Strongest Town 2023, Round 1: Selma, NC vs. Los Altos, CA
Welcome to this first round match-up in the eighth annual Strongest Town Contest! 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 answers representatives of these cities provided to questions we posed, and then cast your vote for which place you think is the strongest.
Can’t decide? If you’re looking for inspiration, check out how we describe the Strong Towns approach.
You may vote once per match-up. Round 1 voting closes at noon CT on Thursday, March 23. For rules, and to follow along with the contest, visit the Strongest Town Contest page.
Note: All entries are lightly edited for clarity and readability.
VOTING FOR THIS ROUND IS NOW CLOSED. RESULTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY, MARCH 24.
SELMA, NC
Entry submitted by: Byron McAllister, Mayor; Rhonda Sommer, Interim Town Manager. Activate Selma: Kim Wooten, President; Ron Hester, Vice President; Heidi Hester, Treasurer; Mike Jentes, Secretary; Chandler Pernell, Content Manager; Jeffery Hamilton and Cindy Brookshire, Co-Founders.
What are people in your city doing to decrease the negative impacts of parking on the community?
Selma residents can and do walk or bike easily to their downtown “living room.” To increase the number of visitors—not parking places—in town, we incentivize residential occupancy above downtown businesses. That encourages building owners to share commercial parking by day with residential use by night when businesses are closed. We are installing additional parking on town-owned properties to ease on-street demand. Still, the Rudy Theatre and Selma Civic Center accommodate simultaneous music shows and expos with sufficient on-street parking for 600 visitors (buses and cars). People love strolling, and seeing store lights and window dressings as they walk to a show.
What are people in your city doing to shift the focus toward maintaining your existing infrastructure instead of just building more roads?
Selma is located at the center of the East Coast of the U.S., with two exits along I-95: Exit 97 for outlet shopping, motels and gas, and Exit 98 for the downtown historical district. We are the intersection of north–south and east–west rail travel, too. We are upgrading Selma Union Depot to encourage more Amtrak use. We are repaving existing roads, not building new ones. We schedule potential road cuts ahead of repaving projects to keep roads at optimum condition for as long as possible. Through local partnerships, we help investors and entrepreneurs find a pathway to renovate buildings and open small businesses—like Michael Sneed. He opened Appliance Boot Camp, a streaming studio/hands-on classroom in one, and Old Fashioned Ice Cream, an ice cream parlor, in another. He sold a third building to Sergio Benitez, a successful boutique owner.
What are some recent changes to your community's zoning laws that have resulted in increased housing flexibility and options? What is being done to change your community's approach to land use to allow for more incremental development?
Selma established a transitional residential (TR) district so that mixed residential and commercial establishments can co-exist while maintaining the scale and density of original residential neighborhoods. This allows owners to convert older homes from residential to office and appropriate commercial uses. The process encourages historic preservation and orderly transition of uses in areas whose character is gradually changing from residential use to mixed residential and commercial uses. The TR district also encourages multi-family development, such as townhomes or apartments, to maximize residential space. The town further allows residential builds, by special use permit, in the general business district. Raiford Hall (formerly town hall) is now restaurant/retail space and seven upstairs apartments.
Tell us a little about the progress people in your city are making toward greater accounting/budget transparency.
Selma uses town meetings (agenda reviews, council meetings, advisory board meetings) to communicate with residents and shareholders. We address tough decisions, like selling the unprofitable town pool, and successes, such as improvements in residential and commercial trash pickup. We post daily on at least five social media sites, produce a quarterly print and digital newsletter, and maintain an easy-to-access website that puts years of adopted budgets and audited financial statements at folks’ fingertips, as well as the municipal code and 2040 land use plan. All council meeting agendas with supporting documents are posted to the website, including a monthly budget report. We stream almost all town meetings live on Facebook or YouTube. Our quarterly citizen open forums boost listening skills and offer a meaningful dialogue exchange.
What are people in your city doing to build streets that are dominated by people and accommodate automobiles—not the other way around?
We are acquiring property for trails that will link town facilities, such as our outdoor fitness court, and the Harrison Center for Active Aging, with downtown (a 14-minute walk, or five minute bike ride away). Our sidewalks have up-to-date ADA ramps at street corners and we are marking crosswalks with high visibility paint for safer pathways. We are installing bike racks downtown. We are an active rail community, so we are closing off Preston Street, a dangerous crossing of the railroad tracks where freight trains move back and forth daily. We maintain seven parks and two facilities for sports and gatherings, and will benefit from the county acquisition of land that will connect a Selma spur to the North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which offers walking, biking, and canoeing.
