So, you want to attend a city council meeting? Good luck getting past all the jargon! Check out these “translations” of a real-life council agenda, and why it’s important to be more transparent with citizens.
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A crucial part of making your city or town stronger lies in revitalizing your downtown. Here’s how one Local Conversation organizer is doing that work in her place.
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Making city budgets accessible to the average citizen is crucial for building stronger places. Here’s 4 examples of cities that made their budgets not only accessible, but even fun!
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Cleveland’s “richest poor neighborhood” is empowering its neighbors to help each other.
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This Strong Towns member is helping her neighbors understand what’s going on in local government and get their voices heard.
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Will digital technology usher in the next evolution of public hearings? Two years into an experiment in Colorado, the technology’s potential impact is coming into focus.
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Veteran advocates for a sane and financially sustainable transportation policy in Washington State see a chance to turn crisis into opportunity. And they're hoping to get state leaders to see it too.
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The Federal Highway Administration has a chart full of answers to that question you might find useful.
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Building stronger, more livable communities is hard work. A new podcast from a longtime Strong Towns member can help.
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Is Strong Towns changing the conversation in our town? Have you taken action to make your place stronger that’s inspired by our message? We want to hear about it.
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If your city is struggling to balance its budget, it’s not enough to just cut costs and not seek to increase revenues. That’s like a cyclist who tries to improve their performance only by losing weight.
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Learn how one Texas-based Strong Towns member used the Strong Towns message to ask city council candidates the hard questions that—when we grapple with them—lead to stronger cities and towns.
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Not everything in a Strong Town can be about dollars and cents. The finances constrain us—they are an important check on our avarice—but the things that make a place worth loving go far beyond the balance sheet.
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Being a small business owner, especially in a smaller town, can give you an up front look at how local government works… and at what’s not working as well as it should. Here’s an interview with one strong citizen who’s hoping to take what he’s learned to City Hall.
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In the new year, why not consider a few activities that you can complete in a single day that will help you see your town differently? Let’s call it the #StrongTownsChallenge. And don’t worry: there’s no ice water involved.
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What does it take to be a small-scale developer in a struggling part of town? To put your money where your mouth is and participate in incremental neighborhood revitalization? One of our staffers knows firsthand.
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Here are a few ideas to make you a more effective—and interesting—public hearing participant.
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Our members are out there turning good ideas into reality in their own communities. They’re doing it by connecting with fellow strong citizens—and we want to help you do the same.
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Sometimes the smallest things we can do for our towns deliver the biggest return on investment. And the best part: you don’t even have to wait to get started.
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San Jose, California has embraced active transportation and pledged to eliminate vehicular deaths. So why is the city intent on widening a neighborhood street and building a four-lane overpass next to an elementary school?
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