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We Used to Just Call These "Houses"

For most of history, "tiny houses" were simply houses—a low-cost way for people to put down roots and begin to grow some wealth for themselves and the neighborhood.

Housing
We Used to Just Call These "Houses"
The March of Build-It-And-They-Will-Come Suburbia

The problem with new American suburbs isn’t a "lack of planning" or “uncontrolled growth” or “inadequate infrastructure.” The problem is a lack of basic financial solvency.

The March of Build-It-And-They-Will-Come Suburbia
Lessons from the Streets of Tokyo

An urbanist abroad discovers that Tokyo faces many of the same challenges as U.S. cities — off-street parking, pedestrian safety, utilizing space, etc. — but is addressing them in very different ways.

Streets
Lessons from the Streets of Tokyo
The Spooky Wisdom of Cities

Members
Housing
The Spooky Wisdom of Cities
The Strong Towns Approach to Public Investment

Making better use of what we have already built is a hyper-local undertaking, one done at the block level.

Accounting
Streets
The Strong Towns Approach to Public Investment
This Neighborhood in Germany Shows Us Why American Planned Communities are So Abysmal

We all know the pitfalls of master-planned communities, right? Sterile. Homogenous. Certainly not adaptable or resilient over time. Is there a way around it? Maybe, if this fascinating case study from Germany has anything to teach us. And it all starts with one word: Baugruppen.

Streets
Housing
This Neighborhood in Germany Shows Us Why American Planned Communities are So Abysmal
What does "gentrification" really mean?

Everyone seems to have an opinion on gentrification. But what does the word actually mean?

What does "gentrification" really mean?
What Is Traditional Development?

We use the phrase “traditional development pattern” in dozens of Strong Towns essays. Here’s your one-stop-shop explainer article as to what that means.

Streets
What Is Traditional Development?
Car-pocalypse Not Now: Why Predicted Gridlock in Seattle Was (Again) a No-Show

Induced demand goes both ways.

Streets
Highways
Car-pocalypse Not Now: Why Predicted Gridlock in Seattle Was (Again) a No-Show
Aiming for Imperfection

"We see our tolerance for chaos reflected in our built environment."

Members
Streets
Aiming for Imperfection
Value Per Acre Analysis: A How-To For Beginners

Accounting
Value Per Acre Analysis: A How-To For Beginners
The Causes of Traffic and Congestion

Will this new development make traffic worse? The conventional wisdom about the relationship between development and traffic contains a number of important misconceptions.

Streets
The Causes of Traffic and Congestion
Most Public Engagement is Worthless

It is the experiences of real people that should guide our planning efforts. Their actions are the data we should be collecting, not their stated preferences.

Most Public Engagement is Worthless
“Why Are Developers Only Building Luxury Housing?”

If you’ve asked this lately, or heard someone else ask it, here are five possible reasons why.

Housing
“Why Are Developers Only Building Luxury Housing?”
The Real Reason Your Local Mall is Failing

The closing of the mall’s anchor store exposes how fragile the community’s business model is, providing an opening to shift approach.

Accounting
The Real Reason Your Local Mall is Failing
What's a STROAD and Why Does It Matter?

Need a crash course in what makes our streets dangerous and how to make them safer and more financially productive?

Streets
Highways
What's a STROAD and Why Does It Matter?
Why Walkable Streets are More Economically Productive

3 dollars and cents arguments that definitively prove the need for people-oriented, walk-friendly places.

Streets
Why Walkable Streets are More Economically Productive
The Real Reason Your Downtown Died

Government and corporate decisions half a century ago robbed our cities of life and prosperity today.

Streets
The Real Reason Your Downtown Died
10 Questions to Ask Someone Running for Local Office

Want to figure out whether a local candidate for public office will uphold Strong Towns principles and values on the job? Ask them these 10 questions.

10 Questions to Ask Someone Running for Local Office
Why Parking Minimums Almost Destroyed My Hometown and How We Repealed Them

Plus 5 tips for repealing parking minimums in your community.

Parking
Why Parking Minimums Almost Destroyed My Hometown and How We Repealed Them
The Negative Consequences of Car Dependency

Towns that are designed for cars instead of people experience serious challenges that negatively impact small businesses, community health, and financial success for everyone.

Streets
The Negative Consequences of Car Dependency
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.

Streets
Fine-Grained vs. Coarse-Grained Urbanism
The Little House, A Story of Incrementalism

What a children's book can teach us about land value.

Housing
Accounting
The Little House, A Story of Incrementalism
The Power of Growing Incrementally

Step-by-step growth built our greatest cities. So why do we keep reaching for silver bullets instead?

Housing
Accounting
The Power of Growing Incrementally

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