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Medicine Hat Action Team

Welcome to the Medicine Hat Community Action Lab

Introduction and Welcome (0:22)
Who is Strong Towns? (1:14)
What is the Community Action Lab? (2:04)
Why Medicine Hat?
What to Expect on this Site (2:46)
How to Get Involved with Community Action Lab (2:35)
How to Get Involved - Local Conversation (0:48)
Schedule and Resources

Public Event #1 (February 7, 2023)

Public Presentation
Presentation Slide Deck - For the Action Team
Community Conversation

Session #1: Strong Towns Core Principles

1.1. Principles of a Strong Town
1.2. Excerpt from Strong Towns
1.3. Complex versus Complicated and Spooky Wisdom (11:10)
1.4. Taco John's of Brainerd
1.5. Growth versus Productivity (13:55)
1.6. Optional Deep Dive
1.7. Discussion Items
Course: Strong Towns 101
Reading: Bottom Up Revolution
Assignment: Three Topics to Discuss
Activity: Humbly Observe
Action Team Session March 2, 2023 (88:08)

Session #2: The Bottom-Up Approach

2.1. Chaotic But Smart
2.2. Excerpt from Strong Towns
2.3. One Example: Bottom-Up Street Design (59:44)
2.4. Activity: Action Team Break Out Session
Struggle 1: Mustard Seed
Struggle 2: Dangerous School Crosswalk
Struggle 3: Lack of Vibrancy in Downtown
Struggle 4: Unwelcoming Pedestrian Tunnel
Why Bad Street Design is Both Costly and Deadly
Action Team Session March 16, 2023 (91:09)
Additional Resources & Optional Readings

Leadership Team Briefing (March 27, 2023)

Briefing 1: March 27 (57:07)

Session #3: An Economic Plan for Your Community

3.1. Reading: Publication, Readings and Case Studies
3.2. Webcast: Breaking Out of the Resource Trap: An Economic Plan for Your Community (61:55)
3.3. Optional: Deep Dive
3.4. Assignment: The Path that Success Will Take
Action Team Session March 30, 2023 (129:03)

Session #4: The Growth Ponzi Scheme

4.1. Introduction: The Growth Ponzi Scheme (1:44)
4.2. Growth or Stability
4.3. Exploring the Transactions of the Growth Ponzi Scheme (8:33)
4.4. Bonus: This Ponzi Scheme Might END Suburban Prosperity (10:22)
4.5. How Do We Respond?
4.6. Optional Deep Dive
4.7. Discussion
4.8. Assignment: Data Collection (4:36)
Action Team Session April 13, 2023 (117:35)

Session #5: The Real Reason Cities Have Annual Budget Shortfalls

5.1. Introduction
5.2. A Lesson from Winnipeg
5.3. What is a Rational Response?
5.4. What does "stop" really mean?
5.5. Spotlight on Medicine Hat
5.6. Can Medicine Hat build a better mousetrap? (10:10)
5.7. Optional Deep Dive
5.8 Discussion
5.9. Assignment: Data Collection (2:17)
Action Team Session April 27, 2023 (108:48)

Session #6: What It Means to Know Something is True

6.1. Introduction
6.2. The Limits of Knowledge (4:20)
6.3. An Infinite Game
6.4. How to Make Decisions When We Can't Predict the Future (2:21)
6.5. Spotlight on Medicine Hat
6.6. Optional Deep Dive
6.7. Discussion
6.8 Action Team Assignment (1:33)
Action Team Session May 11, 2023
Action Team Session May 25, 2023 (87:31)

Leadership Team Briefing (May 25, 2023)

Briefing 2: May 25 (51:42)

Session #7: Measuring Success

7.1. Introduction
7.2. What is a Good Project
7.3. Measuring Winning
7.4. Spotlight: Medicine Hat
7.5. Discussion
Action Team Study: Healthy Development Patterns
Action Team Study: Value Per Acre
Assignment (Action Team)
Action Team Session June 8, 2023 (109:59)
Action Team Session: June 22, 2023 (89:22)

Event #2 (June 13-14, 2023)

Curbside Chat (80:59)

Session #8: Who is Leading Growth?

8.0. Introduction
8.1. Growth Patterns (3:07)
8.2. Who leads growth?
8.3. Citizen developers and incremental growth (3:18)
8.4. Spotlight Medicine Hat: Citizen Development
8.5. Deep Dive
8.6. Discussion
8.7. Action Team Study: How Do We Improve Productivity of a Development?
Action Team Session: July 6, 2023 (121:14)
Action Team Session: July 20, 2023 (102:58)

Action Team Studies & Activities

Action Team Activity: Overview
Action Team Activity: Development Communication
Action Team Activity: Downtown's Radically Different Approach to Washrooms
Action Team Activity: Micro Grant or Major Struggle
Action Team Activity: What's My Liability?
Action Team Session: August 3, 2023 (88:59)
Action Team Review: Budget Misalignment
Action Team Session: August 17, 2023 (90:25)
Action Team Session: August 31, 2023 (270:08)

Leadership Team Briefing 3: July 24, 2023

Leadership Team Briefing: July 24th (42:11)

Tough Conversations: What does development look like in a Strong Town?

