A great night in Fitchburg, Wisconsin last night where we did a Curbside Chat with a packed house. Today I’m giving a guest lecture at UW-Madison— quite and honor – before heading back home to balmy Brainerd, MN. Thanks to everyone who turned out in Wisconsin and heads up to all you in Rochester, MN, where we’ll be next week. Can you believe I’ve lived in the Land of 10,000 Lakes all my life and never been to Rochester? Glad we’re correcting that deficiency.
Enjoy the week’s news.
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If you want to build a strong town, you always have to consider the second life cycle. If your project might be viable during its second generation, but only if things work out as you plan, you are gambling. If it won't be viable in that second generation without unspecified outside assistance, then you are acting irresponsibly. A strong project is one that is viable today, tomorrow and long into the future.
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We are in the middle of an enormous, generational transformation, one that threatens to stunt the progress of millions of young people, to all our detriment. I'm not saying there is an easy solution here, but let's not pretend it's not happening.
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You have to be willing to say no to the bad if you want your city to be built with the good, especially with the development incentives rigged as they are today. Sometimes this can create pro and anti-development factions in your city. A tool to diffuse that animosity is to remember that every time you say no to a proposal, you could be saying yes to something better.
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Fixing a stroad in Huntington, West Virginia, would help a neighborhood damaged by the post-World War II development approach begin to heal.
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Not all economic development is created equal. Not all local investments build wealth in our community. Not all open markets produce optimal outcomes for all places.
Read MoreRoundabouts provide great traffic flow while dramatically reducing accidents and nearly eliminating fatalities. We should be tearing out traffic signals around the country and putting these in right now.
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"Why on earth would we go back in time 70 years to model our current cities on?"
Because it worked.
Our cities were financially productive.
Small businesses florished and remained competitive.
We had vibrant, lively urban streets filled with people and activity.
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