Herriges Rezoned: A Suburban Poverty Boomtown - Lehigh Acres, Florida

This suburb is a growing place, but it's not a successful place. It risks becoming an increasingly isolating place full of people who are cut off from the economic mainstream.

12 Ideas That Embody How Strong Towns Advocates Think

Here are some touchstone concepts that help underlie the Strong Towns view of how to achieve a world full of places capable of growing bottom-up prosperity

Still Pursuing Classic Approaches. Still Going Nowhere.

While new transportation funding is needed, more money without significant reform is worse than no funding at all. We need to continue to oppose all of these funding efforts until serious reform is on the table.

#NoNewRoads, For Newcomers, Greatest Hits, Top Story, Top EvergreenCharles MarohnApril 29, 2019transportation, #DoTheMath

Most Public Engagement Is Worse Than Worthless

Nothing good comes of public engagement in which the public isn’t asked questions they can meaningfully contribute to answering. This is not how you build a trusting relationship: a strong foundation on which to work together. This is how you corrode trust.

The 5 Immutable Laws of Affordable Housing

Here are the 5 immutable laws of affordable housing that cities must recognize if they want to move forward — plus 3 strategies for achieving true housing affordability.

Gardner, Best of Blog, Greatest Hits, Top EvergreenSpencer GardnerDecember 11, 2017housing

The Big Urban Mistake: Building for Tourism vs. Livability

Should cities invest in big projects in the hopes of increasing tourism, or invest in the people that have already taken a risk by moving back into their long-dormant downtowns?

Best of Blog, Greatest Hits, Top EvergreenArian HorbovetzDecember 5, 2017Economic Development

We forbid what we value most.

If our historic downtowns had to follow present-day parking minimum laws, they would never be built.

Parking, Member Post, Top EvergreenBenjamin LedfordNovember 21, 2017downtown, traditional development pattern, parking

Big box stores are costing our cities far more than we ever imagined.

Big box developments are not paying their fair share.

It's time to end the routine traffic stop

Routine traffic stops are dangerous for all involved and do little to improve safety. It's time to end the practice.

#SlowtheCars, Marohn, Top EvergreenCharles MarohnOctober 31, 2017Speeding, Philando Castile, enforcement, stc elected

Fine-Grained vs. Coarse-Grained Urbanism

There's a big difference between these two types of development and one will create a far better outcome for our cities.

The Stroad

A stroad is a street/road hybrid. Stroads are dangerous and unproductive, and if we want to build strong towns, we have to eliminate them.

Simple Things, Great Places

Here are 8 small things you can do to make a place more inviting, productive and happy.

Kobos, Urban Design, Top EvergreenSarah KobosOctober 11, 2017placemaking, resource, public space

By Any Other Name: Gentrification or Economic Exclusion?

The things that get labeled as “gentrification” refer to a set of real, meaningful, widely held concerns, and that choice of label should never be an excuse to dismiss those concerns.

Housing, Herriges, Top EvergreenDaniel HerrigesOctober 10, 2017race, gentrification, poverty, Economic Development

How to Bike on a Stroad

So much of our road education is about fear. A shift in mindset and approach could change that.

Bikeability, WIlson, Success Story, Top EvergreenKea WilsonOctober 4, 2017STROADS, cycling, transportation

A Simple Guide to Architectural Rendering

Is there an empty lot in your neighborhood you dream of filling? Use these simple steps to sketch, model and render a new building in the space.

Why I Never Moved to Portland

My plan was always to leave Oklahoma for lovely, liberal Portland. It didn’t work out that way, but I got something much better by hanging around.

What Dallas, Houston, Louisville & Rochester can teach us about widening freeways: Don’t!

Portland is thinking about widening freeways; other cities show that doesn’t work.

Member Post, #NoNewRoads, Top EvergreenJoe CortrightAugust 24, 2017congestion, highway spending, transportation

Peoria's Parking Problem

What happens when you fill your city with parking? Lots and lots of low value land, and not much else.

Parking, Quednau, Top Story, Top EvergreenRachel QuednauAugust 17, 2017Urban3, page highlight, parking, #DoTheMath

Strength Test #4: Are accessory dwelling units allowed in your town?

In your town, is an owner of a single family home able to get permission to add a small rental unit onto their property without any real hassle? If not, you've got work to do.