Editor’s note: We’re taking a break from our usual news coverage to share a brief message from the non-profit Strong Towns. 

Only one town or city will emerge victorious in the Seventh Annual Strongest Town Contest, a bracket-based showdown modeled after college basketball’s March Madness tournament.

Contest organizers at Strong Towns, the national nonprofit that promotes resilience in cities through bottom-up action, aren’t looking for the perfect town or city that’s got it all figured out. (That place doesn’t exist.) The winner will be the community that best exemplifies the process of getting stronger. And no town is getting stronger if it’s not directly addressing the question of mobility and accessibility as it is expressed in diverse non-motorized transportation and transit choices.

Through the four rounds of competition, Strong Towns celebrates a total of sixteen communities responding to local challenges—and addressing local opportunities—with creativity, intelligence, humility, and courage.

How a town addresses transportation options for people of varying ages, abilities and means is one of the most important indicators of its resiliency. The Strongest Town Contest puts transportation front and center in evaluating entries. How easy is it to live in your town without regular access to a car? What transportation investments has your town recently made or is it in the process of making?

If we took a walking tour through your town, what would we see? How does your community use its land productively to promote long-term financial resilience?

Nominating your town is easy. Put together a small team and answer a few short essay questions. Entries are due February 20 at 11 pm Central. For more information, please contact Strong Towns Content Manager Jay Stange.