Alix Taylor—Manager of Water Programs at Green Communities Canada—shares how to depave neglected concrete in your own neighborhood, including how to get your neighbors involved in the process, how to pitch the idea to city leaders, and how to find sites in your neighborhood optimal for depaving.
Read MoreJohn Reuter—board member at Strong Towns and former councilperson at the City of Sandpoint, Idaho—shares his insights in how you can propose eliminating parking minimums in your town—including how to tell a compelling story, how to find data that enhances that story, and how to build community support around removing parking minimums.
Read MoreJacqueline Hannah—assistant director at the Food Co-op Initiative—shares how you can start a neighborhood grocery co-op in your town, including how to pitch the vision to community members and elected officials, how to translate your enthusiasm into action, and how the Food Co-op initiative can help through every step of the process.
Read MoreJeff Eidson—founder of Explore Elkin—shares story behind the idea Explore Elkin and how listeners can successfully create similar groups in their own cities and towns, including how to find and pitch a shared vision to residents, how to motivate residents stuck in a psychology of decline towards their city or town, and how to use the funds generated towards small bets.
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Ryan Short—CEO of CivicBrand—shares how you can find your community’s true essence, including how to engage with your community to ensure the creation of your brand is a grassroots effort, how to ensure your brand actually aligns with what your community offers, and how finding your community’s true essence makes your city or town stronger.
Read MoreIt is the experiences of real people that should guide our planning efforts. Their actions are the data we should be collecting, not their stated preferences.
Read MoreHere are a few ideas to make you a more effective—and interesting—public hearing participant.
Read MoreDerek Avery spoke at the recent North Texas Gathering about doing revitalization without gentrification. As a follow-up, we interviewed Avery about his thoughtful approach to community development.
Read MoreIf you had five minutes to plant a seed in the mind of an influential leader in your community, what would you tell them? Or give them to read? What article do you wish Strong Towns would publish that would help you make a concrete, needed change in your own community?
Read MoreIn this podcast episode, Chuck interviews four under-30 attendees of the Congress for the New Urbanism about their aspirations, goals, and the challenges of making a difference and being taken seriously as ambitious younger people in their respective fields.
Read MoreWe’re constantly told that the world has become a flaming dumpster fire, and that only large-scale actions are adequate to address today’s urgent problems. But is that true? Chuck and three panelists explore this question in a podcast episode recorded at CNU in May.
Read MoreNothing good comes of public engagement in which the public isn’t asked questions they can meaningfully contribute to answering. This is not how you build a trusting relationship: a strong foundation on which to work together. This is how you corrode trust.
Read More“Gamifying” public participation in budgeting—by inviting citizens to move imaginary buckets of money around—is essentially a charade. All the while, we’re failing to get to the root causes of municipal budget struggles.
Read More11 steps to more comprehensive reporting on zoning changes, new developments and everything in between.
Read MoreIt is the experiences of real people that should guide our planning efforts. Their actions are the data we should be collecting, not their stated preferences.
Read MoreTo visit the Hapi Fresh Farmer’s Market in Akron, Ohio, is to see the beginning of a journey. Seeds have been planted to draw in more residents, more businesses, and to nurture a return to prosperity for the neighborhood.
Read MoreHere are a few ideas to make you a more effective—and interesting—public hearing participant.
Read MoreCommunities that are serious about improving transparency and citizen engagement need to embrace technology. It’s proven to work.
Read MoreHow can cities and towns effectively reach and listen to all residents, and use their perspectives to shape the future of the community? This guide will show you.
Read MoreI have yet to see a public input process that was participatory enough to reflect the desires of a community.
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