See you on Monday

The Strong Towns staff and board are convening for an annual meeting for the next three days, so we'll be taking a short break from content in order to focus on planning for 2017 and beyond.

We'll be back to our usual schedule on Monday. Have a great weekend and in the meantime, you can check out some of our most popular content from the last few weeks below.

Featured
Are Rents About to Crash?
Charles Marohn
Are Rents About to Crash?
Charles Marohn

If we listen to those concerned about housing affordability, rents are already too high and may only go higher. If we listen to those concerned about housing finance, rents are about to collapse. Can both of these narratives be true?

Charles Marohn
What We Can Learn From Abandoned Places
Ben Abramson
What We Can Learn From Abandoned Places
Ben Abramson

There’s a certain artistic quality to abandoned spaces—but if we look a bit deeper, these ruins also hold lessons about patterns of disinvestment and policy shifts that have adversely affected American communities.

Ben Abramson
It’s Not Just Houston That’s Broke. So Are Silicon Valley Cities.
Charles Marohn
It’s Not Just Houston That’s Broke. So Are Silicon Valley Cities.
Charles Marohn

The financial struggles of Houston and the cities of the Silicon Valley area—as well as tens of thousands of others across North America—have the same underlying cause.

Charles Marohn
Here’s the Real Reason Houston Is Going Broke
Charles Marohn
Here’s the Real Reason Houston Is Going Broke
Charles Marohn

Houston’s fiscal problems are less critical than other major cities with large budget shortfalls—yet, their mayor is correct when he said his city is broke, that the financial approach of the city is clearly not working. Here’s why.

Charles Marohn
Waiting for the Bus Doesn’t Have To Be This Bad
Asia Mieleszko
Waiting for the Bus Doesn’t Have To Be This Bad
Asia Mieleszko

Why don’t the small things get funding?

Asia Mieleszko
This City Is Implementing Street Design That Will Save Lives
Seairra Jones
This City Is Implementing Street Design That Will Save Lives
Seairra Jones

In Capitola, California, residents erupted in protest after Debra Towne, a beloved local senior, was hit and killed walking across a dangerous stroad. And unlike in so many other places, the city actually responded.

Seairra Jones
Unpacking the Question “Can Housing Be an Investment and Affordable?”
Daniel Herriges
Unpacking the Question “Can Housing Be an Investment and Affordable?”
Daniel Herriges

What does it really mean to say that housing can’t be both affordable and an “investment”?

Daniel Herriges
Beyond Stroads: 5 Glossary Terms for Building a Strong Town
Ben Abramson
Beyond Stroads: 5 Glossary Terms for Building a Strong Town
Ben Abramson

You know what a stroad is… Now how about these other coined phrases that help tell the story of the challenges that local advocates grapple with?

Ben Abramson
Aspiration Projects Are Great...Until the Shine Wears Off
Edward Erfurt and Lindsey Beckworth
Aspiration Projects Are Great...Until the Shine Wears Off
Edward Erfurt and Lindsey Beckworth

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

Edward Erfurt and Lindsey Beckworth

(Top photo: Strong Towns president, Chuck Marohn and Strong Towns board member John Reuter)

Rachel Quednau