A theme emerges from our five most popular recent articles: Many planning debates focus on HOW we get somewhere: on foot or in a car, by bike or via public transit. Those are important conversations. But just as important is that we have someplace great to get to.
Read MoreHint: the Right isn’t any better.
Read MoreTampa has an epidemic of leaking and bursting pipes. But don’t worry, the city’s taking action! …by proposing an eightfold increase in the amount it spends on maintenance for the next 20 years, half funded by new debt. How did we get to this point?
Read MoreProperty tax cap laws have been around for decades and are now on the books in 44 states — most recently in Texas. So why are we still surprised when they make our local communities more fragile and less resilient?
Read MoreAmerica is addicted to cars. But what if we weren’t? How could cities utilize the many acres of suddenly empty parking lots? City planner Alexander Dukes looks ahead to life after parking.
Read MoreExciting News! Three new staff members have recently joined our team, while another is moving to a new role.
Read MoreStrong Towns member Austin Taylor—Parking and Sustainability Coordinator for Provo City, Utah—shares how you can use tactical urbanism to create safer streets, including how to plan your intervention, how to get local government involved, and how to use your intervention to create lasting change.
Love to hate congestion? We’ll never fix it by obsessing over speed or traffic delays. We need to rethink our whole transportation debate, starting with this premise: it’s not about how fast you can go. It’s about what you can get to.
Read MoreOur systems of planning and permitting too often give large developers an unfair advantage over local builders. And one little-discussed planning concept does a lot to explain why.
Read MoreI asked my daughter a simple question on the way to school one morning. Her response gave a valuable kids-eye-view of the neighborhood…both as it is and as it could be.
Read MorePortland diners are mourning the loss of one of the city’s largest and longest-running food cart pods. The property is being redeveloped as a 35-story high-rise. What can the death and birth of food cart pods teach us about the importance of dynamic change in cities?
Read MoreThe unproductive use of infrastructure has put most cities, even those that are superficially prosperous, in a position where they won’t be able to afford to maintain what they’ve built. The signs of this crisis are everywhere—if you’re willing to look.
Read MoreThere are lessons to be learned everywhere about building places that generate not only wealth but community. This week we shared some of those lessons from across the ocean, but also a couple that you don’t even have to step off your front porch to learn.
Read MoreTech giant Square has announced that they’re moving to downtown St. Louis, sponsored by some big tax incentives—and they’re putting up the funds to demolishing derelict homes in the adjacent neighborhoods to boot. Is that really the only forward for the Gateway City?
Read MoreYou voted Pensacola, Florida the champion in our annual contest to find North America’s #StrongestTown. This week, we delivered their award. Here are 4 reasons they earned it.
Read MoreA beautiful new protected bike lane in Austin is slowing motorists, protecting cyclists and pedestrians, and connecting the community. And they did it without having to wait for the most expensive, time-consuming materials.
Read MoreCommuter rail stations in the San Francisco Bay Area should be some of the most valuable land in the region (and by extension, the world). So why are there so many parking lots and one-story buildings right next to them?
Read MoreLexington, Kentucky recently proposed an ordinance that would allow accessory dwelling units. Nolan Gray explains how ADUs are good for renters, good for homeowners, and good for the city — and why Lexington’s ordinance is (almost) perfect.
Read MoreGreg Wright—Executive Director at CREATE Portage County—shares how you can foster creative (and financially resilient) communities where you live, including how to inspire creative residents, how to demonstrate the economic impact of creativity, and why you should root all initiatives in a “small and smart” way.
The Poet Laureate of Mississippi reflects on her adopted South and on the Southern tradition of front porch-sitting: “No other architectural space is so deliciously not/and: not inside, not outside. Not public, not private. Not house, not garden.”
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