This week, we explored out-of-control infrastructure costs in Texas, a “road diet” in Akron, workforce housing in Maine, and asked whether our local governments ought to be failing more often—and owning up to and learning from those mistakes.
Read MoreThe core neighborhoods of our big cities and our small towns have more in common than we might think.
Read MoreAre house flippers exactly what the Rust Belt needs to recover from decades of systemic disinvestment, or a dangerous speculative game that fragile places shouldn’t be playing? Check out the third episode of our new podcast Upzoned to hear Kea Wilson and Chuck Marohn hash out this topic.
Read MoreCollin County, Texas officials claim they need $12.6 billion for new roads in the next 30 years, and none of it for maintenance of what they’ve already built. That way lies madness.
Read MoreJordan Clark and Felix Landry of Verdunity discuss the importance of understanding the fiscal consequences of our development patterns, as well as the ways that cities can use map-based fiscal analysis to make more holistic land use decisions.
Read MoreOur staff writer Aubrey Byron begins a new series: at least once a month, she will be exploring how Strong Towns concepts apply to rural locations. Whether it’s transit, the value of sewers versus septics in small towns, or the walkability of small towns, check out our new coverage of the #smallstrongtown.
Read MoreWant to better your community but don’t know where to start? Enter It’s the Little Things: a Strong Towns podcast that gives you the wisdom and encouragement you need to take the small yet powerful actions that can make your city or town stronger.
Read MoreCan a master-planned community be consistent with Strong Towns principles of iterative, bottom-up placemaking? We take a tour of Serenbe, Georgia, an experiment in New Urbanism and eco-conscious living on the far outskirts of Atlanta.
Read MoreA recent D Magazine story nailed the problem with Dallas’s development pattern: the city has way more infrastructure than it can afford to maintain. But its solution—assessing local taxes differently—didn’t go far enough.
Read MoreIn Portland, Maine, some established developers are venturing into filling the need for workforce housing without the help of subsidies, even though it is less profitable.
Read MoreJohn Simmerman and his organization Active Towns want to see a massive increase in the number of places with a culture of physical activity. Come see John speak at the Strong Towns Regional Gathering in Plano, Texas, and learn what he’s doing to help create that change.
Read MoreAkron, Ohio is tackling its stroad problem, one oversized boulevard at a time. “Right-sizing” this neighborhood main street will make it safer and more inviting and hospitable for small businesses.
Read MoreThis week on the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck talks with behavior change and sustainability expert Ruben Anderson about the good life, and how we fool ourselves into thinking we can use systematic rationality to create it for ourselves.
Read MoreOne of the reasons Ocean Grove, New Jersey has endured intact is the presence of a religious community that had a higher calling and a longer event horizon than the dominant secular culture. There are lessons to be learned here even by people who may not identify with the church.
Read MoreAmericans need to become more tolerant of government failure. That will happen, if and when, government starts to deliver improvements iteratively, and demonstrates the capacity to learn and improve with each iteration.
Read MoreThe lines between work and home zones are blurring: more employers want to be in walkable, amenitized areas, and conversely, people are choosing to live closer to where they work. This Cincinnati placemaking experiment exemplifies the kind of small bets this trend is making possible.
Read MoreCheck out the second episode of our new podcast Upzoned! Kea Wilson and Chuck Marohn dig into an article on a troubling trend: big box retailers in Minnesota think they’re paying too much in property taxes, and they’re asking for a cut. But that’s a hard pill to swallow for small towns.
Read MoreThe top 5 stories from September 17-21, 2018.
Read MoreAustin needs a new Grand Bargain, one that includes everyone and exempts no one.
Read MoreLet’s walk through what it actually takes to build a small rental apartment on your property in Austin, Texas. It’s a lesson in how the city’s existing code stymies gentle, incremental, small-scale development.
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