I want to live in a place built by legions of underemployed urbanists. Just like we would need a massive influx of small scale farmers if we want to substantively change our precarious food system, we need an army of small scale developers to build a nation of Strong Towns.
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Strong Towns is hosting a discussion at Piazza on the Mall next to the Westminster Presbyterian Church, between 12th and 13th streets on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday September 23 at 5:45 PM. Join us to be a part of forging a new approach to transit.
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Don’t be intimidated by haters. Keep doing what you can to build a strong town.
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This Friday finds me, along with Jim Kumon and Gracen Johnson, in Ponderay, Idaho. I just finished a radio show and am getting ready to dig into some plans and codes as part of an effort we have going on here. After spending a lot of time in big cities, it feels good to get back to my small town roots. Lots of struggles here, but lots of potential too. The job of a Strong Towns advocate is to see both with as clear a vision as one can have.
Enjoy the week’s news.
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While it is great to celebrate your heritage, labelling it as historic implies that it is a bygone place - a relic of a past generation that you want to preserve. I understand why many places feel the need to go out of their way to preserve their urban cores by labelling them as 'historic', as progress for the past 60 years around here has been synonymous with suburbanisation and decentralisation, so out of desperation they label what little urbanism they have left 'historic' to preserve it.
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With all the talk of how to pay for a five year road plan, nobody seems to be willing to publicly acknowledge the obvious: Brainerd has more roads to fix and maintain than it has tax base to pay for them. This isn't a taxing problem and it isn't a spending problem. It is an insolvency problem, one that debt can only make worse.
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As you are checking out the new website, there is one special place I want to direct you while I'm delivering an important message to our key supporters.
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Imagine if the City of Minneapolis was given $8.7 million that could only be used on downtown pedestrian and/or transit projects. What would they do? The answer is: not a pedestrian bridge to be used during 10 sports games a year.
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How can we best invest cheap money? With a Strong Towns approach to debt centered on true investments which pay a measurable return and legitimate cash flow in a city that understands its true balance sheet.
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