The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Welcoming New Americans and Building Up a Rural Economy

Jennifer Stromsten and Alex Beck are leading economic development efforts in Brattleboro, VT.

Podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Top StoryStrong TownsJune 30, 2022Podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, success stories, Vermont, rural, immigrants

The Case for Abolishing Zoning

For the sake of our cities and the people who live in them, it’s time we fundamentally rethink how we regulate land in America. Read about it in this excerpt from Nolan Gray’s new book, Arbitrary Lines.

Zoning, Gray, Top StoryNolan GrayJune 30, 2022zoning, urban design, books, excerpt, Land Use, planning process

Seven Stroads That Have Been Converted to Streets

There are thousands of stroad sections in the US. Transforming a good number of them is important to to the goal of improving quality of life and mobility in cities and towns.

State Preemption: A Means To Reform Zoning, or a Threat to Localism?

State preemption is a controversial issue in the planning world—but what’s the Strong Towns stance on it?

Upzoned, Podcast, Top Story, Housing, ZoningStrong TownsJune 29, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, state government, local government, Municipalism, housing, zoning, affordable housing, housing affordability, housing activism

New Strong Towns Groups Are Popping Up Everywhere

Five local Strong Towns groups launched last week. Is one of them near you?

Pattison, Community, Top StoryJohn PattisonJune 29, 2022community, community building, community engagement, local conversations, advocacy

Local Control or Centralized Planning? There’s a Third Answer.

The problems with "community input" are many and obvious. One misguided response is to favor more top-down policy making, simply overriding the objections of local "NIMBYs." But there is a third way.

Local Government, Herriges, Planning Profession, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJune 29, 2022localism, local government, local regulation, local politics, bottom-up, top-down, planning process, strong towns approach, incremental, incrementalism, Small Change, small bets

Why You Should Care About Property Taxes as a Renter

If you don’t own a home, and don’t have plans to own one anytime soon, you might think property taxes don’t concern you. But, what if we told you that they definitely do?

Finance, Sheppard, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardJune 28, 2022Just Accounting for Health, tax revenue, tax base, Tax Base, property tax, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, rent, renters, finance, local finance, Transparent Local Accounting

“Free Parking” Isn’t Green

No matter how many solar panels it has, your parking garage isn’t green, and especially if you don’t charge parking.

City Observatory, Parking, Top StoryJoe CortrightJune 28, 2022Parking, parking, parking pricing, parking landing page, End Parking Mandates and Subsidies, Donald Shoup, Parking Reform Network, garages, environment, climate, Climate Change, City Observatory

An Epidemic of Blight Collides With a Pandemic

In Detroit's 48205 zip code, from 2014 to 2020, the number of vacant homes hardly budged, despite $25M spent demolishing 1,628 vacant homes. When the pandemic hit, vacant homes plummeted. What happened?

Housing, Top StoryAlex AlsupJune 28, 2022housing, housing affordability, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing market, blight, Detroit, housing policy

Inside Eden Center: What a Strip Mall Can Be

We’ve explored the outside of Fairfax County’s Eden Center before, but what does the inside of this surprisingly fine-grained strip mall look like?

#ChaoticButSmart, Public Space, Top StoryAddison Del MastroJune 27, 2022fine-grained, urbanism, strip malls, Virginia, immigrants, community, Community, shared space, business, small business, local business, Chaotic but Smart, Addison Del Mastro

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Transit Edition)

Don’t be fooled: Winnipeg’s newly proposed “rapid transit” project is actually a road-widening project in disguise. And it aims to borrow money so the City can destroy millions of dollars of its own tax base.

Friday Faves - Your Weekly Strong Towns Roundup

Hyperspace, skateboarding, and focus groups. 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 TownsJune 24, 2022friday faves, Friday Faves

Walking America: Bridgeport to New Haven

From Housatonic Community College to Yale: The story of a 20-mile walk along I-95.

Walkability, Top StoryChris ArnadeJune 24, 2022walkability, Connecticut, community, Community, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, poverty, Poverty, suburban poverty, schools

What Thinking Like a Mountain Has To Teach Us About Thinking Like a City

Aldo Leopold was an ecologist, not an urban planner, but insights from his Sand County Almanac can resonate with anyone interested in urbanism.

Top StorySeth ZerenJune 24, 2022urbanism, books, ecology, environment, Development, development, urban design, urban planning

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Ending Parking Minimums and Seeing the Results

Jonathan Curth helped lead the city of Fayetteville, AR, into a new era free of commercial parking minimums.

Podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Top Story, Local Government, ParkingStrong TownsJune 23, 2022Podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, local government, success stories, parking minimums, Arkansas

"We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburbia"

In this Not Just Bikes video, Jason Slaughter explains how raising children in the suburbs significantly restricts their ability to be independent.

Suburban Experiment, Video, Top StoryJay StangeJune 23, 2022suburbs, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, suburbanization, Not Just Bikes, children, Safety, safety, car dependency, car culture

Neighborhoods Were Never Meant to Be Unchanging

The idea of a permanent community “character” was an invention of the suburban era, and it's showing its cracks now—because it was never an attainable or desirable goal.

Herriges, Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJune 23, 2022neighborhood change, zoning, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, history, History, New York, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Design

Looking for an Affordable Starter Home? HUD Suggests Trying a Manufactured Home.

Manufactured homes were promoted at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2022 Innovative Housing Showcase. Could this be a viable affordable housing option?

Upzoned, Podcast, Top Story, HousingStrong TownsJune 22, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, housing, housing market, accessory dwelling units, affordable housing, housing affordability, federal government

Road Diet Seven Years in the Making—Was It Worth Every Minute?

This would-be simple road diet project faced an unexpected amount of pushback, and ended up taking seven years and a lot of money to complete. Was it worth the hassle?

#SlowtheCars, Engagement, Roads and Streets, Top StoryJay StangeJune 22, 2022road diet, Road Diet, STROADS, Street Design, streets, #SlowTheCars, Connecticut, success, success stories, public engagement, community engagement

A Recent Lawsuit Uses “Environmentalism” To Argue Against Walkable, Compact Development in Minneapolis. What the Heck Is Going On?

The environmental groups suing Minneapolis to block implementation of its groundbreaking 2040 Plan have a limited understanding of environmentalism, but a keen grasp of how to slow down policy reform.