In my view, the most innovative, humble, and inspiring tactics to regenerate both urban and agricultural land are almost exactly the same. In fact, the reason I was originally so drawn to the Strong Towns approach is because I looked at it and thought… so pretty much permaculture, right? The reason I migrated to this particular model of city-building, the reason I trust it when so many grand ideas have revealed human hubris in the past is this: it’s the closest model I’ve found to how nature operates. To my knowledge, the connection between growing resilient food systems and cities has not been fully articulated on the blog yet, so I'm going to start that process and see if anyone else finds this exciting.
Read More
This post is running concurrently on our A Better Brainerd site and deals with the reuse of an abandoned neighborhood school. The school district has worked with the city and the neighborhood on this issue, but all of the interested buyers have had proposals that were not compatible with the neighborhood. This neighborhood constitutes the original plat of Brainerd, including the town square which is just across the street from the school. The school was built in 1939 and, according to reports, is in good condition.
Read More
The Strong Towns Boot Camp in Buffalo is less than two weeks away. We've got a good crowd, but have room for a few more. Get signed up today to reserve your spot.
Read More
Single-use zoning can distort the supply and demand of property and is far from a free market system. If we zone automobile-oriented uses at automobile scales do not be surprised if the result is an automobile dependent environment. Nothing about this outcome is inevitable though - it all depends on the choices we make while planning our city.
The question at the root of the topic that we need to ask is - why does your city zone?
Read More
The collective wealth of our ancestors was tied up in monumental buildings that would radiate wealth for generations. Our collective wealth is tied up in miles of bituminous roadway that decay and fall apart in a couple of decades, creating enormous maintenance liabilities for us in the process.
Read More
We need to rethink our urban areas. They need to be redesigned around a new set of values, one that doesn’t seek to accommodate bikers and pedestrians within an auto-dominated environment but instead does the opposite: accommodates automobiles in an environment dominated by people. It is people that create value. It is people that build wealth. It is in prioritizing their needs – whether on foot, on a bike or in a wheelchair – that we will begin to change the financial health of our cities and truly make them strong towns.
Read More
This year as we've traveled the country we've had the opportunity to meet a lot of our members. Sometimes we were even smart enough to snap a photo.
If you are a member and run into Chuck, Jim or one of our other contributors, please snap a photo and share it with us.
Read More
I know there is something intimate about the Friday News Digest. When I don’t finish one – like happened with my crazy schedule last week – I hear from many people who miss it. Part of it is that the structure is loose and my writing is more off-the-cuff. It is kind of fun, sometimes cheeky, and I think you get a little more of the “Friday” approach; less disciplined and structured. I’m not sure I can pin down the rest of the appeal, but know that I enjoy writing it a lot. We’ve had discussions here about giving it to others to do, but I just can’t give it up.
Read More