In spite of the fact that ⅓ of all American are renting their housing, there seems to be a notion in many neighborhoods and towns that owners are the only residents who are going to be valuable members of their communities. Instead, renters should be more fully welcomed into their neighborhoods and respected as the diverse, engaged community members that they can be.
Read MoreA little update on the storm that passed over Chuck's home last weekend. Thanks to everyone who checked in and sent well wishes.
Read MoreAs Strong Towns advocates, we are catalysts for change, and the metaphorical walls that our institutions have erected against change are being chipped away.
Read MoreStrong Towns Executive Director Jim Kumon will be leaving the organization at the end of the month to pursue new endeavors in land use, transportation and real estate development. He has been with Strong Towns for the past two years. His last day with the organization is July 31.
Read MoreToday we're announcing two openings on the Strong Towns team.
Read MoreI love the call and response of the city. We speak to each other through all these subtle gestures - putting out a dog-bowl on a hot day, painting the front door, installing a free library box. It's a relay passed on from one person to another. We each have our own way of expressing kindness or humour to the people around us, and the city becomes a canvas of all these tiny acts of humanity.
Read MoreMonday Member Blog Digest: Identifying places of real versus illusory value. What is a "bad neighborhood" anyway? What is the best use of land under or next to an urban freeway? The bright future of the Midwestern "Rust Belt," and why the past isn't a good guide to the future when it comes to real estate values. Neighborhood churches as an urban litmus test. Thoughts on Pope Francis's message re: cities and urbanism. Block parties and red tape. A victory for cyclists in South Florida. When to put your time and energy into an idea when you have more of them than you can effectively advocate for.
Read MoreDemand an approach to speeding that reflects your values.
Read MoreA revelation from the Iowa DOT Director and a speech on transportation to the Iowa ULI by Chuck Marohn.
Read MoreThis longboard has been far more thought-provoking than expected. Once I'm competent enough to venture beyond my quiet street, where will I go? How do people use the streets and sidewalks when they are not on foot, bike, or driving?
Read MoreA vast majority of our infrastructure is predicated on treating non-automobiles as second-class citizens. This is the status quo. One doesn't need to look far to find examples.
Read MoreWe have obsessive attention to detail on the things that matter to us and only pay superficial heed to those that don't.
Read MoreNone of the incentives for a productive development pattern are there to make it happen. We're just throwing more money at failure. Why?
Read MoreThe Iowa DOT Director acknowledges that we've built more highways and bridges than we will maintain. The system is going to shrink.
Read MoreCities like to form on water. It follows that there are thousands of cities out there struggling with their own version of North Side, South Side. The phenomenon reminds me of Jane Jacobs on border vacuums.
Read MoreThis blog is always my highest priority. I put it above anything else we do here and many things I do in my personal life as well (including sleep). That being said, I've hit a wall here this week where the number of things I have in my schedule that are not movable -- including a trip to Detroit last week, a board meeting this past weekend and a speaking trip to Iowa that starts right now -- is forcing me to take a short break.
Read MoreEvery now and then someone shares my Diverging Diamond overdub on a random site and I get a blast of negative feedback on our YouTube channel. It just happened again. I find this funny.
Read MoreDo we size our city for the equipment we want or size our equipment for the city we want?
Read MoreA code smell is a piece of code that correctly executes a given task (i.e. it's not a bug) but its construction indicates deeper flaws in the logic and design of a program.
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