Edward Erfurt

 

Edward Erfurt is the Director of Community Action at Strong Towns. He is a trained architect and passionate urban designer with over 20 years of public- and private-sector experience focused on the management, design, and successful implementation of development and placemaking projects that enrich the tapestry of place. He believes in community-focused processes that are founded on diverse viewpoints, a concern for equity, and guided through time-tested, traditional town-planning principles and development patterns that result in sustainable growth with the community character embraced by the communities which he serves.

Recent Articles by Edward
Who Hates a Hot Dog? Parking Mandates Ban a Beloved Food Truck
Who Hates a Hot Dog? Parking Mandates Ban a Beloved Food Truck

Do you have a favorite food truck? These micro businesses are often features of their communities, and they represent an important stage of incremental development. But strict zoning laws can put these businesses at risk. Hot Dog House FL learned this the hard way when parking mandates evicted them from their main operating location.

The Suburban Approach Won’t Help Us Out of the Housing Trap
The Suburban Approach Won’t Help Us Out of the Housing Trap

Connecticut is trying to reform state and local zoning laws to allow diverse and affordable housing production. However, their efforts still rely on the suburban approach — accruing large amounts of debt in anticipation of future growth — so they may be doomed to failure.

How Your City Can Ensure It Can Afford Its Infrastructure
How Your City Can Ensure It Can Afford Its Infrastructure

Understanding the real costs and long-term liabilities of our infrastructure is essential for the long-term prosperity of our places. Unfortunately, this detail is often overlooked in our decision-making process.

Fixing a Dangerous Intersection Needs To Be Like Fixing a Leaky Pipe
Fixing a Dangerous Intersection Needs To Be Like Fixing a Leaky Pipe

Would you wait a month to fix a leaking pipe that was damaging your kitchen cabinets? No? Then why do we wait so long to fix streets where people continuously die in car crashes?

Aspiration Projects Are Great...Until the Shine Wears Off
Aspiration Projects Are Great...Until the Shine Wears Off

New facilities aren’t bad, but they do present a problem when we can’t afford to maintain them after they’re built.

An ADU Called by Any Other Name
An ADU Called by Any Other Name

There is nothing inspirational in calling the place you live as accessory to something else. It’s time we returned a sense of dignity to the smaller structures that people have called “home” for generations.

 
Edward ErfurtStrong TownsStaff