Think tanks and government agencies aren’t solving our housing crisis nearly as fast as our cities need. Should we let the public have a shot—and give the person with the winning idea a big prize if they can make a dent?
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Salvador “Sal” Galdamez—founder and president of nonprofit York XL—shares how you can bring your neighbors together around bottom-up action to create more prosperous, healthy, and empowered neighborhoods.
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Our economic system prizes growth above all. This has created a looming disaster, at both the local and national levels. How did we get here? And is there an alternative?
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Hint: even if you get a road for free, you still have to pay to maintain it.
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Cary Westerbeck—Strong Towns member and Founder of Bothellites for People-Oriented Places (Bo-POP)—shares how you can create people-oriented places in your own community, including how to educate people about people-oriented places, how these places create more financially resilient places, and how you can demonstrate your vision.
Patrick Deneen, author of the bestselling Why Liberalism Failed (hint: he doesn’t mean the political left), talks with our own Chuck Marohn about the political crisis facing Western societies, and how rediscovering a sense of rootedness in community—defaulting to loyalty over “looking for the exits”—might be the answer.
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The killing of Michael Brown’ in August 2014 brought global attention to police brutality and racial inequality in the U.S. While there have been some reforms in Ferguson over the last five years, other structural issues — including a city infrastructure largely not built to benefit the people who actually live there — remain the same or have gotten worse.
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Strong Towns member Austin Taylor—Parking and Sustainability Coordinator for Provo City, Utah—shares how you can use tactical urbanism to create safer streets, including how to plan your intervention, how to get local government involved, and how to use your intervention to create lasting change.
Tech giant Square has announced that they’re moving to downtown St. Louis, sponsored by some big tax incentives—and they’re putting up the funds to demolishing derelict homes in the adjacent neighborhoods to boot. Is that really the only forward for the Gateway City?
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Greg Wright—Executive Director at CREATE Portage County—shares how you can foster creative (and financially resilient) communities where you live, including how to inspire creative residents, how to demonstrate the economic impact of creativity, and why you should root all initiatives in a “small and smart” way.
Once a month we host Ask Strong Towns, a members-only live Q&A webcast. Here’s the video and audio from August 2019’s edition.
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In North America, stadium projects are almost synonymous with silver bullet disasters. But does that have to be true?
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Strong Towns member Ben Harrison shares his experience serving on a citizen advisory committee and why you should run for something in your own community, including how to pitch your vision to city staff, how to introduce Strong Towns principles, and, how serving on these committees can help you feel closer to your community.
“Sustainable” is a buzzword that often conjures images of technological wizardry aimed at solving environmental problems. But what if our ancestors knew a lot more about sustainability than we give them credit for?
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Every year, Black Rock City burns down. But could it be the role model your city needs?
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Regina Portillo—Executive Director at City Makery in Laredo, Texas—shares how you can partner with local government to create and foster ideas for your community, including how to encourage people to share their ideas, how to encourage people to act on those ideas, and how to get local government involved in the process.
Chris Arnade’s Dignity is a striking look into the faces of “back row” America—the poor, the homeless, the addicted, the forgotten. And it’s a challenge to us as a society to design policies that respond to their needs and values.
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Vision Zero aims to end all traffic deaths. Can they do it on a national scale?
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Thor Erickson—a longtime leader in the neighborhood and civic nonprofit sector—shares how you can use nonprofits to build strong neighborhoods in your own community, including how to bring your unique perspective to neighborhood investment, how to partner with your local government, and how to get your community behind your mission.
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.
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