The Key to a Great Public Space? It's In the Edges.

Our immediate reactions to a place are often deeply rooted in human psychology—including the biological preference for “edges.” Here’s a city that’s done that well. Has yours?

Top Story, Herriges, Urban DesignDaniel HerrigesJune 22, 2020urban design, Savannah, parks

Can We Afford to Care About Design in a Housing Crisis?

If you want to see more homes built in your city, good urban design isn’t your enemy. And neither are those who insist on it.

Herriges, Housing, Urban DesignDaniel HerrigesJanuary 22, 2020urban design, parking, walkability, garages, car dependency, YIMBY, housing, housing crisis

The Trick-or-Treat Test

The spooky wisdom of the spookiest night of the year.

Urban Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesOctober 30, 2019urban design, halloween, walkability, children

David Sim of "Soft City": Making the Places We Live More Human

People might think of city life as necessarily “hard.” But the creative director at a Copenhagen-based urban design firm begs to differ. There are a few simple principles that can “soften” our city, drawing us closer together and radically improving our quality of life.

Traditional Development is Not Retro. It's Timeless.

At Strong Towns, we have a lot of good things to say about the kind of places we built before the automobile era. Does that mean it’s really all just about nostalgia for a simpler time? Hardly.

Herriges, Urban Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesSeptember 25, 2019traditional development pattern, history, Tokyo, urban design, resilience

This Neighborhood in Germany Shows Us Why American Planned Communities are So Abysmal

We all know the pitfalls of master-planned communities, right? Sterile. Homogenous. Certainly not adaptable or resilient over time. Is there a way around it? Maybe, if this fascinating case study from Germany has anything to teach us. And it all starts with one word: Baugruppen.

Urban Design, Neighborhood Design, Top StoryTaylor DotsonSeptember 18, 2019Europe, Germany, master planned, cooperatives, environment, urban design

The Streets of Paris

The United States isn’t France, but there are still plenty of lessons to be learned—and myths to be busted—by looking at the way their streets are designed to build wealth.

To Build Sustainable Places, Look to the Past, Not Just the Future

“Sustainable” is a buzzword that often conjures images of technological wizardry aimed at solving environmental problems. But what if our ancestors knew a lot more about sustainability than we give them credit for?

How Better Design Can Help Solve Parking Problems

Giving valuable space in cities over to cars isn’t great for building walkable or productive places. But for now at least, our urban neighborhoods need some parking. This an area where thoughtful design can help us solve multiple problems at once.

How Public Art can Boost the Pride (and Resilience) of Your Neighborhood

Greta McLain—Artistic Director at GoodSpace Murals, a Minneapolis-based organization that promotes community development through public art—shares how you can use public art to build community in your own city or town, including how to create a tribe of public art advocates in your community, and how to turn stakeholders leery of public art into advocates.

How to Turn Neglected Alleyways into Thriving Public Spaces

Paul Fast—Principal Architect at HCMA, a Canadian architecture and design firm—discusses its More Awesome Now project and how you can revive neglected alleyways in your own neighborhood, including how to assess the needs of the neighborhood, how to measure the success of the project, and how to consider all members of the community in its design.

"I Wanted to Build a Town, Not a Development"

An interview with Steve Nygren, developer of Serenbe, Georgia, about how Serenbe is unlike conventional suburbia, and why Nygren thinks it holds lessons for how all of our communities could achieve a better way of life at a lower cost.

Podcast, Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 13, 2019traditional development pattern, urban design, Serenbe, Georgia

The Problem with Helicopter Urbanism

It is important when we design a building or a neighborhood to look at how it feels and interacts with the street. Too often, new development feels designed from a helicopter’s-eye-view.

Andrew Price, Urban Design, Top StoryAndrew PriceFebruary 12, 2019urban design, architecture

A Conversation With the Urban3 Team

In the latest episode of the Strong Towns podcast, we share a conversation Chuck had at CNU 2018 with three of the geoanalytics wizards from Urban3. Hear the latest on their efforts to spread the message about where your city’s wealth is really coming from.

Podcast, Top Story, CNUStrong TownsSeptember 6, 2018local government, urban design, Urban3, financial solvency, infrastructure cost

Most Public Engagement Is Worse Than Worthless

Nothing good comes of public engagement in which the public isn’t asked questions they can meaningfully contribute to answering. This is not how you build a trusting relationship: a strong foundation on which to work together. This is how you corrode trust.

How to Get Started as a Small-Scale Developer

The 7 skills a small-scale developer needs. Hint: If you don't have them, you can find someone who does.

Small Bets

Small bets are an affordable way to incrementally improve the places we love. They provide quick feedback from the community, and save us the time and money we so often over-invest in megaprojects.