Podcast: Citizen Versus Developer? No! It's Citizen as Developer
Action Team Session: September 14, 2023 (94:07)

Tough Conversations: Should Cities Run a Profit?

Podcast: Four Communities Are Becoming Examples of Change

Session #9: Citizen as Developer

9.0. Introduction
9.1. What Does Citizen as Developer Mean? (4:19)
9.2. The Regulatory Approach (5:24)
9.3. Nurturing Citizen Investment (7:08)
9.4. Citizen Development and Housing (1:49)
9.5. Example: Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Windsor, ON
9.6. Discussion
9.7. Deep Dive
Action Team Session: September 28, 2023 (118:53)

Helpful Resources: Accessory Dwelling Units

Additional Resource: Accessory Dwelling Units
Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Windsor, ON
How to Navigate the Obstacles of Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit
Accessory Dwelling Units: A Flexible, Free-Market Housing Solution
Medicine Hat Secondary Suites
Big Win for ADUs: FHA To Count Rental Income for Mortgages
The Controversy over Accessory Dwelling Units (14:07)

Leadership Team Briefing 4: September 25, 2023

Leadership Team Briefing: September 25th (43:54)

Helpful Resource: Pre-Approved Building Plans

Pre-approved Building Plans
Deep Dive
Learn More: On-The-Ground Leaders

Session #10: Municipal Government as the Highest Form of Collaboration

10.0. Introduction
10.1. Vertical Flows (4:08)
10.2. Horizontal Flows (5:39)
10.3. Case Study: Municipal Government as the Highest Form of Public Collaboration in Medicine Hat (5:29)
10.4. Discussion
10.5. Deep Dive

Local Lessons: Medicine Hat Success Stories

To Address Public Washroom Shortage, This City Took an Incremental Approach
This City Is Not Waiting for a Crash To Happen Before Creating a Safer Street
How Should Canada’s Cities Use the Housing Accelerator Fund?
One Meeting and $3,000 Dollars Created More Value for This City Than a $300,000 Project

Reviewing Medicine Hat Success Stories

Traffic Calming Projects
Downtown Bathroom Facilities
Towne Square
Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Grant
Mustard Seed Marketing Campaign
Land Use Bylaw (LUB) Amendments and LUB Refresh
City-wide Open House
Upcoming Project: Facilities for the Future
Additional Successes: 2022/2023
Action Team Session: October 12, 2023 (91:30)
Action Team Session: October 26, 2023 (119:27)

Next Smallest Steps

Introduction
Pocket Parks: A Small Bet That Makes a Big Difference

Session #11: Building and Leveraging Confidence

11.0. Introduction
11.1. Using One-Time Money Well
11.2. Focus on Investments That Bring a Return
11.3.a. Nurture Citizen Development
11.3.b. Nurturing Citizen Development: The Next Smallest Steps
11.4.a. Encourage Infill Development with Pre-approved Building Plans
11.4.b. Creating a Pre-approved Building Program: The Next Smallest Steps
11.5. Discussion
11.6. Deep Dive

Session #12: Transparent Local Accounting

12.0. Introduction
12.1. #DoTheMath
12.2. The Challenge Presented by Modern Accounting Practices (9:17)
12.3. Assets and Liabilities (7:13)
12.4. Case Study: Liabilities in Lake County
12.5. Flying Blind
12.6. Case Study: Flying Blind in Norman, Oklahoma
12.6.b. Case Study: Industrial Park in Medicine Hat, Alberta
12.7. What Can We Do? (6:23)
12.8. Action Team Activity: Updating the Business Model
12.9. Deep Dive

Event #3 (November 28-29, 2023)

City Staff Facilitated Workshop
Public Presentation: Building a Stronger Medicine Hat (Escaping the Housing Trap) (101:37)
Mobilizing Your Community To Become A Strong Town (78:58)
Transportation Workshop: Confessions of a Recovering Engineer

Neighborhood Evolution Webinar

Neighborhood Evolution
Webinar: Ecosystems with Monte & Bernice (97:56)
Resources
Contacts

Taking Action

Take Your Next Smallest Step (3:49)

Housing Accelerator Fund

Report to Council
Hat Housing Toolkit

Pre-Approved Building Plans Webinar with Matthew Petty

Pre-Approved Building Plans Webinar
Webinar Presentation: How Pre-Approved Building Plans Can Unlock Housing Potential in Your Community (77:14)
Additional Information & Resources

Roundtable Sessions

Action Team Contacts
Roundtable 1: February 1, 2024 (95:29)
Roundtable 2: March 7, 2024 (88:48)
Roundtable 3: April 9, 2024 (96:34)
Roundtable 4: May 8, 2024 (87:38)
Roundtable 5: June 5, 2024 (94:41)
Roundtable 6: July 10, 2024 (92:39)
Roundtable 7: August 8, 2024 (97:45)
Roundtable 8: September 3, 2024 (376:36)
Roundtable 9: October 9, 2024 (68:08)
Roundtable 10: November 6, 2024 (92:00)
Roundtable 11: December 11, 2024 (87:33)

Visualizing Growth

Introduction (1:08)
Medicine Hat

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