Alan Fisher and CityNerd to Join Strong Towns at the National Gathering
Alan Fisher (left) and Ray Delahanty (right).
Alan Fisher and CityNerd are likely household names to anyone with a passive interest in urban design and a YouTube account. With over 300,000 subscribers between them, both channels have carved out an online community not only questioning the North American development pattern, but mobilizing to make change where they live.
Strong Towns is thrilled to welcome both YouTubers to the Strong Towns National Gathering (May 30–31) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Alan Fisher and CityNerd will join Tiffany Owens Reed of Cities Decoded, who has likewise been a regular Strong Towns contributor asking tough questions and offering thoughtful answers. Also on the panel is John Simmerman of Active Towns, which puts out podcasts, videos, and other media to “inspire the creation of communities that promote a Culture of Activity for All Ages & Abilities.”
These creators will share their experiences reaching people using video, social media, podcasts, and other forms of media to build a movement. In a panel moderated by Strong Towns video producer Mike Pasternock, you’ll learn how to get started on content creation, with pro tips to leverage various platforms and content types to reach new audiences receptive to the Strong Towns message.
Learn about the panelists below and get your tickets to the National Gathering here.
Tiffany Owens Reed
A New Yorker at heart currently living in Texas, Tiffany Owens Reed offers weekly ruminations for Strong Towns (as well as in her own blog, Cities Decoded) on the social makeup of our built environment, the moral implications of our habits, and the day-to-day questions of a person advocating for more human-scaled places. In a nutshell, she asks hard questions and provides thoughtful answers.
Read Tiffany’s writing:
You can also explore free resources from Cities Decoded here and follow Tiffany on Instagram @citiesdecoded.
Alan Fisher
With his YouTube channel helmed by, “The Numbers don't lie, and they spell disaster for you suburbs,” Alan Fisher has made a niche for himself in a burgeoning online community of professionals and everyday advocates questioning the North American development pattern.
Never watched his videos before? Check out this one about “Philadelphia’s Ghost Subway Line That’s Rising From The Dead.”
CityNerd
Known as CityNerd to thousands of subscribers and Ray Delahanty to those who know him personally, this YouTuber packages analysis in an upbeat, digestible format that has resonated with nerds and newbies alike. Ray attributes the birth of his channel to “the frustration over the limited scope of things I was able to explore and share as a transportation planning and engineering consultant.”
Curious but don’t know where to start? Check out this playlist investigating heinous land uses.
Strong Towns advocates especially incensed by the North American addiction to highway expansion might also enjoy this video: “Freeway Widening: The Gift That Keeps on Giving (More Traffic).”
John Simmerman
Active Towns founder John Simmerman has over 30 years of experience as a health professional studying the intersection between the built environment and human behavior, especially the impact on mobility and physical activity. Through his podcasts and YouTube series, he’s been promoting places all across the world—aspiring “Active Towns”—that have made the push to prioritize placemaking and encourage “a culture of activity for all ages and abilities.”
Check out the latest podcast episodes here.
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From safer streets to incremental housing to responsive local government, Strong Towns advocacy covers a wide range of issues with unique constituencies. Register for the 2023 Strong Towns National Gathering and meet longtime contributors, fellow advocates fighting against highway expansions, professionals dedicated to zoning and parking reform, and creators forging communities online eager to make change offline. It’s time to meet your movement.