In this Not Just Bikes video, Jason Slaughter explains how raising children in the suburbs significantly restricts their ability to be independent.

Suburban Experiment, Video, Top StoryJay StangeJune 23, 2022suburbs, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, suburbanization, Not Just Bikes, children, Safety, safety, car dependency, car culture

Neighborhoods Were Never Meant to Be Unchanging

The idea of a permanent community “character” was an invention of the suburban era, and it's showing its cracks now—because it was never an attainable or desirable goal.

Herriges, Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJune 23, 2022neighborhood change, zoning, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, history, History, New York, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Design

Wealth and Buildings

In the realm of urban planning, there’s plenty of discourse out there about housing affordability—but what about household wealth building?

Housing, Suburban Experiment, Urban Design, Planning Profession, Top StoryKevin KlinkenbergMay 23, 2022Kevin Klinkenberg, housing, housing affordability, finance, housing finance, Homeownership, homeownership, urban planning, urbanism, suburbs, suburban experiment, suburbanization

Suburban Design is a Tragedy of the Commons

We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: suburban-style development that doesn't match what people actually want from their communities.

Suburban Experiment, Housing, Top StoryDevon ZuegelMay 3, 2022sprawl, infill, Development, development pattern, development, traditional development pattern, suburbs, suburbanization, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, housing

Who Should Be Able to Veto New Housing Production?

Should states and counties push back against local governments to crack open more options for housing, or will that be counterproductive?

Upzoned, Podcast, Suburban Experiment, Neighborhoods, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 13, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, suburban experiment, suburbs, Washington DC

Herriges Rezoned: A Suburban Poverty Boomtown - Lehigh Acres, Florida

This suburb is a growing place, but it's not a successful place. It risks becoming an increasingly isolating place full of people who are cut off from the economic mainstream.

Suburban Poverty, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Housing, Transportation, Top Evergreen, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesApril 13, 2022suburbs, Florida, suburban experiment, Ferguson, page highlight, housing

CNBC Tackles the Growth Ponzi Scheme

You don’t want to miss this CNBC documentary video about the financial fragility of the suburban development pattern.

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Suburban Experiment, Video, Top StoryLauren FisherApril 11, 2022Growth Ponzi Scheme, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, mixed use, housing, Development, development pattern, development

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 Road That Killed a City

From its one-time status as one of America’s most prosperous cities, Hartford, CT, is now one of the poorest—no thanks to its mid-twentieth-century urban renewal projects.

Corner Liquor Stores vs. Fancy Shopping Malls

Let’s #DoTheMath on some public infrastructure in Providence, RI.

#DotheMath, Top StorySeth ZerenMarch 2, 2022Value Per Acre, #DoTheMath, suburban experiment, Infrastructure, infrastructure, public finance

Can Corporate Campuses Urbanize the Suburban Experience?

Some large companies are pivoting their real-estate models toward building more compact, mixed-use centers for their corporate campuses. Is this good or bad for America’s suburbs?

Upzoned, Podcast, Suburban Experiment, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 2, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, business, business parks, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, urbanism, mixed use

American Suburbs Are a Horror Movie and We’re the Protagonists

Walking alone to the grocery store is, for me, like walking through a creepy hallway at night. Why? Because America is filled with liminal spaces.

Neighborhood Design, Suburban Experiment, Walkability, Top Story, ShayestehShina ShayestehJanuary 13, 2022walkability, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, #PedestrianUnfriendly, pedestrians, Safety, Texas, Austin, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, psychology, Psychology

Zoning Desire Paths

Just as kids ignore sidewalks in favor of walking a more efficient path through the grass, homeowners in California are voting with their toolbelts to create zoning desire paths.

Housing, Zoning, Top Story, StangeJay StangeJanuary 7, 2022zoning, housing cost, housing affordability, housing, housing crisis, Housing, ADUs, single-family, multi-family, California, suburban experiment, suburbs

The Urban Experiment

We all know about the Suburban Experiment here at Strong Towns—but are we now also starting to see the rise of a new paradigm?

Member Post, Suburban Experiment, Urban Design, Top StoryKevin KlinkenbergNovember 22, 2021Kevin Klinkenberg, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, development pattern, urban design, fragility, design, urban planning

Everyone Shops at Walmart. But What If We Didn’t Have To?

What are some of the hidden things we can’t see because we’re blinded by three generations of the Suburban Experiment?

Member Post, Big Box Stores, Neighborhoods, Suburban Experiment, Top StoryPatrick QuigleySeptember 30, 2021big box stores, Entrepreneurship, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, business, small business, local business

The School Bus Driver Shortage is a Problem We Didn't Have to Have

Schools across the U.S. are experiencing a bus driver shortage, but the root cause of this issue has less to do with the COVID pandemic than one might think.

Coronavirus, Herriges, Schools, Transportation, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesSeptember 23, 2021buses, schools, children, transportation, suburban transit, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, coronavirus, Coronavirus

Grandpa’s Basement House

Somehow, as a society, we’ve drifted from ordinary people being able to build their own homes on a cash basis in an interactive, iterative way, to immense, hyper-elaborate habitats.

Member Post, Sanphillippo, Rural, Suburban Experiment, Incrementalism, Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoAugust 13, 2021traditional development pattern, history, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, San Francisco, Nebraska, incremental development, incrementalism

Where Should We Be Focusing Climate Change Efforts?

If we continue toward a suburban development pattern, then should we move climate change efforts away from cities and to the suburbs, as well?

Upzoned, Podcast, Suburban Experiment, Coronavirus, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 28, 2021Podcast, Upzoned, suburban experiment, climate, environment, canada

Stop Believing in "Bad" Neighborhoods

We must stop seeing poor neighborhoods as "bad" neighborhoods, and instead understand them as intrinsically goods ones, whose problems are addressable if we empowered the people who care about them.