GREENFIELD — Of the 16 American and Canadian municipalities nominated to the Strongest Town Contest, Greenfield has advanced to the third round as one of the remaining eight.

The suburban development nonprofit Strong Towns holds its Strongest Town Contest annually for cities and towns taking tangible steps to overcome transportation, housing or financial challenges. Competitors advance over five weekly rounds in which the public can vote once per week, and votes are tallied Monday through Thursday.

“I see so many people digging in to make this a better place,” City Council President Lora Wondolowski said. “This is a great opportunity to highlight the work that we’re doing and the challenges that we have that we need more people to help with. We don’t have all the ideas, and we’re open to new ideas and new ways of doing things so that we can be the place that we need to be for our community.”

Greenfield resident Andrew Varnon wrote a My Turn in the Greenfield Recorder called “We live in such a place” in February, and later nominated Greenfield to the Strongest Town Contest with the help of Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane and Community Development Administrator Anna Oltman.

In his My Turn, Varnon referred to conversations he has had with friends and acquaintances from around the country and reflected on how Greenfield’s active, walkable downtown and feeling of community is truly unique.

“To them,” Varnon wrote of his friends from Florida, “[the Greenfield community] is like a Netflix movie.”

In nominating Greenfield for the Strongest Town Contest, Varnon, Cahillane and Oltman outlined Greenfield’s opposition to big development and strides toward adding housing and creating a more walkable downtown.

On Friday, Greenfield Business Association Director Hannah Rechtschaffen joined Wondolowski and Mayor Ginny Desorgher’s Communications Director Matthew Conway outside the Sweet Phoenix antique store to record a promotional video highlighting the city’s progression toward financial resiliency. According to Rechtschaffen, the contest does not involve an entrance fee.

“Our participation in the Strongest Town Contest is really a culmination of what Greenfield is as a community — we’re scrappy, we’re small, but we work hard and we’re always trying our best to grow and excel,” Conway said. “Whether that’s sustainability, whether that’s the implementation of our downtown police substation, we’re always trying to grow. ... That is really one of the focal points of Strongest Towns. It’s not where we are today, it’s where we’re going tomorrow.”

Greenfield is competing against Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Harrisonburg, Virginia; Silverton and Bend, Oregon; Marion, Ohio; Sacramento, California; and Decorah, Iowa. The four finalists will be announced on March 31, before the final two municipalities are announced April 8.

The winning municipality, which is expected to be announced April 15, will be represented at the 2025 Strong Towns National Gathering in Providence, Rhode Island, in June and will be presented with an award certificate.

Strong Towns’ video creator will visit the winning municipality later in the year to make a documentary short film about the community.

“This is not a perfect town competition,” Rechtschaffen said. “They are not looking for the towns that have solved every problem and successfully managed every single crisis. They are looking for the towns where people come together and work and work and work to just keep making the place stronger.”

Visit strongesttown.com to learn more.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached
at acammalleri@recorder.com or
413-930-4429.