Is Durango a strong town? Perhaps. But is it the strongest? The Durango Planning Department has entered a contest to find out.
The 2022 Strongest Town Contest is underway, and the city of Durango is one of just 16 towns and cities across the nation contending for the title of Strongest Town.
Strong Towns, the nonprofit organization hosting the competition, operates in the United States and Canada and helps city planners and leaders develop their communities in ways that address residents’ needs.
Bryce Bierman, a planner with the city of Durango, described the organization as an advisory firm that visits towns across the country to help communities create successful, resilient towns.
Bierman and his colleagues applied for the Strongest Town Contest thinking success was a bit of a long shot. After all, in a country with nearly 19,500 incorporated towns and cities, the competition for such a title must be stiff. But Durango was chosen as one of 16 towns to be considered in the competition.
“We are certainly excited and proud of Durango for being the town that it is,” he said. “Obviously, other people who are kind of experts in this field see that we’re doing some things right.”
Bierman said the city is trying to showcase its strengths through the competition. He added that a strong town is not perfect, but it is a town that’s working to become a better place for the people who live there.
“I think that is kind of the notion that a lot of people get from Durango, and that’s why people come to live here, too, maybe visit and decide they maybe do want to stay,” he said.
To enter the contest, Bierman and his colleagues submitted a summary of Durango that answers questions about the city’s strengths and weaknesses.
Durango’s application and town summary was submitted by Bierman, Mallory St. Pierre, Scott Shine, Mark Williams, Vicki Vandergrift, Dan Armentano, Savannah Lytle, Tommy Crosby and Eva Henson.
The summary says the applicants pride Durango as “a city that strives to lead the way for our region.” Durango possesses a unique culture that isn’t present in surrounding rural communities as a product of the city being relatively isolated in the southwest corner of Colorado, the summary says.
The great challenge for the city this year, according to the applicants, is maintaining affordable housing for the fast-growing population. Before COVID-19, housing inventory was lost in large amounts to short-term rentals and that problem has been worsened by the advent of remote work, according to the summary.
“People are no longer required to live in large urban areas where the jobs are physically located,” the summary says. “To address the affordability issue, we have created a new Housing Innovation Division and supported the rebirth of the county housing alliance. With new supporting staff and resources, we are now dealing with an unprecedented level of development projects in our pipeline.”
The summary of Durango goes on to illustrate the city’s transportation scene, describes its largest economic factors, such as the tourism industry for driving the economy and its key employers, including Ska Brewing Co. and Steamworks Brewing Co. and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
Round 1 of the Strongest Town Contest pits Durango against Santa Clara, California, which describes itself as “one of the oldest towns in the San Francisco Bay Area” that lost much of its original identity in urban renewal project demolitions 50 years ago.
Should Durango best the competition and achieve the 2022 title of Strongest Town, it will receive a lot of recognition, Bierman said. On top of bragging rights, Strong Towns Founder and President Charles Marohn, author of the book by the same name, will personally visit Durango to strategize with planners and leaders about Durango’s future. The consultation would be free of charge, Bierman said.
Bierman thinks the city’s support of homegrown and locally owned businesses is one aspect of what makes Durango a strong town. He said the city has done a good job of limiting national brands, which means more money being generated at local businesses stays in the local economy.
“We think that Durango’s a really special place,” Bierman said. “You probably feel the same if you live here.”
People are free to vote for who they think is the strongest town. Votes are weighted, Bierman said. Strong Town memberships account for 50% and nonmembership or resident votes count for the other 50%.
Durango and Santa Clara’s summaries as well as the option to vote can be found at bit.ly/3sAzZMf.
cburney@durangoherald.com
