Why Are Our Parents in Wholly Random Places?

Even if you yourself are able to live in a walkable area, you can’t choose where your loved ones live. And as this author describes, that adds to the difficulties of caring for an ailing parent.

Housing, Walkability, Top StoryDawie CoetzeeApril 6, 2022housing, aging, family, housing cost, housing policy, walkability, single-family, zoning, #PedestrianUnfriendly

Is There a Place for Animals in a Strong Town?

Humans aren’t the only “pedestrians” who benefit from safer, more walkable places.

#SlowtheCars, Walkability, Shayesteh, Top StoryShina ShayestehMarch 24, 2022walkability, Safety, safety, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, #PedestrianUnfriendly, #SlowTheCars, Japan, case studies, auto-oriented

Searching for Mr. Stavros

A small house, framed by lilacs, in a walkable neighborhood—and the charm of sharing that space with a neighbor who seems to always be out and about.

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Walkability, Top StoryKarla TheilenMarch 22, 2022neighborhood storyteller, montana, walkability, downtown, neighborliness

10 Surprisingly Walkable Neighborhoods in the Least Walkable Cities

This YouTube channel introduces us to the hidden gems in some otherwise #PedestrianUnfriendly cities.

Video, Walkability, Stange, Neighborhoods, Top StoryJay StangeFebruary 10, 2022walkability, CityNerd, pedestrians, neighborhood, Neighborhoods

Let Main Streets Be Main Streets

A community should determine what kind of community it wants to be, not unelected DOT engineers.

Bake Sales for Crosswalks

Idahoan advocates had to get desperate to fund basic pedestrian safety features—all while the state DOT is budgeting $100 million to overhaul a single freeway interchange.

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

Faith Communities and Walkability

Strong Towns advocates and faith communities both want to create neighborhoods with vibrant economies that benefit everyone. A good place to begin working together is around walkability.

Faith, Walkability, Top StoryJohn PattisonJanuary 12, 2022faith communities, Faith Featured, walkability, churches

Renderings vs. Reality: A Roundup of 2021s Most Egregious Development Illustrations

If a picture can say a thousand words, it can probably also tell at least 100 lies—as demonstrated by these development projects that did not turn out as promised.

Fisher, Transportation, Urban Design, Walkability, Top StoryLauren FisherJanuary 10, 2022urban design, #PedestrianUnfriendly, pedestrian crossing, Diverging Diamond, intersections, pedestrians, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, design, walkability

It Ain't Easy Being Seen

Pedestrians don’t bear primary responsibility for road safety—but to an extent, neither do drivers. These photos illustrate why.

Roads and Streets, Walkability, Top StoryAddison Del MastroNovember 23, 2021Pedestrian Safety, pedestrians, Street Design, Safety, #SlowTheCars, design, walkability

Planning Without Plans

In everyday life, people usually say “I need a plan” if something has gone wrong. Plans should play a similar role in cities.

Incrementalism, Member Post, Planning Profession, Urban Design, Walkability, Top StoryTristan ClevelandNovember 3, 2021planning profession, planning process, urban planning, urban design, walkability, incrementalism

Our Self-Imposed Scarcity of Nice Places

Why is it that when a place is [pick one: walkable, bikeable, beautiful, lovable, inviting, human-scale], it so often gets coded as being “gentrified” or “upscale”?

Herriges, Urban Design, Walkability, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesNovember 3, 2021urbanism, urban design, walkability, gentrification, Gentrification

Designing Streets with the Human Mind in Mind

Humans are messy, complicated, and unpredictable: why doesn’t our street design account for that?

Engineering Profession, Pattison, Walkability, #SlowtheCars, Top StoryJohn PattisonOctober 14, 2021pedestrian safety, pedestrians, pedestrian crossing, #SlowTheCars, Springfield, risk, engineering profession, traffic engineering

This Stuff Works—I’m Living Proof

You don’t have to move into a condo or apartment tower to support—and experience the benefits of—smart urban growth.

Public Transit, Success Story, Walkability, Top StorySteve WrightOctober 8, 2021walkability, sidewalks, coronavirus, Coronavirus, public health, Public Health, success, success stories

The Hidden Inequity of Car-Based Design

For significant populations of people in the U.S., the requirement to drive is a major barrier to participating in city life.

Public Transit, Walkability, Top Story, OwensTiffany Owens ReedSeptember 27, 2021car culture, car dependency, seniors, children, cars, suburban development pattern, STROADS, #PedestrianUnfriendly

The Environment Question

Where does the Strong Towns approach intersect with environmentalism?

Marohn, Roads and Streets, Walkability, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 16, 2021environment, strong towns approach, Electric Vehicles, walkability, streets

Walkability and the Culture Wars

A recent Vice article seems to suggest that most Americans don’t want more walkable places. Here’s why that takeaway is totally wrong.

Herriges, Suburban Experiment, Walkability, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesSeptember 15, 2021walkability, suburbs, suburbanization, psychology, car culture

Just Another Pedestrian Killed

This one’s on you, engineering profession. Society is done tolerating this level of indifference, incompetence, and incoherence. What are you going to do?

#SlowtheCars, Walkability, For Newcomers, Greatest Hits, Engineering Profession, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 2, 2021Safety, safety, #PedestrianUnfriendly, Pedestrian Safety, engineering ethics, engineering profession, traffic engineering

Three Questions to Ask While Walking Your City

Walking permits us to acquire more robust data about our surroundings than does traveling by car. Here are three questions to help guide you as you traverse your city on foot.