Small Cities Program

Overview

The Mid-America Regional Council’s Small Cities Program provides administrative, planning and informational resources to smaller local governments. The region includes 90 cities with a population under 10,000 and only a handful of these cities employ a city manager or administrator. It is increasingly difficult for smaller cities to address problems confronting their communities due to limited resources. 

Downtown Harrisonville, Mo.

The Small Cities Program supplements local staff with resources, while focusing on the following: 

  • Grant writing and management services to help communities take advantage of initiatives to gain access to state and federal programs. 
  • Planning techniques for infrastructure development, economic and community initiatives 
  • Training on the use of economic development tools to take advantage of private funding opportunities. 
  • Assistance with "Best Practices," policy writing and a master contract for goods and services. 
  • Identification of revenue sources, use of special improvement districts and budget structure. 
  • Mapping support services. 

Sustainable Growth for Small Cities Toolkit

The Sustainable Growth for Small Cities Toolkit presents city staff and public officials with broad principles upon which to base comprehensive plans and land development regulations, benchmarks against which to judge development proposals, resource lists of ordinances developed in small communities across the country and a catalogue of funding sources for planning initiatives.

Download the toolkit