Places Where I Don't Want to Sit

The idea of asking developers to contribute to public space is excellent (perhaps essential). By the looks of it, this has resulted in millions upon millions of dollars invested in places to sit or frolic. Too bad it keeps ending up in places where no one would actually want to linger... Imagine if we took all that wasted investment and directed it toward building more spaces that make people happy.

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Gracen Johnsongreenspace
Wasted: Before & After 125 Million Dollars

The structural problem in our road building system is that we’ve based these large financial decisions on faulty premises and inaccurate estimations. We’ve justified and enabled the subsidizing of less efficient forms of development through the aid of cost-benefit analysis. The 494 /169 interchange looks great on paper at first glance. It’s going to create jobs, handle more traffic, help the economy, and save time.

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Organizational Update

In this week's podcast, Chuck Marohn talks about the organization behind the Strong Towns movement, an update to their strategic plan based on what has been learned and a powerful theory of change.

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PodcastStrong Towns
Would you be missed?

People move away all the time and I've never felt compelled to write about it, but this was different. This time I was saying goodbye to people who changed a place. We shared a studio that now feels empty. We collaborated on projects that now feel strangely grown up and disconnected. We lived in a neighbourhood that feels a couple degrees cooler without knowing they are there.

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Gracen Johnson
Film for thought

Way back in May, I shared two videos with our program participants to set the tone for the summer ahead. I've found myself drawn back to them as I hit roadblocks this week. I hope they'll mean something to you as well.

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