So You Want to Start a Town

SO YOU WANT TO START A TOWN

TOWN OF SHENANIGANSETT PRESENTS:

THE POST-URBAN BAGEL OF COMPROMISE

PART I

✓ You and your friends are getting older

✓Having mated and pair-bonded, you see little point in

maintaining an urban existence

✓ You want to live near one another, though, to maintain

the tight social bonds that were forged in the city

✓ Fallacy: The Post Urban Bagel of Compromise

PART I


✓ As a social group, you start off as a tight cluster within an

urban setting

✓ As your social group matures, members tend to move X

distance from the social center to a place slightly more

habitable/affordable/rational

✓ You do this under the guise of being able to “come

back to the ‘hood’” on a semi-regular basis. (i.e. “it’s

only an hour by train” or “We’ll still see you guys on the

weekends”

PART I


✓Over time, all members of the social group leave the city

for similarly spaced destinations, leaving a ring of friends

all spaced out from one another along a radius where the

(now vacant) center point is your former neighborhood.

✓ Each is further from the closest friend than they were from

the original locus (i.e. a radius of 50 miles across 6 friends

equals out to ~53 miles between each)

✓ The compromise towns tend to be flawed in several ways

(high crime/still expensive/boring/filled with Paneras)

PART I


WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH CITIES ANYWAY?

PART II

✓ Urban areas are generally inhospitable towards organic life

✓ Like the watering holes of old, they are rife with danger and threat

✓Once pair-bonded, the need for social activity within a densely

populated area sharply decreases

✓ The myth of a “cultural locus” died with the Internet

✓Cost of living far outstrips any earning potential

✓ The compromises are many, and the benefits are few (food being

the only real one)

PART II

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH CITIES ANYWAY?

SHENANIGANSETTWelcome to

WELCOME TO SHENANIGANSETT

PART III

✓ Shenanigansett is not a town, but an idea

✓ That idea came to me in a fever dream on the

boardwalk at Coney Island

✓ I saw the future, and the Post-Urban Bagel of

Compromise, laid out before me

✓ I decided to act not just to protect my own social

circle, but the circles of those who would come after

PART III

WELCOME TO SHENANIGANSETT

Shenanigansett is not a town.

It is a system to make any town your home town.

ESCAPE FROM NY/LA

SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 1:

✓ Your pre-post-urban group of friends (pioneers) agree that you all will

need to eventually leave the city

✓ Everyone also agrees they’d like to stay close together in order to

maintain the social niceties that made urban life bearable

✓ Ideally your group is a mix of those who can find work easily

anywhere (scientists/teachers/foodservice) and those looking for an

entrepreneurial challenge (crafters/makers/hackers)

✓ Identify a scout party to vet and suggest suitable Host Towns that

meets predefined characteristics

SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 1: ESCAPE FROM NY/LA

ARE YOU READY FOR THE COUNTRY?

✓ Scouts share these Host Towns within their circle where they are vetted,

visited, and eventually a single Host Town is chosen

✓ As the pioneers are ready and able, they move to said Host Town to

establish a base

✓ Eventually the entire social circle is transplanted wholly within the Host

Towns

✓ You all live out your lives in an idyllic post-urban paradise

SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 1: ESCAPE FROM NY/LA

ARE YOU READY FOR THE COUNTRY?

SCOUT AND IDENTIFY


✓ Criteria should be decided upon by the group before a survey can begin

✓ Generally, Host Towns should be of a population no greater than 200X the

# of pioneers in your group. (so 20 friends = population ~4000)

✓ Host Towns should be well established, but slightly economically

depressed (think mill/steel) to ensure fertile cultural/economic

terraforming

✓ Host towns should not have a strong pre-existing character or central

identity (beware the cute trap). They will be resistant to cultural shift

✓ Finally, it’s HOST Town, not GHOST Town. Though it is tempting to try to

overhaul a forgotten little hamlet, the economic inertia may be too great.

Be cautious!

SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 2: SCOUT AND IDENTIFY

WHAT MAKES A GOOD HOST TOWN?

CRITICAL Those qualities and criteria which are essential to your mission and your target. These are

things we cannot compromise on - the core characterization of your town. They are things

that you cannot live without - the vitals. If a Host Town lacks these critical characteristics, it

is unsuitable for consideration. Things like population density, mean home price, location

to core services.

COMPELLINGThose qualities that add vibrancy, comfort, excitement. They enhance the overall quality

of life within your new home. These aren’t critical qualities, but are essential enough that

they may tip the balance between two close Host Towns. Things like quality of schools,

natural amenities, nightlife and lifestyle, etc.

CHARMING These are tertiary concerns, qualities that might not seem critical but help to sell a Host

Town as a complete package - one that has a charm of its own. None of these should be

reason enough to choose a Host Town, but enhance already strong candidates as more

well-rounded choices. Things like art museums, ice-cream parlors, archery ranges,

potential areas for expansion.


THREE LEVELS OF CONSIDERATION

✓ Within 1.5 hours’ drive of a Major Domestic Airport

✓ Within 2.5 hours’ drive of Major Metropolitan Area

✓ Within 1 hour of a Major Medical Center

✓ Median Home Price (3 bedroom) <$450K

✓ Crime rate below the National Average

✓ Within 2 Hours of a Body of Water (river, lake, ocean or bay)


CRITICAL CRITERIA

✓ Well-regarded public schools

✓ Public Transportation

✓ Bike-Friendly

✓ Public parks or greenspaces

✓ Available retail spaces

✓ Fairly established commercial “center” (i.e. main street)


COMPELLING CRITERIA

✓ At least 3 music venues of varying size within driving distance

✓ Some restaurants/bars/nightlife options

✓ Gallery/Studio spaces

✓ World-Class Museums within driving distance

✓ Access to outdoor amenities - trails, biking, etc.

✓ Reasonable access to a National or State Park

✓ Ice-Cream Parlor

✓ Hockey Rink


CHARMING CRITERIA

Remember: No town has to meet all of these criteria.

This is simply a guide. You’ll know it when you find it.

ASSIMILATETO ASSIMILATE


✓ Now safely entrenched in your new home town, your social circle

should begin to insert themselves into the local school board/city

council to ensure appropriate levels of cultural sophistication

✓ The more entrepreneurial among you should open bars, restaurants,

bakeries, or other psycho-cultural institutions

✓ Over time, the cultural terrain of the Host Town begins to resemble the

tastes and expectations of the transplanted pioneers

✓ Other businesses, attracted to this energy, further elevate the terrain,

ensuring higher quality of life for all citizens new and old


ASSIMILATE TO ASSIMILATE

COMMON QUESTIONS

PART IV

Why not build a town from scratch?

✓Starting a town is hard work!

✓Too many things can go wrong, too much needs to be established

✓Biodiversity is key to long-term cultural terraforming. (i.e. it’s better to build upon a fertile soil than seed your own dust)

Why aren’t you selling this formula?

✓This idea, like all great ideas, deserves to be free

✓ I’ve given you the blueprint. Go forth!

✓You can buy some stuff to support the movement, though

Can I just move to your town?

✓Sorry, no


COMMON QUESTIONS

“If you will it, it is no dream!”

— Theodore Hertzl

©2016 Shenanigansett Town Council

Produced in concordance with the Town of Shenanigansett Chamber of

Commerce™, the Shenanigansett Mayor’s Office™, and the University of

Shenanigansett®.

All Rights Reserved.

Self Improvement

So You Want to Start a Town