Chubbuck, ID vs. Winona, MN
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: City of Chubbuck GIS Department
Chubbuck, ID
Entry submitted by: Kevin England, Rodney Burch, Devin Hillam, Bridger Morrison
What is your favorite thing about your town?
Chubbuck still enjoys the feel of a small town. Our residents are generally supportive of local government. Our elected leaders are open to regulation changes to allow our community to grow in more efficient ways.
What is the biggest challenge your town faces, and what are you doing to address it?
High property taxes. Both residents and city government are concerned about high taxes. The city is trying to limit urban sprawl to better increase the use and efficiency of existing infrastructure.
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?
Typical transportation in Chubbuck is by vehicle. There are limited public transit routes provided by a neighboring city. Pedestrian and bike connectivity is limited too. And so it can be difficult to live without a vehicle as primary transportation.
The strategic plan adopted in 2018 has goals focused on multi-modal transportation.
In 2019, we sponsored a two-day walkability audit that included education, planning, and an actual walking exercise designed to increase awareness of pedestrian and wheelchair accessibility limitations. It also included a session on reducing the focus on vehicles as the predominant means of transportation, and on the ability to reduce street widths without sacrificing traffic volumes.
In 2019, we created a development zone called "Creative Community." This removes minimum standards and allows development to occur in mixed-use fashion with focus on architectural form, pedestrian access, and a variety of housing types (density).
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?
Chubbuck is historically a bedroom community to Pocatello. Most business and industry is located in Pocatello. Chubbuck is home to the Pine Ridge Mall, which is struggling to maintain an effective role in retail. The headquarters for Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) are in Chubbuck. ICCU has been named the fastest growing credit union in the US and is a top-rated employer in our community. Pocatello/Chubbuck is the home to Idaho State University, which has an enrollment near 15,000.
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?
Chubbuck is divided by a state highway. Currently this is a limiting factor to pedestrian and bike travel.
You would observe a city that has grown with ordinances developed in the 1970s which only established minimum standards. Not much consideration has been given to form, accessibility, and aesthetics. We are a city that has a wonderful park system and which continues to strive to provide good public space to our residents.
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?
Little to no assistance is available for entrepreneurs. Small-scale developers are typical in our community. Standard residential development occurs in 10-15 lot phases.
Unfortunately, infill development is currently the most regulated land use.
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?
Modeled after examples from Strong Towns, we have begun the conversation with elected officials regarding the financial viability of growth. This includes the cost of annexation, cost of infrastructure maintenance and replacement, and the cost of demands on police and EMS services. We modeled the value-per-acre of our community and it was an eye-opening experience.
We have a good model of the cost of historic development and are striving to assemble criteria to gauge impacts of future development.
Currently, 30% of the land inside our city limits is vacant or underdeveloped. We are amending zoning and development ordinances to allow efficient development of these parcels.
The city intends to implement "Outcome Based Budgeting" in accordance with principles taught by Andrew Kleine to guide our services and longterm financial decisions.
We also believe our budgeting process should align with the goals of our strategic plan.
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.
As is typical in local government, historically we have had little input from residents on city policy, budgets, planning, etc. But beginning in 2018, we changed the way we interact with and receive input from our residents and businesses. Our strategic plan identified the need to use social media, online surveys, and community visioning sessions to obtain input. We produce a weekly blog on a variety of topics related to services provided by the City. This has been received very well.
In 2019, a former City Council member chose not to seek election but rather focus her attention on community involvement. She has formed the Chubbuck Neighborhood Action Committee (CNAC). CNAC is actively involved with engaging residents in each neighborhood area to help determine their vision for their community.
Photo Credit: Visit Winona
Winona, MN
Entry submitted by: Luke Sims, Kate Carlson
What is your favorite thing about your town?
Winona has excellent bones. It is a city built on an island in the Mississippi River in a traditional American grid development pattern. It features short blocks with 300’ frontages with tree-lined streets and sidewalks connecting everything together. The blocks still feature neighborhood bars and corner shops, churches and fraternal organizations, and adaptive reuse of historic buildings into successful new iterations. Winona stretches across the island and reaches into the Mississippi River, Lake Winona, and the 500’ bluffs overlooking the city.
What is the biggest challenge your town faces, and what are you doing to address it?
Winona's biggest challenge going forward is ensuring it is a city where people want to be and want to call home. The Winona community continues to invest in itself, recently renovating Levee Park and beginning planning on a riverfront trail as the city returns to the river; investing in the arts by renovating the historic Masonic Temple Theater and acting as home to a multitude of festivals such as Mid West Music Fest, the Minnesota Beethoven Festival, and Great River Shakespeare Festival; and working to be a regional hub for employment and recreation, seeing downtown reinvestment from its largest employer and hosting unique recreation opportunities like the city's ice climbing on the bluffs and as the terminus for the flyway trail.
Winona faces both a workforce shortage and a housing shortage. Winona is a small city of 27,000 people and acts as a hub for the region. Over 12,000 people commute into the city daily for work. We have low vacancy rates for housing as well as a documented demand for 1,400 new housing units from 2016 to 2031, which is a 13% increase in total housing supply. Being landlocked, Winona is largely addressing its housing needs through regulatory changes. Winona underwent a large-scale zoning overhaul in 2017 which removed parking minimums in two zoning districts, removed lot area and frontage requirements in seven zoning districts, and removed setbacks in three zoning districts. This has led to increased investment and new development in the core of the city, resulting in over 300 new housing units from 2016 through 2019 across multiple market segments.
