Sweat the Small Stuff

Your city’s long-term resilience requires paying attention to the little things.

Infrastructure, Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedMarch 7, 2023maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, small, public investment, little bets, Infrastructure, infrastructure, public space

Warren Buffett Doesn’t Like Spending on Streetcars (but Has No Problem With Crazy Highway Spending)

Warren Buffet has broken his practice of “staying out of local politics" to criticize a streetcar project in his home city of Omaha, NE…but why does he have nothing to say on the city’s ridiculous and reckless highway projects?

End Highway Expansion, Finance, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 30, 2023End Highway Expansion, public transit, public transportation, Streetcars, finance, local finance, investing, public investment, highways, Nebraska

This City Knows How to Talk to Residents!

This video about a recent street redesign project in Selkirk, Manitoba, shows just how cities should be communicating with their residents.

Engagement, Safe & Productive Streets, Van Eeden Petersman, Top Story, Community StoriesNorman Van Eeden PetersmanJanuary 11, 2023Safe and Productive Streets, public engagement, community engagement, canada, Canada, Street Design, public investment

Mall Money, More Problems

Yet another failed mall (this time in Milwaukee, WI) proves to be a drag on—and an active harm to—its surroundings.

#DotheMath, Quednau, Top Story, Safe & Productive Streets, Transparent AccountingRachel QuednauSeptember 1, 2022malls, financial solvency, #DoTheMath, finance, Value Per Acre, Wisconsin, Milwaukee, milwaukee, shopping malls, public investment

Strongest Town Contest Sister Cities Come Together

Representatives from Norwood, OH, went to visit their counterparts in Jasper, IN, after facing off in this year’s Strongest Town Contest. Here’s 7 reasons the Norwoodians found Jasper to be a worthy champion!

Strongest Town Contest, Top StoryAlisha Loch and Mary C MillerAugust 18, 2022Strongest Town Competition, Strongest Town Winner, Strongest Town 2022, Jasper IN, Ohio, Indiana, community, Community, public space, public investment

A 3-D Approach to Public Investment

What can these 3-D crosswalks teach us about investing in our communities’ needs?

#SlowtheCars, Transportation, Top StoryCam GallantMay 2, 2022Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, pedestrian crossing, pedestrians, Crosswalk, streets, #SlowTheCars, Safety, safety, tactical urbanism, Tactical Urbanism, public investment, walkability

Holy Leaping Dollars, Batman!

Unless we start making better accounting choices today, we’ll be facing service cuts and tax increases every year going forward. …That is, until the day we can’t anymore.

Sorry, but a $10 Million Sewer System Won't Fix Your Economy

This small town in Maine is hoping to breathe life back into its Main Street…but is looking for solutions in all the wrong places.

#InfrastructureCrisis, Infrastructure, Local Government, Quednau, Top StoryRachel QuednauOctober 26, 2021sewers, public investment, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure spending, Small Towns, small towns, local government

Stop Believing in "Bad" Neighborhoods

We must stop seeing poor neighborhoods as "bad" neighborhoods, and instead understand them as intrinsically goods ones, whose problems are addressable if we empowered the people who care about them.

Herriges, Neighborhoods, Suburban Experiment, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJuly 28, 2021Neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, public investment, poverty, suburban experiment

Best of 2020: The Corner

An unproductive intersection looks different to different people: engineers, departments of transportation, tax assessors, etc. But bringing it to life starts with seeing it through still someone else’s eyes.

Roads and Streets, Best of Blog, Top StoryGenevieve BarberDecember 9, 2020success stories, Atlanta, intersections, public investment, Best of 2020

Infrastructure That Does More: Investing in Public Spaces for a Resilient America

Parks, libraries, and public spaces aren’t just “nice amenities.” They are vital to our recovery, rebuilding, and longterm prosperity.

Infrastructure, Top StoryBridget MarquisNovember 24, 2020public investment, Parks, Infrastructure

Your City's Wealth Isn't Where You Think

Small investments in poor neighborhoods are the best way for a community to build wealth. They are also the best way to lift people out of poverty without displacing them from their neighborhood.

Marohn, Neighborhoods, Membership, Top StoryCharles MarohnNovember 17, 2020Lafayette, poverty, small bets, public investment, member drive

La riqueza de su ciudad no está donde piensa

Hacer inversiones pequeñas en barrios pobres es el mejor modo de aumentar la riqueza. También, son el mejor modo de ayudar a la gente a salir de la pobreza sin desplazarse del barrio.

Top Story, Membership, Marohn, NeighborhoodsCharles MarohnNovember 17, 2020Lafayette, poverty, small bets, public investment, member drive, Spanish

The Corner: What Will It Take for an Unproductive Intersection to Give Rather than Take?

An unproductive intersection looks different to different people: engineers, departments of transportation, tax assessors, etc. But bringing it to life starts with seeing it through still someone else’s eyes.

Roads and Streets, Top StoryGenevieve BarberAugust 25, 2020success stories, Atlanta, intersections, public investment

We Don't Need More "Invitations to the Table." We Need a New Table.

If we’re serious about reorienting our local government towards the urgent needs of people, it’s not enough to invite them to a “table” they neither own nor control.

Marohn, Planning ProfessionCharles MarohnJune 22, 2020public engagement, community engagement, Chris Arnade, public investment, Public Participation

This is What We Can Do Together

Strong Towns is empowering thousands of champions for change to bring their places back to greater prosperity, little by little, through bottom-up action. Here’s what that looks like.

Taking Action, Tactical Urbanism, Success Story, Public Space, Neighborhoods First, HerrigesDaniel HerrigesMay 22, 2020Memphis, Better Block Project, tactical urbanism, revitalization, bike lanes, protected bike lane, incremental development, public investment, impact

How This Strong Towns Member Used a “Vision Block” to Celebrate Small Bets

Learn how Strong Towns member and Louisville resident Shawn Reilly and his neighbors found the small bets transform a speedy street in their neighborhood.

It's The Little Things, Success Story, Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 23, 2020Strong Citizenship, community, how to, public investment, tactical urbanism, neighborhood revitalization, inspired

Co-Create Your Community with This New Mapping Tool

David Gorski—founder at Plan Together Community Map Platform—shares the inspiration behind Plan Together and how you can use it to make your community stronger.

It's The Little Things, Success Story, Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 16, 2020Strong Citizenship, community, how to, public investment, inspired

Finding the Small Bets in a Disinvested Neighborhood

Fernando Peralta Berrios—president at the Las Familias de Rosemont neighborhood association in Fort Worth, Texas—discusses how he and his neighbors have partnered with the City of Fort Worth to guide public investment in its historically disinvested neighborhood.