3 The core mission of the Small Cities Lab is to help close the knowledge and resource gaps faced by smaller places across the country. Since embarking on this work, we are often asked: “What is a small city, anyway?” While it’s tempting to start with a population range (100,000? 250,000?), we know that those numbers fail to capture the huge variety of smaller places where the majority of Americans live. These classifications also fail to reflect how these places actually operate. When that happens, the similarities and differences among small cities, their common challenges, pressures, and possibilities, get overlooked. That lack of recognition often translates into less support, less visibility, and fewer tools to tackle big issues. What is a Small City Anyway? Introduction
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