The discipline of not acquiring more until we've wrung true value out of what we already possess can make our lives richer and fuller. And this is a lesson we need to apply to our cities as well.
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If electric vehicles become the norm, our fuel tax-funded infrastructure might suffer. What should cities do?
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Taxing land rather than improvements is a good idea whose time has come. Why aren’t more places already doing it? And how can you make the case for it in your city?
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In cities all over America, we deter people from revitalizing neighborhoods by punishing them with higher taxes for improving their property. A change in how we tax property could fix these incentives.
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You have until the end of Sunday, March 10th to enter our 4th Annual Strongest Town Contest. Don’t miss your chance to tell the world your town’s story!
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Skyler Yost, Ecosystem Builder for the city of York, PA, shares how you can foster entrepreneurship in your community—and create an environment in which entrepreneurs support one another, too.
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Since 1913, Pennsylvania has allowed cities to tax land at a higher rate than buildings. This decision has led to some unique success stories: cities that have weathered post-industrial decline and revitalized their urban cores.
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The newer generation of public housing projects offer a superficially pleasant facsimile of a New Urbanist neighborhood. But these are places built all at once, to a finished state, and deeply dependent on fragile institutional arrangements.
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Even the fastest-growing cities have them: under-utilized lots in the center of town whose owners don’t want to develop, but also don’t want to sell. Often, the property tax code rewards this kind of land speculation.
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Revisiting one of our most popular conversations ever, with well-known blogger and financial self-sufficiency expert Mr. Money Mustache. (Who has been in the news in 2019 for an amusing reason!)
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The property tax punishes modest improvements and rewards steady decline. People who take steps to add value to their property pay more taxes, while slumlords and speculators pay less. There are a lot of reasons for cities to switch to a tax on land value, and more states should allow cities to make that change.
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This week we explored an eclectic range of housing solutions for a changing America, revisited a favorite podcast about the limitations of traffic enforcement, explored what it means for cities to ask themselves whether they’re competing on price or quality, and more.
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Slowing down drivers can save pedestrian lives. But is a little widget in your car the best way to do it?
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Your Strong Towns Knowledge Base question of the week, answered here.
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