Last Chance to Enter the Strongest Town Contest

The goal of our Strongest Town contest is to give our readers and members the chance to share positive perspectives on their towns. We know you all tend to be a critical bunch, and that critical eye is important. But so is celebrating the good things we've got going on. Did your city recently implement a new bus line that is improving transit access for residents? Does your neighborhood have a great cohort of successful local businesses? We want to hear about it!

We know you've been putting it off all month -- now is the time to apply for our Strongest Town contest and tell the world how awesome your town is. The deadline to apply is March 4. This contest gives you the opportunity to compete with others across the country to prove whose town is strongest, helps us add a healthy dose of positivity to the Strong Towns site, and offers you the chance to be some of the first recipients of your very own copy of Thoughts on Strong Towns, Volume II, our upcoming book.

Almost half of our current applications are from the East Coast, but we know there are strong towns all over the country. We'd love to see a good showing of our Southern, Western and Midwestern friends too. So apply today!

CONTEST GUIDELINES

  • To enter the contest, please fill out this form. It asks a series of short-answer questions related to the strength of your town’s transportation system, finance situation, community health and more.
  • The deadline for submissions is March 4.
  • If you are invited on to the next round, you will be asked to participate in another step of the application process. See Contest Schedule below for details.
  • Anyone can create a submission for his or her town (meaning you don't have to be an elected official or some other official town representative).We encourage you to work with other residents in your town to put together your application. There is no limit on the number of collaborators.
  • The first round will be judged by Strong Towns staff and board in order to determine the Sweet Sixteen. After that, it'll be up to our readers to vote for their favorites each week, and take us down to the championship round at the end of March.
  • Winners will receive eternal fame and glory, plus signed copies of our upcoming book, Thoughts on Building Strong Towns, Volume II, and a certificate proclaiming your town: The Strongest
  • Strong Towns staff, regular contributors and board members are excluded from participating in this competition. 

CONTEST SCHEDULE

February 2: Contest opens

March 4: First round submissions due

Mar 14-17: Sweet Sixteen is notified, their answers are published and Strong Towns readers vote for the strongest.

Mar 18: Elite Eight are notified and 3-5 photos are requested of them, illustrating the strength of their town.

Mar 21-22: Elite Eight photos are published and Strong Towns readers vote for the strongest.

Mar 23-27: Final Four are notified and record podcasts with Chuck to talk about their town.

Mar 28-29: Final Four podcasts are published and Strong Towns readers vote for the strongest.

Mar 30: The Championship Round is announced and a live webinar takes place with the final two. Strong Towns readers vote for the strongest.

April 1:  The winner is announced!

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