The Bottom-Up Revolution The Money Angle: How To Win Over Skeptics
Nov 25, 2025
Shawn Champagne, Superintendent of Planning for Medicine Hat, Alberta, shares insights from his work applying Strong Towns principles to urban planning. He reveals how downtown was transformed from a perceived money pit to a vibrant 'money pot' through fiscal analysis. Shawn discusses the importance of small bets and quick-build testing for community projects. He highlights engaging skeptics by framing urban planning in economic terms, ultimately fostering grassroots participation in local governance.
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Fiscal Lens Changes Planning Priorities
- Viewing urban form through a fiscal lens reveals trade-offs that physical vibrancy alone doesn't expose.
- Shawn Champagne realized some vibrant projects can hurt long-term city resilience if they don't make financial sense.
Cheesecake Shop vs Power Center
- Medicine Hat compared one downtown cheesecake shop to an outer power center and found downtown value per hectare far higher.
- The difference traced directly to built form and the large parking lots at edge power centers versus dense downtown parcels.
Traditional Form Wins On Profitability
- Traditional downtown built form can be both more vibrant and more profitable per hectare than sprawling auto-oriented retail.
- Shawn used that financial framing to persuade fiscally conservative Medicine Hat residents.