The new library was larger and offered more books and services. The reason it was so hard to connect with has a lot to say about the way we design our cities.
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Cities that offered few options for teenagers before the pandemic have even fewer options today.
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Centralized systems are good at getting us cheap food, cars, and toilet paper—until they’re not. They’re also really bad at isolating deadly outbreaks.
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We get the density and the height, but not much action. Some of the form, none of the function.
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Good fences—good edges of all kinds—make for good neighbors. They can also boost the economic vitality of our downtowns.
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Urbanists may debate the merits of Top-Down Beautiful urbanism vs. Top-Down Pragmatic urbanism. But there’s a third, better way — one that emanates from the bottom up.
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What happens when suburban requirements clash with urban density? Often, an uninspiring hybrid that people are still willing to pay for.
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For some, the pandemic is stripping away distractions and connecting them with the simple joys of our ancestors. For others, it’s stripping away their lives and livelihood. We need to convert the lessons of the pandemic into action.
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A skyline full of skyscrapers makes for a nice postcard…but do skyscrapers actually make our cities stronger?
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It’s an article of faith among many that big and tall buildings don’t belong around small and short buildings. But does this idea actually stand up to scrutiny?
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Fantasy can only get us so far. But we're lost without it.
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After World War II, the federal government subsidized a massive suburban experiment that was completely unprecedented in human history. But—as a mostly-forgotten 1942 manual by the Department of Commerce makes clear—it didn’t have to be that way.
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Data, expert studies, and best practices abound for planners and policymakers. But they’re no substitute for humbly putting people at the center of our cities’ investments and attention.
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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?
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It’s time to shift the power in our cities to bottom-up systems that address urgent needs rather than protect the status quo.
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Commentators have speculated that density has been toxic during the coronavirus crisis. But Joe Minicozzi of Urban3 did what he does best—he ran the numbers—and found a different story. This is why data should prevail during a pandemic.
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Centralized systems are good at getting us cheap food, cars, and toilet paper—until they’re not. They’re also really bad at isolating deadly outbreaks.
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Some will use the spread of coronavirus as a knock against dense cities. But walkable, bikeable cities are also more adaptable — and will fare better in the long-run.
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Are spread-out suburbs safer in a pandemic than compact, walkable cities? Short answer: Yes. Does that mean suburban-style neighborhoods are “stronger” during a pandemic? Not even close. Here’s why.
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We use the term “development pattern” all over the place at Strong Towns. Here’s your one-stop guide to what we actually mean by that.
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