Strong Towns Week in Review
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With work patterns shifting as technology advances, retrofitting suburban office buildings has become increasingly important to developers and planners. Here are five ways you can make your office building more appealing and resilient.
Last week in Colorado, advocates for people-centered cities and incremental housing pulled off a massive win, sending a bill package full of land-use reforms to be signed into state law. Here’s how they did it.
The lament, “There’s nothing to do here,” might sound like teenage grumbling, but there may be more wisdom to it than meets the ear. Maybe we should look at our cities through the lens of organic social activities, both because they're enjoyable and because it gives us a chance to reconsider our values and the relationship between our design choices and our community’s social life.
Social media tells us that snarky, callous remarks get the most attention and have the biggest impact. But when Tristan Cleveland sat down for a real conversation with his opponents, he realized that urbanists must approach people with empathy and understanding. That's the only way to change minds and create real change.
The Messy City is a podcast that discusses urban planning and design issues. Its host, Kevin Klinkenberg, recently invited Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn to appear on an episode. Up for discussion: Chuck’s new book, sports stadiums, and Disney World.
Many people become members of country clubs to enjoy the luxurious amenities they offer. But when membership is mandatory for keeping your home, those amenities quickly become a financial prison.
Vison Zero is supposed to represent a commitment to achieving zero traffic deaths, but it often devolves into empty platitudes — even when public officials genuinely support it. That’s because they’re looking for solutions in the wrong place. Instead of blaming individual drivers, officials need to look at the root cause of most traffic deaths: the contradictory design of city streets.
When COVID-19 put her career on pause, opera singer Ally Smither found a new passion: fighting highway expansion.
Hitsville U.S.A. is known for producing artists, recordings and a distinctive Detroit sound, but it also represents an important element of a strong city: mixed-use development. If Detroit hadn’t let Berry Gordy turn the first floor of his home into a recording studio, Motown Records might not exist today.
Brian Boland is the founder of Bridge Forward Cincinnati, an advocacy group working to reclaim 19 acres of city land from urban highways by changing the design of the Brent Spence Corridor Project.
Habitat for Humanity offers a wide range of programs to help people become homeowners, giving the organization a unique perspective on the housing crisis. Strong Towns sat down with two representatives to learn about this perspective, including how Habitat is handling high building costs and why Habitat owners participate in the construction of their homes.