Washington spends billions on high-cost, low-return transportation projects. Meanwhile, sidewalks and new bus routes get crumbs. But, as our top stories illustrate, there are reasons to hope: surprising coalitions are forming, people are rediscovering the manifold benefits of a good walk, and a major advocacy organization is taking a bold new stand.
Read MoreThe Strong Towns book has been out for a week and a half—and the most gratifying thing is to see those who have read and reviewed it reflect our message back to us in their own powerful, insightful words. Do you have your copy yet?
Read MoreMany thoughtful urbanists want to #endparkingminimums. We do too. But there’s something else we can address. It’s a relatively small change that can have a big impact…and it could be a good first step to getting rid of parking minimums altogether.
Read MoreTransportation for America has boldly laid out three key principles they say should govern federal transportation policy. That’s a great start. But here’s a fourth.
Read MoreWe’ve all heard it: Americans today are incapable of civil conversation. But for decades one urban neighborhood has been confounding expectations. For them, conversation has not only proven possible, it’s become the foundation for building a stronger, more resilient and better connected neighborhood.
Read MoreA walk down a thriving main street like this one will be a reminder why our downtowns are worth protecting and nurturing.
Read MoreThink small acts of neighborliness mean nothing more than signs of a welcoming neighborhood? Discover how Strong Towns contributor Steve MacDouell introduced “micro-neighborliness” to shift the morale of residents in neighborhoods across London, Ontario.
Read MoreWe’ve been living for decades on the urban economic equivalent of anabolic steroids: it’s time for some good old-fashioned diet and exercise. The key is to reorient the way we approach growth. Instead of thinning out our cities and taking on more infrastructure liabilities, we need to wring real value out of the places we’ve already built.
Read MoreAn odd-bedfellows coalition of businesses, faith-based poverty advocates, and an idiosyncratic right-wing mayor, helped expand transit in one of the most auto-centric cities in the country. Here’s how.
Read MoreEasy money and uncontentious budget meetings sound nice in theory. But private and public sectors beware: lack of stressors can make decision-makers undisciplined and obscure huge bills that are sure to come due.
Read MoreInformation about our city’s revenue, expenses and liabilities is usually presented in ways that disempower most people from making informed decisions. But what about folks who aren’t a Level 20 Spreadsheet Wizard? How can we use data to better tell the story of where we are now — and empower more people to write the story of their city’s future?
Read MorePublic spaces are often shortchanged in government budgets. Yet they provide outsized benefits compared to how little our communities usually invest in them. Public spaces should be celebrated and protected. Here are four reasons why.
Read MoreThe advocacy group Transportation for America makes a bold move on transportation funding. We applaud them for it.
Read MoreDesigning a traffic intervention after the tragic death of a pedestrian. Pitching the Strong Towns approach to a local service club. Developing missing middle housing. These are just some of the conversations happening on the Strong Towns Community site, where members offer each other encouragement and practical guidance on how to build the block-by-block revolution.
Read MoreChuck Marohn talks in his new book about the “spooky wisdom of cities” that developed as humans co-evolved with their complex human habitats. Some modern cities have taken more of this wisdom to heart than others. Tokyo, for example, has taken a very different approach to many of the same issues facing its American counterparts. And we’ve got pictures to prove it.
Read MoreA trip to Italy reveals the physical, social, and even cultural benefits of walking. But coming home to the auto-oriented U.S. reveals something too: just how dangerous, difficult, and unpleasant we’ve made things for pedestrians.
Read MoreThe story of Shreveport is one of small steps leading to big payoffs, especially in building community.
Read MoreBuilding stronger towns isn’t just about planning, engineering and development. We need to address questions about cultivating rich and abundant lives in our neighborhoods. How do we live out our values when so much of the built environment seems to be working against us?
Read MoreA first look at the Strong America Tour presentation, this one from our recent visit to Seattle.
Read MoreConventional approaches to public investment tend to be expensive, dull, difficult (or impossible) to undo, and often divorced from the lived struggles of real people. There’s a better way.
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