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?
Winona Transit Service is the bus system that serves the community, including four main routes, dial-a-ride service outside of those routes, routes for Winona State University, and a safe ride option for late night. Additionally, the city’s compact development pattern and diverse neighborhood options allow for excellent walkability and bikeability. Between 10%-13% of trips are taken via walking or biking (among the highest in the state), which corresponds with 11.4% of households that are car-free. The City continues to invest in trail connections which allow the beautiful bluffs, lakes, and river to be interconnected without the need for a car. Winona recognizes the need to make transportation safer for all users and has funding in place for a four-to-three conversion/road diet on its widest stroad, Broadway. The city's Complete Streets Policy and Pedestrian Bicycle Plan is helping to address key connections for the community to enhance its walking and biking options.
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?
Winona has a rich history of entrepreneurship and that is reflected in its largest employers. Fastenal, one of the largest companies in the United States and the city’s largest employer, was started in Winona and retains its headquarters here. Other great Winona companies like WinCraft, Wenonah Canoe, Hal Leonard, and CodaBow continue to make a mark as leaders in their industries and leaders in the community both as employers and as supporters of local organizations. These are large and small employers across a range of private sectors. Innovation is a key part of the Winona ecosystem and can be seen in large companies like Watkins Incorporated, which pioneered door-to-door sales, and Bloedow’s Bakery, a corner store that rose to be named the best bakery in the state. Winona’s community has made it a key goal to support entrepreneurs and innovators in town. Winona's entrepreneurial spirit continues to draw attention across the nation, from Reinarts Stained Glass Studios to Pillbox Bat Company and Sanborn Canoe Company. That entrepreneurial spirit is powered, in part, by the strong educational institutions in Winona. Winona State University, St. Mary's University, and Minnesota State College Southeast have large economic impacts on the community and continue to bring fresh ideas, perspectives, and new innovators to the city.
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?
The core of Winona is only three miles long by one and a half miles wide and could be walked in an afternoon. The adaptive reuse of buildings, from former college campuses to missing middle housing, each block would show the traditional, incremental growth that is a hallmark of older American cities. As you walk, you’ll see triplexes sitting next to single family homes which sit next to former schools that were converted into apartments. You’ll see immaculately maintained historic homes that embrace their multi-family roots and are actually stealth duplexes or four-plexes. Neighborhood bars and commercial areas are scattered throughout the city, almost all spaced .3 miles from each other, and welcome the surrounding residents each day, providing much-needed third spaces that most American cities turned their backs on in the name of rapid expansion. The traditional neighborhood development pattern of Winona is one that has made it strong and its ability to adapt from commercial to residential and back again is a story clearly shown in the built environment as you walk through it.
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?
Due to its geographic location, vacant lots for small-scale development are tough to find. Winona is, by and large, built-out. But the conversion of existing lots and buildings to new uses and to different housing choices is seen every year. The community continues to express a preference for infill (re)development, which is often capitalized on by local residents. The local zoning code attempts to encourage incremental growth, including incremental height changes, building to common front yard setback averages rather than arbitrary numbers, and substituting bicycle parking for automobile parking where it is required. Winona is entrepreneur and small-developer friendly and city staff works to support creative placemaking ideas. The support of The Garage and our accredited Main Street Program, Port Authority, and City of Winona provide assistance for aspiring business owners by assisting in the licensing process, locating a desirable location, providing deferred loans, and promotion of the business to the community. The Port Authority of Winona and Winona County work with partners like Habitat for Humanity to construct housing for low- to moderate-income households on vacant lots.
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?
Doing the math is something that is regularly brought up in public meetings, whether considering utility replacement on a street, considering additional subdivision of units, or limiting the annexation of property in the future. The long-term investment return has been brought up by city elected officials, city staff, and by developers in the community when considering projects. Perhaps the best reflection of doing the math is the shift in long-term growth planning for the 1995 Comprehensive Plan to the 2007 Comprehensive Plan, which saw the city return from the post-WWII suburban experiment model to traditional neighborhood development and infill based in part on the financial considerations.
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.
Members of the local community are involved in every planning project and infrastructure projects that shift from the status quo. But the biggest driver of public expression has been a local organization called Engage Winona, which put out a 2015 report that spoke to residents’ experiences, struggles, and concerns. Engage Winona provided that information to everyone in the community and embarked on a multitude of public meeting follow-ups focusing on different aspects of the community to help collaboratively build the community. Those efforts have covered transportation, mental health, public health, neighborhood planning and identity, and many others. Engage Winona continues to be a valuable part of the community and has become a go-to partner for the City of Winona when beginning projects. Projects like the East End Planning Neighborhood Project, School Reuse Project, and Pints and Policy work to break down the traditional barriers that city projects have to engagement and instead seek to let the public drive the conversation by meeting them where they are and remaining open to all responses.
Round 1 Match-Ups
Highland Park, IL vs. Victoria, BC | Beloit, WI vs. Wytheville, VA | Abingdon, VA vs. Sylvania, OH | Chubbuck, ID vs. Winona, MN
The other eight nominees will be revealed on Tuesday, March 10.