive compared to the older buildings downtown, but that’s not necessarily the case. Let’s look at the city of Medicine Hat in Alberta as an example.
Developments in Medicine Hat like the Power Center, which is full of shiny new buildings and a wide variety of businesses, look better, so it’s easy to believe that they would be more productive from a tax standpoint, too.
This lot containing the Power Center is composed of various uses, with easy access to major roadways. This entire 7.2-acre development is assessed at $14 million, or $1.9 million per acre.
How does that compare to the older buildings downtown, where parking and access may be more of a challenge, and the buildings may not be as nice?
The building housing Sugar Daddy Cheesecakes, a successful small, local business in downtown Medicine Hat, sits on 0.14 acres and is assessed at $777,900 or $6.1 million per acre.
That means the older buildings in the downtown core are over two to three times more productive per acre than the new development in the Power Center. These two parcels have similar, if not identical, uses but follow a much different development pattern.
While the Power Center was built to a finished state, the buildings downtown are more adaptable and can evolve as new businesses and the small-scale developers who build them come and go.
Unlike the structures that exist on the Power Center property, downtown buildings like the one that houses Sugar Daddy Cheesecakes offer mixed-use opportunities. The second floor can be converted to apartments or other housing options, further increasing the value per acre of this site.
When it comes to nurturing investment, local governments often immediately jump to drafting a new plan, preparing a new grant, developing another program, or adopting more regulations. Nurturing citizen developers requires a much simpler approach.
Local government can support citizen developers by:
1. Lowering the bar of entry.
Make it easier for citizen developers to invest in the community by revising applications so they are short and simple to complete. Make provisions for incremental investments that can be completed over time instead of all at once.
Meet with citizens, listen to where they are struggling in the process, and find ways to reduce or eliminate those struggles.
2. Aligning everyone in city hall.
Help city staff understand and promote the benefits of traditional development. Get everyone at city hall on the same page so applications and approvals are streamlined.
3. Communicating with the public.
Take time to educate the public on the available development options and the next possible increment of development. Use local examples from within the community to make these options more familiar and showcase the positive impact they can have.
4. Using local resources to take the next smallest step.
Leverage local funding and expertise and work within the existing requirements. The next smallest step often doesn’t require federal or provincial funds or a rewrite of city codes.
5. Focusing on productive neighborhoods.
Identify the areas with the potential for the highest return on investment and focus on these neighborhoods first.
6. Being agile and adjusting course when needed.
No code or plan should be frozen in amber. If a requirement is unclear or does not yield the desired results, adjust that portion of the code or application. Leverage the professional expertise and discretion of city staff to inspire innovation.
This story came out of one of our Community Action Lab communities. Learn how to accelerate transformation in your city or town in our upcoming informational webinar.
Lindsey Beckworth is the Curriculum Writer at Strong Towns. Lindsey fell in love with community activism during the eight years she owned a bakery in a small town with big potential in rural Georgia. As a passionate storyteller, she uses her journalism and copywriting experience to help Community Action Lab participants understand how they can apply Strong Towns principles, change the narrative in their communities, and create a prosperous future for the places they love. Lindsey lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with her husband, Chris, and an ever-growing garden filled with dahlias and peonies.