By Erik Anderson, Spirit of Jefferson
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — “Bottom up.” “Small bets.” “Incremental development.” “People-centered places.”
Those catchphrases, popularized in urban development circles by the national non-profit Strong Towns advocacy organization, made their way to Charles Town last week as a small group gathered for the first meeting of Strong Towns of Jefferson County (STJC) at a park pavilion.
The first catchphrase on that list is embedded in the very structure of the new local community group, which was organized by a few Charles Town business owners at Jefferson County Memorial Park on July 3.
While the Strong Towns brand has become attached to a nationwide volunteer movement of more than 200 informal civic groups known as “local conversations,” the large network of loose affiliates is governed not by the official nonprofit that originated the brand but by the collective “bottom up” decisions of the members who form each group.
Read more: https://www.spiritofjefferson.com/news/article_7ceb814c-e06f-4f42-b3c9-cf911de08c9f.html
