Community Rallies to Save a Car-Free Street

After 2.5 years of success, officials in Peekskill, NY, are threatening to open this community gathering place back up to motorized traffic—but locals aren’t taking this threat lying down.

Safe & Productive Streets, Top Story, Community StoriesAsia MieleszkoApril 27, 2023Safe and Productive Streets, Third Places, community, New York State, cars, placemaking

Where’s My Flying Car? Who Cares?

New technologies can solve problems—or make them worse. In the chase for technofixes like flying cars, it's important to know when to pump the brakes.

End Highway Expansion, Top StoryTony DutzikFebruary 24, 2023car culture, cars, car dependency, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, history, highways, End Highway Expansion, technology

Great Wee Roads: What Driving in Scotland Taught Me About Driving in America

Take a trip with our Community Builder, John Pattison, as he discovers why the design of Scottish roads makes them safe—and downright pleasant—to drive on, even for a foreigner!

#SlowtheCars, Pattison, Transportation, Top Story, End Highway Expansion, Safe & Productive StreetsJohn PattisonNovember 1, 2022Europe, transportation, roads, design, Street Design, Safe and Productive Streets, cars, traffic engineering, #SlowTheCars

You Don’t “NEED” More Space

We often speak to the “good old days” as a measure of the U.S. at its best…but in 1950, the average American home was 983 square feet, as opposed to the 2,300 square feet of today.

Horbovetz, Top Story, Incremental HousingArian HorbovetzSeptember 6, 2022housing, housing cost, Housing, cars, car culture, urbanism, capitalism

"The Street Project" Is a Great Warmup for a Street Fight

This film makes a human rights case for safer streets, while showing the historic roots of safe streets advocacy in the U.S. and the power of tactical urbanism.

When It Comes to Child Safety, We Deserve Better Than Car Seats

With a baby on the way, I’ve been lectured multiple times about safe car seats, and heard nothing about how to minimize the most dangerous activity people do with their children: drive.

Quednau, Transportation, Top StoryRachel QuednauAugust 8, 2022Safety, children, car culture, car dependency, cars, auto-oriented, car crash, walkability, transportation

One of the Most Dangerous Assumptions We Have Made

Car crashes aren’t the result of mere human error or recklessness, they’re the result of design. Beth Osborne of Transportation for America digs into this in our latest podcast episode.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, #SlowtheCars, