The Sims Are Taking Over the City
In his keynote address at the 2025 Strong Towns National Gathering, Chris Arnade described urban planning as playing SimCity in real life. An urban planner tries to design good places that meet people’s needs, and her decisions have a profound effect on people’s lives. Whether that effect is positive or negative depends on how closely connected the planner is to the city.
If she is like a SimCity player — an outsider who isn’t directly invested in the community and doesn’t personally experience life there — she’s more likely to make decisions that inadvertently harm residents. The planner needs to be inside the feedback loop, Arnade explained. She needs to experience the consequences of her decisions firsthand so she can adapt and refine them.
This is a great point, and it shows how the Strong Towns movement is well-positioned to enact meaningful change. This is a bottom-up movement, not one made solely of urban planners or city officials. Most Strong Towns members are just normal residents who looked at the world they live in and decided to change it for the better.
We’re not the players — we’re the Sims. And we’re taking over the game.
In California, a group of residents started building and placing benches at bus stops, instead of waiting for their city to act. Now, the city is working with the group to support and expand their efforts.
A Local Conversation in Ohio worked with a financial expert to clarify their city’s finances and identify potential areas of improvement.
An Oregon resident built his own traffic monitor to collect data on his street. This data — including traffic speeds and the number of cars, pedestrians, and bikers using the street — provides concrete proof of residents’ lived experiences and can be used to inform design changes in the area.
In Ontario, an architect created a 3D modeling program that helps people visualize infill housing development. She uses this tool to drive housing reform and increase community support.
These people — and the many others like them — are learning the inner workings of the “game” so they can stop relying on distant players. They’re taking charge and changing things for the better today. And they’re helping other people learn the same things.
You can be one of them. You have the agency and the power to change the world you live in. We’d love to help you get there. Become a member today to access special resources and support. And if you’d like to hear more about the people stepping up in their places, sign up for our newsletter.
