TxDOT Ignores El Paso’s Needs To Make a Grab at Infrastructure Dollars

TxDOT’s latest boondoggle: a highway expansion that threatens to cut right at the heart of downtown El Paso.

#InfrastructureCrisis, Infrastructure, Transportation, Top StoryRobert StorchMarch 31, 2022highways, freeway widening, freeways, urban freeways, El Paso, Texas, transportation, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure spending

In Hospitable Cities, You’re Welcomed by Design

Some neighborhoods can feel downright hostile, especially to outsiders. But many places have become this way due to inhospitable design, not inhospitable people.

Neighborhoods, Public Space, Urban Design, Top Story, OwensTiffany Owens ReedMarch 31, 2022placemaking, urban design, Neighborhood Design, Neighborhoods, suburban experiment, human scale, walkability, Texas, public space, food trucks, neighborhood revitalization, traditional development pattern

Is It Time for a National Zoning Atlas?

This advocacy group created the first online map to show how an entire state zones for housing. And they want to take the effort nationwide.

Herriges, Race, Zoning, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMarch 30, 2022advocacy, zoning, Connecticut, mapping, maps, housing, Housing, race, Race, segregation

Praise for Small, Mixed-Use Buildings

It’s time we change our zoning rules to allow more small commercial spaces to help spice up and enliven our residential streets and neighborhoods.

Zoning, Top StorySeth ZerenMarch 30, 2022zoning, Rhode Island, walkability, commercial real estate, mixed use, corner store, corner stores

Street Trees: The Roots of a Strong Town

Street trees provide a lot of pragmatic benefits to a community—and they also serve a social purpose.

Community, Sheppard, Top StorySeairra SheppardMarch 29, 2022trees, street trees, community, Neighborhoods

The Artist Date

This week, our Neighborhood Storyteller explores the important joy of simply being in public amongst one’s community members.

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Public Space, Public Transit, Top StoryKarla TheilenMarch 29, 2022neighborhood storyteller, montana, public space, public transit, coffee shops

Why Are Used Homes So Expensive? (Part 2)

We’ve explored why new housing is so expensive…but why is it often the same case for used housing?

Housing, Top StorySeth ZerenMarch 28, 2022housing, housing cost, housing affordability, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing market, Housing, Homeownership, homeownership

2022 Strongest Town Final Four: Voting (Now Closed)

Who will move on to the championship round next week? Their fate is in your hands!

Strongest Town Contest, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 28, 2022The Bottom-Up Revolution, Strongest Town 2022, Strongest Town Competition, Ohio, Indiana, colorado

What’s Wrong with Engineering Values? (New Video Series)

This video series shows why engineers have such different priorities from the rest of us. As Planetizen puts it, “If you’re not yet outraged, prepare to be.”

Confessions Book, Transportation, Video, Top StoryRachel QuednauMarch 25, 2022transportation, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, engineers, engineering profession, traffic engineering

Is There a Place for Animals in a Strong Town?

Humans aren’t the only “pedestrians” who benefit from safer, more walkable places.

#SlowtheCars, Walkability, Shayesteh, Top StoryShina ShayestehMarch 24, 2022walkability, Safety, safety, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, #PedestrianUnfriendly, #SlowTheCars, Japan, case studies, auto-oriented

We Could Fit Lots of Homes in the Middle of Old Strip Malls

Redeveloping just 10 percent of strip malls could fill a nine-year supply of housing in the Boston region, a new study finds. What could similar efforts elsewhere do?

Housing, Zoning, Top StoryCatie GouldMarch 23, 2022housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, sprawl retrofit, suburban retrofit, strip malls, Massachusetts, zoning

Searching for Mr. Stavros

A small house, framed by lilacs, in a walkable neighborhood—and the charm of sharing that space with a neighbor who seems to always be out and about.

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Walkability, Top StoryKarla TheilenMarch 22, 2022neighborhood storyteller, montana, walkability, downtown, neighborliness

Vernacular Is Beautiful—If We Would Just Allow It

The work of this small-scale developer shows why cities shouldn’t be so restrictive about building in their own vernacular.

Architecture, Neighborhoods, Small Scale Developers, Top StoryMatthew RobareMarch 21, 2022zoning, South Carolina, small-scale developers, architecture, aesthetics, small scale development, success, success stories, Neighborhoods, neighborhood, developers, Development, development

Friday Faves - Your Weekly Strong Towns Roundup

M*A*S*H, small footprint design, and chalk art. These are just some of the stories from around the internet that Strong Towns staff were reading and talking about this week.

Friday Faves, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 18, 2022friday faves, Friday Faves

Announcing Your 2022 Strongest Town Contest Final Four

Results of Round 2 of the Strongest Town competition…and a look ahead to Round 3.

Strongest Town Contest, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 18, 2022Strongest Town Competition, Strongest Town 2022

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Designing Homes that Work for Everyone

Rosemarie Rossetti is an author, speaker, and leader in the field of universal design.

Podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Taking Action, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 17, 2022taking action, The Bottom-Up Revolution, incrementalism, success, success stories, Podcast, podcast, disability, Disability, aging in place

High Gas Prices Are Just One Symptom of a Much Greater Problem

When gas prices spike, the core issue we, as a nation, should be fixating on is car dependency.

Herriges, Transportation, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMarch 17, 2022gas tax, transportation, public transit, transit, fragility, cars, car dependency

Our Fragile System Runs on Cheap Oil

Every time gasoline and oil prices spike, Americans panic—but don’t do anything to change the system. This is a cycle that cannot continue.

Upzoned, Podcast, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 16, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, fragility, cars, car dependency, transportation

The Road That Killed a City

From its one-time status as one of America’s most prosperous cities, Hartford, CT, is now one of the poorest—no thanks to its mid-twentieth-century urban renewal projects.