4 Ways to Turn an Anonymous Neighborhood Into a Village | Local-Motive Tour

Incremental action helps us move our cities forward on housing, transit, and safety — and it's also how we create and sustain communities rich with friends and neighbors we can count on. At a time when more than half of Americans report feeling lonely on a regular basis, it has never been more important to cultivate connection where you live, no matter where you live.

Kat Vellos, human-centered designer and the author of We Should Get Together, will share an overview of the structural barriers to creating hyperlocal friend networks — and more importantly, how to overcome those barriers.

Through memorable case studies with ideas you're enthusiastically encouraged to replicate, you'll learn about concrete, connection-boosting strategies you can implement right away in your neighborhood, whether you're a resident ready to activate your block or a city staffer passionate about making your policies more connection-oriented. Come ready to learn, laugh, rant, and plot the friendship-friendly revolution your community deserves. You’ll leave with ideas, inspiration, and maybe even a new friend or two.

Participants will develop skills for analyzing the social and physical barriers that limit neighborhood connection; they will apply practical, incremental strategies that make everyday community-building easier. The session will also help participants consider how policies, public spaces, and resident-led actions can create more connection-oriented neighborhoods.

This session is a follow-up to Kat’s popular workshop at the 2026 Strong Towns National Gathering, “Crowbarring Connection Into Car-Centric Cities”, and is an exclusive peek at some of the content in her next book. If you weren’t able to attend her workshop in Fayetteville or you want to learn from her again, save this session to your calendar now. Strong Towns members get access to a private debrief directly after the session to explore these concepts in greater depth and get Kat’s advice on implementing their plans.

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Get a single-stop ticket to attend just this session, or get a round-trip ticket to attend all Local-Motive sessions for the fall 2026 tour.