Everyone is looking for their home town. Why move to someone else's when you can start your own? So You Want to Start a Town is the definitive guide to Post-Urban living, a blueprint to turning any town into YOUR town. Presented as a public service by Town of Shenanigansett.

1. SO YOU WANT TO
START A TOWN
TOWN OF SHENANIGANSETT PRESENTS:

2. THE POST-URBAN
BAGEL OF COMPROMISE
PART I

3. ✓ 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
THE POST-URBAN BAGEL OF COMPROMISE

4. ✓ 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
THE POST-URBAN BAGEL OF COMPROMISE

5. ✓ 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
THE POST-URBAN BAGEL OF COMPROMISE

14. WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH
CITIES ANYWAY?
PART II

15. ✓ 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?

16. SHENANIGANSETT
Welcometo

17. WELCOME TO
SHENANIGANSETT
PART III

18. ✓ 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

19. Shenanigansett
is not a town.
It is a system to make any
town your home town.

20. ESCAPE
FROM NY/LA
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 1:

21. ✓ 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?

22. ✓ 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?

23. SCOUT AND
IDENTIFY
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 2:

24. ✓ 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?

25. 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.
COMPELLING
Those 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.
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 2: SCOUT AND IDENTIFY
THREE LEVELS OF CONSIDERATION

26. ✓ 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)
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 2: SCOUT AND IDENTIFY
CRITICAL CRITERIA

27. ✓ Well-regarded public schools
✓ Public Transportation
✓ Bike-Friendly
✓ Public parks or greenspaces
✓ Available retail spaces
✓ Fairly established commercial “center” (i.e. main street)
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 2: SCOUT AND IDENTIFY
COMPELLING CRITERIA

28. ✓ 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
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 2: SCOUT AND IDENTIFY
CHARMING CRITERIA

29. Remember:
No town has to meet all
of these criteria.
This is simply a guide.
You’ll know it when you
find it.

30. ASSIMILATE
TO
ASSIMILATE
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 2:

31. ✓ 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
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 3:
ASSIMILATE TO ASSIMILATE

32. COMMON QUESTIONS
PART IV

33. 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
SHENANIGANSETT, STEP 3:
COMMON QUESTIONS

34. “Ifyouwillit,
itisnodream!”
— Theodore Hertzl

35. ©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.