Top 5 Recent Stories (July 29–August 2, 2019)

Here's our most popular recent content.  Sign up for our email list to get this delivered to your inbox every Friday.

1. A Small City with Big Delusions

by Charles Marohn | July 30, 2019

Pine Island, MN (population 3,000) has huge dreams, yet they can’t take care of their basic systems. Who pays the price?

2. Overpaving Roads and Overeating Ice Cream

by Robert Sulaski | July 29, 2019

How much road does your city have—and how much does it actually have the money to maintain? We compare “calories in” to “calories out” before we binge on ice cream; what if we took the same approach to our infrastructure budgets? One city did, and here’s what they found out.

3. 6 Rules for Unlocking the Potential of Mid-Size Cities

by Dennis Strait & Abby Kinney | July 25, 2019

Mid-size regions like Kansas City don’t have the affordability struggles of, say, a fast-growing Denver or Seattle: they have their own unique challenges instead. Here’s how the “natural” affordability of homes in these places can be turned into an opportunity for an urban renaissance.

4. Car-Free in L.A.? Don't Laugh.

by Daniel Herriges | July 31, 2019

Los Angeles, where the car is famously king, may have one of the best shots of any American city of becoming a car-optional place at scale—not just in a few trendy neighborhoods lucky enough to have good transit. Here’s why.

5. What Happens When Housing Becomes a Cash Crop?

Strong Towns Podcast | Charles Marohn & Giorgio Angelini | July 29, 2019

Giorgio Angelini’s documentary Owned chronicles the commoditization of homeownership in the U.S. and its fallout—both for those who were left out, and for those who were sold promises that we’re now struggling to fulfill.

(Cover photo via Pixabay)