Photo Credit: David Kuhn.

How local governments and the people they serve can co-create exceptional communities through innovation, collaboration, and adaptation.

In 2016, the Town Council of Cary, North Carolina appointed change-agent Sean R. Stegall to manage the thriving community of more than 180,000 people from more than 60 countries with a national reputation for excellence — safe neighborhoods, extensive bike-friendly parks and greenways, environmental stewardship, robust business climate, and premier sports venues.

Sean Stegall being sworn in by Cary Mayor Weinbrecht

With vacant land becoming scarce, the development trends that fueled Cary’s successes over five decades would have to change, and Stegall’s job was to “keep Cary Cary” while, at the same time, implementing the Imagine Cary Community Plan, a policy and strategy document years in the making that would address these trends and carry the city forward to 2040.

Cyclists and pedestrians on a sidewalk in Downtown Cary

Instilling a “people first” philosophy, Stegall and the elected Cary Town Council are reshaping local government through collaboration, experimentation, innovation, and adaptation. Cary remains an exceptional place to call home, an inspiring destination for visitors, and a compelling case study for helping keep cities strong.

Quotes from The Top of the Arc

“If we were going to build up the town, we needed to build up the staff. The town government needed a vision and language, a process, a supportive network to help us ensure that good works become great . . . With all the technical, physical change that was coming, my concern was how to ensure we kept what was precious to Cary while also evolving into a more resilient, flexible, people-focused government. All of which is to say, I felt we had to get Cary’s culture right.”
“If we view change as having inherent risk, how do you keep change from moving too fast and upping the fear factor? This is where the casual manner of the slow play is helpful, and it leads me to another catchphrase: the rule of three.”
“Arcs serve as a personal reminder . . . that it is up to each of us to keep Cary ‘at the top of the arc.’ Parks, people, even entire communities evolve, and we — all of us —shoulder the incredible responsibility for creating and recreating the best Cary possible.”

How local governments and the people they serve can co-create exceptional communities through innovation, collaboration, and adaptation.

“If we view change as having inherent risk, how do you keep change from moving too fast and upping the fear factor? This is where the casual manner of the slow play is helpful, and it leads me to another catchphrase: the rule of three.”

“Arcs serve as a personal reminder . . . that it is up to each of us to keep Cary ‘at the top of the arc.’ Parks, people, even entire communities evolve, and we — all of us —shoulder the incredible responsibility for creating and recreating the best Cary possible.”