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2017 Winner

Traverse City, Michigan

Population: 15,000
Throughout the 2017 contest, Strongest Town voters learned about Traverse City's fun-loving, active population that takes pride in its local businesses and collaboratively addresses challenges. Traverse City stood out as a town where multi-modal transportation is key, where small businesses thrive, and where natural beauty is beloved and prioritized. While it's a popular tourist destination, this contest also made clear that Traverse City is alive with activity all year round. Traverse City is meeting challenges like providing affordable housing head on, with new provisions for accessory dwelling units, decreasing building and parking regulations, and encouraging creative development styles. Here’s what city leaders told us about their efforts.

Enabling Car-Free Transportation

Traverse City has an excellent multi-modal transportation system serving the city and the surrounding region. This includes a transit system called BATA (“bay-ta”) that serves the city and surrounding communities. A nice feature BATA offers are shuttles during the National Cherry Festival and one-way shuttle services to cyclists riding the Leelanau Trail between Traverse City and Suttons Bay.

Traverse City has some of the best commuting/recreational trails in the nation, including the TART Trail running through the heart of the city and connecting to other area trails. In addition, the North American VASA Trail offers world-class hiking, jogging, mountain biking, and x-country skiing options with links to other trail networks. Sidewalks and bike lanes are provided through much of the city, with more being added. Bicycle parking is available throughout the city

Downtown Is a Destination

Traverse City has an awesome downtown centered on and around Front Street, which was named a Great Place in America (Street) by the American Planning Association in 2009. Corridors extend in each direction to connecting nodes like the Warehouse District and Old Town. Front Street is the primary shopping, dining, and entertainment district of the city with many restaurants, retail shops, and the handsomely restored State Theatre and Traverse City Opera House. These two "marquee" attractions provide a rich variety of shows, events, and programs throughout the year, including the Traverse City Film Festival.

On the north end of the district, along the lake shore, are waterfront open space, parks, beaches, marinas, and the Bijou by the Bay Theater, which also offers first-run films throughout the year and documentaries during the film festival. 

The Old Town District contains the Old Town Playhouse, a shopping and dining area, corporate offices, and a variety of mixed-use developments located on the south end of the downtown area. On the western edge of downtown are West Front, the Warehouse District, and Slabtown. These areas include dining, shopping, and entertainment venues, lodging, and tree-lined historic neighborhoods with brick streets.

Strong Finances, Engaged Citizens

Traverse City has a Double A+ bond rating with a "Stable Outlook." The city has invested in existing infrastructure by replacing pipes, wires, and other supportive infrastructure in anticipation of a growing population and increasing demands.

Public participation is part of the DNA here. A charrette process for an important transportation corridor drew hundreds of citizens with divergent opinions. A consensus on a volatile issue was quickly attained. The street design was to be narrowed, the pedestrian and bicycle improved, and the motor vehicle capacity maintained. The City Commission passed a resolution of support of the design with supportive comments from the public. The strong opposition in reducing the number of travel lanes from four to three dissipated during the public engagement process.