What is your favorite thing about your town?
Since the time of its founding in 1867, Selma has been blessed with people who care about each other, care about our youth, and care about the town, itself. Despite pandemics, wars, national economic declines, and other adversities, Selma has continued to thrive. We are forward thinking about growth, while still maintaining a small-town community feel. Younger generations are stepping up to take on family businesses or to start their own careers. Newcomers bring fresh ideas and creativity. We are grateful for top-notch public safety (fire, police, EMS). We value the train horns, music, street-dancing, barbecue, collards, sweet potatoes, and other surrounding agriculture, faith, family, and other flavors of a diverse community that make Selma a place which we can all call home.
LOS ALTOS, CA
Entry submitted by: Gary Hedden, Los Altan of the Year for 2022; Suresh Venkatraman, President, GreenTown Los Altos.
What are people in your city doing to decrease the negative impacts of parking on the community?
Excessive surface parking harms the environment and blocks more productive use of our valuable land. In 2015, Los Altos formed a Parking Committee that recommended more efficient use of our existing car parking and alternatives to reduce parking demand. Los Altos recently adopted a forward-looking Downtown Vision that provides a path to better utilization of parking spaces by converting some parking to parks, housing, and a theater. A recently built new community center provides shared parking with other nearby attractions, helping to alleviate parking demand. With these efforts, Los Altos can protect the environment and make our commercial areas more financially viable.
What are people in your city doing to shift the focus toward maintaining your existing infrastructure instead of just building more roads?
Los Altos has 100 miles of roads and we have not built any new roads since the early 1960s, when, in a sign of the times, a railroad right-of-way was converted to an expressway. Our focus is on maintaining our roads and streetscape on a regular basis. Importantly, Los Altos has a Complete Streets Commission with a focus on making our roads more bicycle and pedestrian friendly, and this includes engineered solutions to reduce car speed, such as road diet measures to slow drivers, bulb-outs at intersections to reduce the distance for pedestrians crossing a street, and lots of green paint along bicycle lanes. Our intention going forward is to make our streets safer for all users.
What are some recent changes to your community's zoning laws that have resulted in increased housing flexibility and options? What is being done to change your community's approach to land use to allow for more incremental development?
There is inadequate housing in California, and it is being addressed by required updates to the housing element of local general plans. Los Altos is meeting the requirement by planning for about 2,000 new units of housing at all income levels in the next eight years. The City Council just passed an updated Housing Element that will allow new construction near existing commercial zones and transit stops. One goal is that people who work in town can live in town, reducing traffic demand and supporting local merchants. The city has also made zoning changes to successfully encourage the building of accessory dwelling units. With these changes to our zoning laws, Los Altos is responding to the evolving needs of the housing market.
Tell us a little about the progress people in your city are making toward greater accounting/budget transparency.
Los Altos has good budget visibility. The city council sets priorities for the coming year and plans for 10 years out. The budget is presented and reviewed in open meetings, and we have a finance committee of engaged volunteers who play a watchdog role. There are always competing priorities and tough decisions, but the city council is good about creating a balanced budget, maintaining a reserve, and not taking on excessive debt. The city recently adopted and implemented a new accounting system that will offer even greater accounting/budget transparency.
What are people in your city doing to build streets that are dominated by people and accommodate automobiles—not the other way around?
Good street design is critical to creating safe streets. Los Altos is actively installing engineered solutions to slow traffic and make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, particularly around schools. How streets are used is critical, too. For example, the city and local groups are currently working on a range of “May is Bike Month” activities, including family bike rides, a bike to work day, school events, and a Bike Rodeo sponsored by the Police Department. GreenTown Los Altos has an active Walk or Wheels (WOW) program at the schools to train and encourage young students to safely walk and bike to school. GreenTown believes students who bike become adults who bike, creating a legacy of people willing to bike and not always drive a car. The people in our city are building and using streets for people and not just cars.
What is your favorite thing about your town?
Los Altos has genuine small town charm. People are friendly, engaged, and actively volunteer with a wide range of groups, from Kiwanis and Rotary to League of Women Voters and the Affordable Housing Alliance. We have city commissions with volunteers on the Senior Commission, the Youth Commission, Planning, History, Environment, Library, Public Art, and more. We have many religious groups. We have award-winning schools, both public and private. We have a wonderful local newspaper, the Los Altos Town Crier. We have great restaurants. We have attractive parks and a local gem near the center of the city, Redwood Grove Nature Preserve.