This “Accidental Developer” Wants To Show You How To Revitalize Your Neighborhood

All too often, the job of development is handed to large developers with large swaths of cash to implement an all-at-once, large-scale development. This small-scale developer is showing how there is another (and better) way.

Incremental Housing, Top Story, Community StoriesSeairra SheppardApril 13, 2023Incremental Housing, small scale developers, small scale development, Indiana, developers, neighborhood revitalization

Portland’s Cully Neighborhood To Use “The One Ring” for Good

In the past, urban renewal projects have displaced people and destroyed neighborhoods, yet Portland’s Cully neighborhood aims to launch an urban renewal plan…but this time, in a good way?

Podcast, Upzoned, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 1, 2023Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, Oregon, Urban Renewal, neighborhood revitalization, Neighborhoods

Top of the Bottom-Up: Creating a Coffee Shop for the Whole Neighborhood

Coté Soeren’s “Resistencia” coffee shop in Seattle is a space for community connection and support, not gentrification.

Podcast, Taking Action, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Neighborhoods, Top Story, Community StoriesStrong TownsJanuary 26, 2023The Bottom-Up Revolution, neighborhood, neighborhood revitalization, Seattle, coffee shops, gentrification, taking action

Majora Carter: Reclaiming Your Community

In this interview with author Majora Carter, she explains an empowering truth: that you don’t have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Top Story, NeighborhoodsStrong TownsJune 20, 2022Podcast, podcast, books, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, neighborhood change, neighborhood revitalization, New York, community, Community

In Hospitable Cities, You’re Welcomed by Design

Some neighborhoods can feel downright hostile, especially to outsiders. But many places have become this way due to inhospitable design, not inhospitable people.

Neighborhoods, Public Space, Urban Design, Top Story, OwensTiffany Owens ReedMarch 31, 2022placemaking, urban design, Neighborhood Design, Neighborhoods, suburban experiment, human scale, walkability, Texas, public space, food trucks, neighborhood revitalization, traditional development pattern

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Forming a Community Land Trust

Rebecca McQuillen and Rodger Kube are helping stabilize a neighborhood and create homeownership opportunities.

Podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Housing, Neighborhoods, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 17, 2022taking action, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Kansas City, neighborhood revitalization, housing affordability

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...a Neighborhood Person

Gracen Johnson is a dedicated Strong Towns member who’s connecting with her neighbors and working on housing issues in Canada.

Podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Housing, Neighborhoods, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 27, 2022taking action, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Canada, neighborhood revitalization

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Collaborating for Neighborhood Revitalization

Gregg Lombardi is helping unite resources, organizations, and legal strategies to support a Kansas City neighborhood.

Podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Housing, Neighborhoods, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 20, 2022The Bottom-Up Revolution, taking action, Kansas City, crime, neighborhood revitalization

Time for a Little "Self-Gentrification"

“You don’t have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one,” says Majora Carter in her new book, Reclaiming Your Community.

Housing, Neighborhoods, Top StoryJay StangeJanuary 20, 2022gentrification, Gentrification, housing, neighborhood, neighborhood revitalization, Neighborhoods, blight, books

Cultivating Community Beyond Church Walls in Indianapolis

This congregation launched a non-profit organization to help its neighbors—not as an act of benevolence for them, but in solidarity with them.

Is It Worth Planting Flowers Here?

Is it worth investing in something that (seemingly) has no practical function? If we want to strengthen our neighborhoods, sometimes the answer is “yes.”

Quednau, Neighborhoods, Top StoryRachel QuednauAugust 17, 2021revitalization, neighborhood revitalization, gardening

The Bottom-Up Revolution is... Creating a Coffee Shop for the Whole Neighborhood

Coté Soeren’s “Resistencia” coffee shop in Seattle is a space for community connection and support, not gentrification.

Podcast, Taking Action, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Neighborhoods, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 27, 2021The Bottom-Up Revolution, neighborhood, neighborhood revitalization, Seattle, coffee shops, gentrification, taking action

The Bottom-Up Revolution is... Empowering Young People to Rebuild Homes

In Birmingham, AL, a unique high school program trains teens in home renovation and building skills, while revitalizing their neighborhood in the process. Jeanyll Morris shares her experience helping lead the program.

Podcast, Taking Action, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Neighborhoods, Housing, Schools, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 20, 2021The Bottom-Up Revolution, neighborhood, alabama, education, children, neighborhood revitalization, revitalization, taking action

Ask Not What Your Community Can Do for You, but What You Can Do for Your Community

You absolutely have something to offer your town or city in a time of crisis. Here are 6 tips on thinking creatively about your unique contribution.

Coronavirus, Top StoryQuint StuderOctober 2, 2020Pensacola, Coronavirus, neighborhood revitalization

Neighborhood Revival: A Pandemic Perspective

If your town or city is going to be stronger and more resilient, its neighborhoods need to thrive. Here are 5 ways to help your neighborhood live up to its full potential.

Coronavirus, Neighborhoods, Walkability, Top StoryJohn David Beutler and Leila HakimizadehSeptember 24, 2020California, Bay Area, Coronavirus, neighborhood revitalization, public space, walkability

The Power of Incremental Change in Detroit (Part 2)

The story of a neighborhood-led effort to address blight on Detroit’s East Side.

Neighborhoods First, Neighborhoods, Top StoryMac FarrAugust 6, 2020blight, small bets, enforcement, Detroit, public engagement, neighborhoods first, neighborhood revitalization

The Power of Incremental Change in Detroit (Part 1)

Here’s what happened when a passionate community advocate in Detroit listened to what residents actually wanted, rather than imposing his will from the outside.

Top Story, Neighborhoods First, NeighborhoodsMac FarrAugust 5, 2020public engagement, Detroit, blight, Tactical Urbanism, small bets, neighborhood revitalization, enforcement

How This Strong Towns Member Used a “Vision Block” to Celebrate Small Bets

Learn how Strong Towns member and Louisville resident Shawn Reilly and his neighbors found the small bets transform a speedy street in their neighborhood.

It's The Little Things, Success Story, Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 23, 2020Strong Citizenship, community, how to, public investment, tactical urbanism, neighborhood revitalization, inspired

Beyond the Diet: 7 New Year's Resolutions for Your Neighborhood

Get in shape. Get organized. Read more. Most New Year’s resolutions are focused on personal improvement. These are important, but what if this year we resolved to improve our places too?

Neighborhoods, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonJanuary 7, 2020neighborhood revitalization, neighborhood change, new years resolutions, local food, investing, philanthropy, intersections, walkability

Best of 2019: The Trickle or the Fire Hose

Most neighborhoods face a stark choice between the trickle or the fire hose: either virtually no new development or investment, or cataclysmic change that leaves a place unrecognizable. We need to get out of this destructive dichotomy.

Herriges, Best of Blog, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesDecember 16, 2019Gentrification, Best of 2019, neighborhood revitalization, poverty, decline

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