A Strong Towns information display is seen at Medicine Hat City Hall. Two public Community Action Lab events are taking place June 13 and 14 in downtown Medicine Hat. (Photo Courtesy Kevin Kyle)

By Chris Brown

City hosting two Strong Towns public events this week

Jun 12, 2023 | 2:25 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The second of three Strong Towns Community Action Lab public events planned for 2023 happens this week and has been expanded to allow for more community involvement.

The city is hosting a Local Conversation downtown at The Yard from 7-10 p.m. on Tuesday for residents to discuss what Strong Towns means for Medicine Hat. The next day there will be a Curbside Chat at the Medicine Hat Public Library from 1-2:30 p.m. that will include a presentation from Strong Towns and more opportunity for discussion.

Shawn Champagne, senior planner with the City of Medicine Hat, says they want to spread awareness and understanding about Strong Towns.

“Based on the feedback that we had from both the public and internally I think there wa a real desire for people to want to be a little bit more actively engaged throughout this process,” he says. “They wanted to have an opportunity to have some conversations, talk with other residents. So that’s why the focus was re-shifted from a public presentation format to one that was a little bit more collaborative.”

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Champagne says Tuesday session is essentially a grassroots gathering of residents who more often than not have read some Strong Towns articles, have read the book or have been following the city’s journey. The Wednesday session is geared more toward people looking for basic overall information about Strong Towns and the Community Action Lab.

The final public Community Action Lab event is set for late November.

As well as the public sessions, there is an Action Team made up of city staff and Leadership Team made up of prominent community members that meet throughout the year.

Medicine Hat is one of only four communities, and the only one in Canada chosen to participate in the Community Action Lab.

The goal of Strong Towns is to change how communities develop, advocating for good city planning in areas such as transportation, neighbourhoods and infrastructure while keeping a focus on fiscal sustainability and overall community well-being.

If you can’t make the sessions Champagne says the Strong Towns portion of the Shape Your City page on the city’s website has a wealth of information about the project.