Kentucky Heritage Council Strong Towns Conference Sept. 24-25 will explore new approaches to community growth, development; online registration open
A two-day conference exploring strategies for community growth and development based on 21st-century challenges will take place Sept. 24-25 in downtown Louisville. The Kentucky Heritage Council (KHC) Strong Towns Conference is being presented with support from KHC member Nana Lampton and Hardscuffle Inc., in partnership with the Kentucky Main Street Program, Preservation Kentucky and Preservation Louisville.
Strong Towns banner graphicStrong Towns is a national nonprofit organization that works to build strong and resilient cities, towns and neighborhoods by promoting policies that create enduring prosperity. While many communities continue to focus on a post-World War II model of suburbanization, the Strong Towns approach maintains that to be successful, citizens and community leaders must adopt a new way of thinking about the future. Success must be built incrementally, driven by citizens in partnership with local governments, who must be willing to provide a platform for collaboration.
Conference schedule [PDF-124KB]
“The movement encourages the creation of common goals that support long-term financial solvency by looking differently at land, transportation systems, infrastructure and the existing built environment, which must be viewed as shared assets,” said Craig Potts, KHC executive director and state historic preservation officer. “Given recent community conversations about development projects across the state, we feel the timing of this conference could not be better.”
Strong Towns logoIn addition to Potts, speakers include Charles L. “Chuck” Marohn Jr., Strong Towns founder and president, a professional engineer and member of the American Institute of Certified Planners; Jim Kumon, urban designer and community organizer; R. John Anderson, CNU, co-founder and principal for Anderson|Kim Architecture + Urban Design; Jim Lindberg, senior director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Green Lab; and Steve Ervin, Paducah planning director.
“For the last five years, we have been traveling the country sharing a presentation called the ‘Curbside Chat’ (www.curbsidechat.org) to audiences in cities big and small, which tells how we have literally built ourselves into financial decline,” Marohn said. “The shared discovery is that our cities and towns are interconnected by a system that emphasizes continuous growth over resiliency and adaptability.”
Featured topics will include “The Finance Behind our Places,” a look at how community projects are financed and how return on investment is calculated in relation to long-term financial obligation; “Transportation in the Next American City – Demystifying the Link between Mobility and Local Economics,” how to build high-performance roads and streets at a human scale to create financial value for a community; “A New Path Forward,” a look at how financial analysis can better guide resource investments; and “Open Space Technology,” an approach to purpose-driven leadership.
The conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Bomhard Theater, and 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25 at The Henry Clay. Preregistration is $25, good for both days, or $35 at the door. Click to register or visit www.heritage.ky.gov.
The conference hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn Louisville Downtown.
Learn more about Strong Towns or watch a 15-minute TED Talk with Marohn.
Special thanks to: Hardscuffle logo
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An agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office is responsible for the identification, protection and preservation of prehistoric resources and historic buildings, sites and cultural resources throughout the Commonwealth, in partnership with other state and federal agencies, local communities and interested citizens. This mission is integral to making communities more livable and has a far-ranging impact on issues as diverse as economic development, heritage tourism, jobs creation, affordable housing, community revitalization, environmental conservation and quality of life. www.heritage.ky.gov
Contact
Diane Comer
(502) 564-7005 Ext. 120
diane.comer (at) ky (dot) gov
