Programming Update

This week I'm headed to Dallas for the 23rd Congress for the New Urbanism.

CNUCharles MarohnApril 27, 2015CNU23, Dallas, NextGen, Curbside Chat, New Urbanism

Heading to CNU

Strong TownsApril 24, 2015

Cities for People—or Cars?

In the lead up to CNU 23 in Dallas next week, the American Conservative asked me to write a feature story on the New Urbanism. This was quite an honor. The piece ran in this week's print publication and is also now available online.

Marohn, CNUCharles MarohnApril 23, 2015New Urbanism, suburban experiment, the American Dream, auto-oriented

A tragic irony

Our wide streets allow us to quickly respond to the collisions caused by our wide streets.

Leyrer, Strong Towns MemeMatthias LeyrerApril 23, 2015Street Design

Podcast Show 215: Brainerd Council President Gary Scheeler

The council president of Chuck's hometown of Brainerd, MN, Gary Scheeler, stops in the studio to talk about the future of the city. The conversation gets heated in the way you would expect with two passionate Minnesotans.

PodcastStrong TownsApril 23, 2015STROADS, Brainerd MN, city council

CNU Podcast Schedule

The podcast schedule for CNU 23. Stop in and listen live.

Charles MarohnApril 22, 2015

The economic development strategy that's too cute to prioritize.

Last week, I was asked to join a panel discussion posed with the question, What role does placemaking have in building sustainable communities? This gave me a great excuse to break down and map out my personal theory of change. Here it is: love and working together. Have no doubt, the triteness is not lost on me - I grimace even writing this, but I really believe there's something to it.

Field NotesGracen JohnsonApril 22, 2015placemaking

Why Your Town Needs Comprehensive Affordable Housing

Comprehensive affordable housing that actually benefits a community is not just cheap housing.

Quednau, HousingRachel QuednauApril 22, 2015affordable housing, housing, Milwaukee

MoDOT's Ongoing Tantrum

For the Missouri Department of Transportation, it's not "tough choices ahead" -- it's tough choices now. Make them. That's your job.

#NoNewRoads, MarohnCharles MarohnApril 21, 2015

How Should Portland Pay for Streets?

Building our cities to cater to the needs of car traffic have produced lower levels of livability. There are good reasons to believe that throwing more money at the existing system of building and operating streets will do little to make city life better.

FinanceJoe CortrightApril 21, 2015Joe Cortright, City Observatory, Portland OR, transportation spending

Environmentalism and Density on Minnesota's Lakes

A small town in Minnesota just gave an extended middle finger to one of the state’s most impotent bureaucracies.

MarohnCharles MarohnApril 21, 2015Minnesota, Baxter MN, Land Use, density, zoning

Decision Time

Tonight my local city council is going to make a decision on whether or not the main stroad through town should remain a five-lane wasteland or be reduced to three lanes.

MarohnCharles MarohnApril 20, 2015MnDOT, Brainerd MN

The wisdom of crowds

What is the next smallest thing that can be done to make what people are already doing just a little easier?

MarohnCharles MarohnApril 20, 2015strong towns approach

The least dumb idea consensus provides

The megaproject is the least-dumb idea that consensus provides.

MarohnCharles MarohnApril 20, 2015Nassim Taleb, Megaprojects, Black Swan, Chaotic but Smart, #OrderlyButDumb

Thank you, Alabama

Here's where Strong Towns is going to be in the next couple of months + a quick summary of everything from the week.

Charles MarohnApril 17, 2015

The Religion of Roads

When it comes to transportation -- specifically automobile transportation -- Texas is one of the most socialist states in the country, taxing and spending at amazing rates with an additional predilection towards borrowing enormous sums of money to build even more government-backed infrastructure.

The Infrastructure Cult, Transportation, MarohnCharles MarohnApril 17, 2015Texas, Eminent Domain, transportation

Place comes first

We should spend our time obsessing why there are no people here rather than what they might to wrong if they showed up.

Leyrer, Strong Towns MemeMatthias LeyrerApril 16, 2015people centered places

Steven Shultis on Urban Schools

Our friend and Strong Towns member Steven Shultis from Springfield, Massachusetts, joins Chuck this week to talk about his experience as a parent of children in an urban school system.

Podcast, SchoolsStrong TownsApril 16, 2015Steven Shultis, Rational Urbanism, schools, page highlight, best podcast

How small can you make a Big Box? And other notes from the field.

Smart retailers everywhere are experimenting with urban-format stores, despite it forcing them to squish their big-box tendencies. This is probably my favourite so far. I can't tell if it's Québec standing up to Rona and saying, "Thou shalt not parking lot," or if it's Rona deciding that they want to grow their neighbourhood retail presence by forcing smallness upon themselves. Either way, it does the job.

Field NotesGracen JohnsonApril 15, 2015Fredericton, Strong Citizenship