Build to the Street

Building to the street can create urban form and character, and increase the productivity of a site—even a site like this airport hotel.

Taco John’s 2.0

Our most famous case study revealed the high cost of auto-oriented development. But what if a little creative rearrangement could make things a whole lot better?

Choose Your Fate, Texas

The numbers don’t lie: business-as-usual suburban development won’t bring a booming town long-term financial strength. But it turns out that to #DoTheMath is only the first step toward changing your community's business model.

Visualizing Place vs. Non-Place

When you’re moving about in the world, it’s really hard to appreciate just how much land is devoted to accommodating high-speed car travel—or just how much life we could cram into the same piece of land if we didn’t have to.

Does Your City Have Shiny New Toy Syndrome?

The discipline of not acquiring more until we've wrung true value out of what we already possess can make our lives richer and fuller. And this is a lesson we need to apply to our cities as well.

Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMarch 11, 2019suburbanization, growth, Growth Ponzi Scheme, productive place

Tell Us About Your Favorite Street

Your town's streets are its vital organs. A great street can make a place, and a badly-designed street can kill a place. We want you to tell us about a street you love that makes your town a stronger, more resilient place.

Small Businesses Can Save Your Community

Small businesses are crucial to local economic health. Thriving small businesses create thriving communities, in a virtuous cycle.

A Delicate Balance

Yes, many thriving places have attractive lawn furniture, tasteful signage, and abundant flowers. But adding those items to a place with fundamental flaws is just lipstick on a pig.

Top Story, SanphillippoJohnny SanphillippoAugust 4, 2016STROADS, productive place, Risk, community engagement

Strong Towns 101: Productive Building Types

Different approaches to building produce very different financial results that can be easily measured and contrasted.

Top Story, Marohn, Iron Range, #DotheMathCharles MarohnMay 17, 2016productive place, Grand Rapids, Minnesota, 101

What's a Productive Place?

Here are four different features of a productive place.

Quednau, Top Story, Walkability, #ChaoticButSmartRachel QuednauJanuary 15, 2016productive place, productive growth

Built-In Advantages

Scranton, Pennsylvania is not a wealthy place, but it is a place with underappreciated intrinsic wealth. Bet on older mid-size cities like Scranton, whose built-in advantages leave them well-positioned to weather future economic disruption.

Strong Towns Lingo

A reference list of Strong Towns terminology.

Some Thoughts on Narrow Streets

The width of our streets can influence land use, safety, character, scale, and overall financial productivity. We shouldn't be fearful of building narrow when it makes sense.

Andrew PriceAndrew PriceMarch 18, 2015Street Design, streetscape, Land Use, productive place, Tax Base

Mapping the Dollars and Sense of Land Use Patterns

Joe Minicozzi, principal of the econometric consulting firm Urban3, challenges assumptions about land use and development. With tools like basic arithmetic, maps, and 3D visualization using ArcScene and CityEngine, he makes the case against suburban sprawl and reaffirms the value of mixed-use urban development.