Why Your Town Feels Broke

Neighbors Welcome RI, in partnership with national experts, is offering a series of trainings that will dig into how housing impacts local communities. These trainings are open to all, but will be most valuable to Rhode Island public servants serving as elected or appointed leaders at the local level.

In Partnership with Strong Towns

*If this event is cost-prohibitive, please reach out to [email protected] for scholarship information.

*AICP members can earn 3 Certification Maintenance (CM) credits for this activity. More information about AICP’s CM program can be found at .

Your community may be growing. New development is going up, tax revenue is coming in, and public investment is happening. So why does it still feel like there’s never enough money to maintain the streets, pipes, parks, and other basic services your town already has?
In “Why Your Town Feels Broke,” Strong Towns’ John Reuter will unpack the often-confusing math behind local government finance and show how the way we build our communities shapes their financial future. He’ll explore why growth can make a city look prosperous in the short term while creating long-term obligations that become increasingly difficult to afford.
Along the way, you’ll get an introduction to some of the core ideas behind the Strong Towns approach: understanding the relationship between development and public infrastructure, recognizing the difference between growth and lasting prosperity, and asking better questions about the investments communities make.
Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all prescription, this presentation will give you a practical way to understand your town’s finances, recognize the tradeoffs behind local decisions, and identify small, achievable steps that can help your community become stronger over time.

John T. Reuter is the executive director of Strong Towns. Before stepping into this role, he served for twelve years on the Strong Towns Board of Directors and was the organization’s first senior fellow. His career has centered on helping people work together to solve problems and build a better future. Most recently, he served as vice president for State and Local Strategies at the League of Conservation Voters and, prior to that, as executive director of Conservation Voters for Idaho.

Reuter co-founded the Sandpoint Reader newspaper while attending the College of Idaho and later became the youngest city council member in Sandpoint, Idaho’s history, eventually serving as council president. His experience in journalism, advocacy and local government shaped his belief that strong communities are built by people willing to invest in the places they call home. As a speaker, he brings this practical, hopeful perspective to conversations about local leadership, community resilience and building stronger places.

He lives in Boston with his wife and their mischievous goldendoodle.

Neighbors Welcome! RI is A Grassroots Network of Neighbors Advocating for More Homes. We imagine a future in which all of our friends, family, and neighbors can find the housing they need in the Ocean State.

Strong Towns seeks to replace America’s postwar pattern of development, the Suburban Experiment, with a pattern of development that is financially strong and resilient. They advocate for cities of all sizes to be safe, livable and inviting, and work to elevate local government to be the highest level of collaboration for people working together in a place, not merely the lowest level in a hierarchy of governments.

Local Return builds community wealth in Rhode Island through ownership and investment, particularly in neighborhoods that have experienced historical disinvestment.