Cities are collections of systems that work together to sustain life. Here's how to tell when they've been destabilized.
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The ultimate irony of our economic system is that the only mechanism we have to satisfy our needs is to increase our neediness.
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To build strong towns, we need to adopt the ways of the ecologist, which involve far more observation and far less intervention than our current approaches to urban development.
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What if some of the stuff we think we can leave to history were core features, rather than unfortunate side effects of the traditional city? What if we can’t have the good without some of the bad?
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If you have an approach with a 50% chance of success or failure, would you rather it be tried out at the state level with everyone succeeding or failing at the same time? Or, would you rather it be tried out at the neighborhood level, where failures are small and contained?
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Cities are complex ecosystems. For areas in need of redevelopment, the only way to return to a healthy urban fabric is incrementally, a few small projects a year until the neighborhood has buildings of every age and condition, suitable for adaptation to the particular needs of some future time.
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Can we only satisfy our needs by increasing our neediness?
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We've all heard reference to vehicles, business sectors, tourists, social groups, etc as though they are invasive species. There are also literal invasive species that thrive in urban environments. Are there any cases where "We're just very negative about them" when they are simply filling a void through "hardiness and lack of competition"? What are the "pristine ecosystems" that we try to conserve in the urban landscape?
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The decision to pursue a career in urban planning: what's the value of it in a world where we acknowledge the fundamental complexity and unmanageability of cities? Planners as the conservation biologists of the urban ecosystem.
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The best from Strong Towns members' blogs this week: Hawaii's "Lava People"—experimental housing in a minimal-regulation environment. The appeal of location vs. "unlocation." What makes people identify with the urban environment? The future of the corner store. When to use TIF. Pros and cons of regional consolidation of government. Dallas from a hotel's -eye-view. Unorthodox citizen participation tactics.
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