San Francisco's Mission District is an example of everything that makes a Strong Town work: incremental development, urbanism oriented to people rather than cars, a deeply rooted local economy, and a distinctive sense of place. It's also in peril because of decades of collective failure to allow more places like it to be built.
Read MoreWe're about to unwind a huge experiment and it's not likely to go smoothly. Anything we want to accomplish is going to require extraordinary creativity, resourcefulness and political prowess. That's where the Incremental Development Alliance comes in.
Read MoreToday we welcome guest contributor, Jonathan Holth, who shares his experiences traveling from his hometown of Grand Forks, ND to the "people-first" city of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Read MoreUrban environments full of fine-grained detail, hidden nooks and crannies and narrow passages are memorable, lovable places that stimulate our sense of play and adventure. They are a way to use land more intensively and productively without building monolithic, outsized developments. A historic artists' colony nestled in a residential neighborhood in Florida provides an example.
Read MoreI’ve been able to be carless for long stints of my adult life. Perhaps that’s why this recent post from our member blogroll caught my attention.
Read MoreThe perfect is the enemy of the good, or, in this case, the achievable.
Read MoreFlorida's transportation budget is a disaster. It's an un-fixable mess. Only a people mired deep in delusion would consider it anything less than a fiscal emergency. Yet, the building continues.
Read MoreWe can build all the crosswalk signs we want, but if the cars are driving too fast, those signs will still go unnoticed. Narrower streets are a natural, affordable and lasting solution to pedestrian crossing issues.
Read MoreAndrew Price challenges the definition of what makes a Complete Street 'Complete.'
Read MoreThis video was created by Transit Academy for NICE Bus in Nassau County, NY to help transit drivers understand the impact of pedestrian safety. NICE Bus is operated by Transdev and they wanted us to create an impact with a pedestrian safety video.
Read MoreThis longboard has been far more thought-provoking than expected. Once I'm competent enough to venture beyond my quiet street, where will I go? How do people use the streets and sidewalks when they are not on foot, bike, or driving?
Read MoreA vast majority of our infrastructure is predicated on treating non-automobiles as second-class citizens. This is the status quo. One doesn't need to look far to find examples.
Read MoreWe have obsessive attention to detail on the things that matter to us and only pay superficial heed to those that don't.
Read MoreFor the past month, I’ve been using a simple gueture with much success. Any time I’m crossing the street and I see a car coming a bit too fast, I just put my hand up in the “Stop” gesture and make eye contact with the driver, asserting my presence (not to mention the legality of my actions). It’s worked surprisingly well.
Read MoreCNU 23 highlights; aspiring developers are getting organized to Build Places People Love; a large apartment complex can't compete with productivity of the traditional design across the street.
Read MoreHappy Jane Jacobs Day! (And now Urban Renewal Remembrance Day as well.) Today would have been the activist and urban theorist's 99th birthday, and it seems like every year, evidence continues to amass of her wisdom, foresight, and appeal to all corners of the political spectrum.
Read MoreYesterday was a big day for me. I didn't need to wear mitts for the first time since November, which means I can operate my camera outside for longer than 10 minutes. I will be celebrating by riding the bus out to a strange and depressing landscape of density-gone-wrong. This will be the setting for a video about density and by extension, silly apartment locations. It's an important topic, and I would love your help making an excellent script. What do you say?
Read MoreHey walkers....distracted walking is dangerous walking. You don't belong here.
#slowthecars
Read MoreThe Member News Digest, a look at what's hot on the Strong Towns member blogs.
Read MoreChuck Marohn and Andrew Burleson sit down to discuss a tragedy in Springfield, Mass, where a mom and two girls were hit by a drunk driver on an urban stroad. The seven-year-old girl was killed and the other seriously injured. Marohn and Burleson discuss the engineering profession's approach to safety, the implications for those outside of an automobile and how our approach needs reform if we are truly build safe, productive places.
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