Safety Harbor In Running To Be America's Strongest Town

SAFETY HARBOR, FL -- Safety Harbor could be America's strongest town. That's if it wins the popular vote in the Strong Towns competition.

Strong Towns is a nonprofit organization that helps foster economic development in small towns across the United States and Canada to make them financially stronger and more resilient to changes in the economy.

Each year, supporters of the movement are invited to enter their town or city in the annual Strongest Town Contest, a bracket-based competition designed to spotlight communities from around the world that are building enduring financial resilience at the local level and actively embodying the Strong Towns approach to economic growth and development.

The top 16 contenders have been selected, and Safety Harbor is among them. Through four rounds of competition that kicked off March 18, Strong Towns members as well as nonmembers are invited to vote for their town in match-ups with similar towns.

The four rounds include:

SWEET SIXTEEN (March 18-21) Strong Towns staff has published information on all of the nominees on its website and residents are invited to vote between each of eight town match-ups.

ELITE EIGHT (March 25-28) Based on the votes, Strong Towns will invite eight towns to move on to the next round and invite the nominees to send five photos with captions which illustrate the strength of the town. These will be published on the website along with commentary from Strong Towns staff. Again, members and readers will have a chance to vote between town match-ups.

FINAL FOUR (April 2-5) In the Final Four round, the four top vote-getters will participate in a Strong Towns podcast to make their case for why theirs is the strongest town. Strong Towns will publish these podcasts and invite the audience to listen and vote in two final match-ups.

CHAMPIONSHIP (April 8) Finally, the top two towns will be invited to debate and discuss the strength of their towns. The audience will vote between these two towns and the winner will be declared on April 12.

• Voting is weighted so that Strong Towns member votes comprise 50 percent of the tally and non-member votes make up the other 50 percent.
• Only one vote per person per match-up.
• The winning town will receive a visit from Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn to celebrate the victory and share the Strong Towns message.

Last year's winner was Muskegon, Michigan.

During this first round, Safety Harbor will compete against Marshfield, Massachusetts.

Safety Harbor is represented by resident James Fogarty who nominated Safety Harbor for the honor. Fogarty has also created the Strong Towns Tampa Bay Facebook group to provide a forum for residents to discuss ideas on strengthening their towns.

"There are many things I love about Safety Harbor, most of which center around my mostly laid-back, approachable neighbors," Fogarty wrote. "While there are some things that could be worked on, there are also lots of things that make Safety Harbor a good candidate for a Strong Town. The city benefits from open, accessible leadership that frequently takes the long view on public investment. The city budget is easy to understand and is funded from multiple revenue sources. The city is almost fully developed, and has a strong downtown that is easily accessible despite being surrounded by mostly low-density suburban development. "

Fogarty said it was the friendly, small-town atmosphere that attracted him to Safety Harbor.

"The city is blessed with a beautiful public waterfront, and is convenient to many other urban areas, world class beaches, and other cultural amenities that are nearby," he said. "Probably the best feature of Safety Harbor is the lifestyle I am able to enjoy as a resident. Despite living in the suburbs about three miles from the center, I can easily walk to my job, to grocery stores or to a bagel shop for coffee in the morning, all less than a mile away. Even though I am a very inexperienced cyclist, thanks to abundant small streets, my neighbors and I still feel comfortable biking into the downtown district, particularly for special events. On the way, the ride takes us through tree-shaded neighborhood streets, waterfront parks, a historic, pre-Columbian Indian mound and fascinating history. Of course, being in a sub-tropical climate tempered by proximity to the water is also a favorite local feature, with outdoor activities enjoyable here year-round."

Click here to see what else Fogarty wrote about Safety Harbor.

Cast your vote for Safety Harbor here.