Strong Towns Coast to Coast

A map of Strong Towns Local Conversations. Find one near you!

There are a lot of things I love about my job as the Strong Towns community builder. One of my absolute favorites is being able to email Strong Towns advocates to let them know a new Strong Towns group has formed near them.

We call these groups Local Conversations. A Local Conversation is made up of Strong Towns advocates living in a particular place (usually a town or city, but occasionally a single neighborhood or broader region). They come together to talk about the Strong Towns approach and then take action to make their communities stronger, safer, more inviting, and more resilient. 

There are approximately 110 Local Conversations now. I stay in touch with the organizers, on the phone and Zoom, over email, and now in a Discord server we set up for Local Conversation leaders. I hear about groups who are helping to end costly parking minimums and subsidies, working to change local zoning laws to clear the path for more small developers, fighting for safer streets, getting members elected to local office, and much, much more. 

Strong Towns advocates around North America are engaged in important, transformational work on behalf of their neighborhoods, towns, and cities. This work is less intimidating, more effective, and, frankly, more fun when you’re not doing it alone. That’s why I love sending those emails: “Hey, great news! A new Strong Towns group has formed near you!”

Last week I was able to send this brand of email to nearly 300 Strong Towns advocates in San Mateo, Santa Barbara, and southern New Jersey. This week I’ll be sending out more. From sea to shining sea, the Strong Towns movement is picking up steam.

As I mentioned above, we currently have 110 Local Conversations. So much of the work of the Strong Towns movement is being done by these groups that we are hoping to grow the number of local groups tenfold over the next five years. Imagine 1,000 Local Conversations. That’s less than 20 groups per state and province. But it would be impossible to ignore. 

One by one, our Local Conversations are changing the national conversation about how to grow stronger and more financially resilient cities. To find out if there’s a group near you, or to learn how to start your own, click the button below:

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