Briefing 1: March 27 | Strong Towns Academy

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Medicine Hat Community Action Lab

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
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
Discussion Items

Session #2: The Bottom-Up Approach

2.1. Chaotic But Smart
2.2. Excerpt from Strong Towns: Rational Responses
2.3. One Example: Bottom-Up Street Design (59:44)
2.4. Optional Deep Dive
2.5. Discussion

Leadership Team Briefing (March 27, 2023)

Briefing 1: March 27 (57:07)

Session #4: The Growth Ponzi Scheme

4.1. Introduction: The Growth Ponzi Scheme
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. Introduction to Visualizing Growth (1:08)
4.7. Visualizing Growth in Medicine Hat
4.8. Optional Deep Dive
4.9. Discussion

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

5.2. A Lesson from Winnipeg
5.3. What is a Rational Response?
5.4. What does "stop" really mean?
5.6. Can Medicine Hat build a better mousetrap? (10:10)
5.7. Optional Deep Dive
5.8. Discussion

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)
6.6. Optional Deep Dive
6.7. Discussion

Leadership Team Briefing (May 25, 2023)

Briefing 2: May 25th (51:42)

Session #7: Measuring Success

7.1. Introduction
7.2. What is a Good Project
7.3. Measuring Winning
7.5. Discussion

Curbside Chat (June 14, 2023)

Curbside Chat (80:59)

Leadership Team Briefing (July 24, 2023)

Briefing 3: July 24th (42:11)

Session #8: Who is Leading Growth?

8.0. Introduction
8.1. Growth Patterns
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

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

Podcast: Citizen Versus Developer? No! It's Citizen as Developer

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

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
The Controversy over Accessory Dwelling Units (14:07)

Leadership Team Briefing 4: September 25, 2023

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

Local Lessons: Medicine Hat Success Stories

We Don't Have Enough Public Restrooms
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

Helpful Resource: Pre-Approved Building Plans

Pre-approved Building Plans
Deep Dive

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. Discussion
10.4. Deep Dive

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

Event #3 (November 28-29, 2023)

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

Neighborhood Evolution Webinar

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

Taking Action

What's Next? (2:49)
Take Your Next Smallest Step (2:43)

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

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Briefing 1: March 27

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