The Launch of Strong Towns Wilmington

What it is, why now, and how to get involved.

Strong Towns is a national nonprofit focused on helping cities and towns build communities that are affordable to people, financially sustainable to maintain, and resilient to changing economic conditions. Let’s go over the core principles of Strong Towns at the national level and what we envision that looking like in Wilmington.

Strong Towns Principle #1: Financial solvency is a prerequisite for long-term prosperity.

Wilmington and its neighborhoods should be able to sustain itself over the long-term. The historic pattern of development involves large up-front subsidies for various types of development because we are still operating under the belief that if we just build enough apartments and office buildings, then we’ll eventually make all that money back in tax revenues. This has not been the case across much of America, as Strong Towns’ research shows.

As Wilmington grapples with different challenges – such as lead pipes in peoples’ homes or playground soil contaminated with heavy metals – we recognize that we need to have money available to continually reinvest in our city as we move forward. Upfront investment isn’t enough. The most important factor here is sustained investment over time. In order to do that, Wilmington must work towards financial solvency.

Thankfully, Wilmington has implemented accrual accounting, which is a major step towards solvency. Additionally, Wilmington has a very thorough and transparent city budget, which is also a good sign.  

Strong Towns Principle #2: Land is the base resource from which community prosperity is built and sustained. It must not be squandered.

At the March 13 meeting of Wilmington City Council’s Community Development & Urban Planning committee, the committee spent over an hour discussing Wilmington’s land bank organization. It was a heated discussion. Many council members brought up concerns about their residents being pushed out of neighborhoods, the cost of rent continuing to skyrocket, and the general lack of affordable housing. This passion shows that how we use our land, and who has access to it, is a crucial part of our city’s future.

There is a lot of work to be done to reform the code in Wilmington for it to be “housing ready.” In particular, there are still default parking minimums, minimum lot sizes, and setbacks, which are not conducive to infill and incremental development. 

While programs like Jumpstart Wilmington go a long way to encourage incremental development, the zoning, building codes, and permitting and approval processes present serious challenges.

Strong Towns Principle #3: A transportation system is a means of creating prosperity in a community, not an end in itself.

If you’ve tried to use the bus system in Wilmington, you are familiar with its limitations. Bus lines are not frequent or reliable enough for many people to use them for moving about the city. What would our city look like if it had a vibrant public transportation system? Or what if we had more robust bike lanes or even bike rentals like we see in other downtown spaces? Could that connect the different districts of Wilmington in a stronger way? Could that encourage more commerce and more patrons for our restaurants and retails stores within the city?

Delaware is the first state to pass the first “anti-stroad” law. The Wilmington 2019 Comprehensive Plan (Wilmington 2028) lays out many improvements to street safety, multimodal transportation, and traffic calming measures. However, almost none of the plan has been implemented. Only a portion of Baynard Street has introduced a separated bike lane, thanks to the work of Open Streets in partnership with the Jefferson Street Center.

Strong Towns Principle #4: Job creation and economic growth are the results of a healthy local economy, not substitutes for one.

Often, city governments look to give subsidies to large corporations to come in and provide jobs. However, these tax breaks don’t make their way down to the people who live in the city. What if we instead invested in people’s quality of life? If life is good in our city, then more people will want to live here. If more people live here, more small businesses will start to service those people. Once that cycle begins, it creates continual, organic growth without the need for large subsidies.

Strong Towns Principle #5: Strong cities, towns, and neighborhoods cannot happen without strong citizens (people who care).

There are a lot of people in Wilmington who care deeply about our city. Take the Green for the Greater Good organization, who worked diligently over multiple years to save the Rodney Reservoir and turn it into a vibrant area for Wilmington residents to enjoy. Or Open Streets Wilmington, which continues to pursue a vision of safe roadways that connect thriving neighborhoods. Or the Urban Bike Project, which regularly provides bikes to underserved communities to encourage more freedom and fun in Wilmington and the surrounding areas.

We have a lot of people in our city who care deeply about each other. When we come together, there is a lot we can accomplish.

Strong Towns Principle #6: Local government is a platform for Strong Citizens to collaboratively build a prosperous place.

Our government works for us, and more and more people are realizing that now. The Wilmington City Council meetings are open to the public, and recordings are available to watch as well if you can’t make it to a meeting. In the broader New Castle County, County Council meetings are also open to the public. These are our councils, and the council members we elect want to hear from us and collaborate with us. The people who work on these Councils also want to make our city strong, and they will need our help to do it.

So now what?

Wilmington Strong Towns officially launched at the start of 2025. Currently, we are a small group of people who are passionate about living in a vibrant, resilient, and affordable city. There is a lot of work to do! We’ve started off focused on education and sharing the mission and vision of what a Strong Wilmington could look like with other passionate and engaged people. As more people learn about the research backing up this vision and what is possible in our city, we will be able to build a groundswell of passion and energy to see this vision through.

We’d love to see you at one of our monthly meetings, which are the second Saturday of every month from 10 am-12 pm at rotating locations (we typically post them on our Facebook page and other social media). Thank you for caring about the people of Wilmington and the future of our city. Let’s build together.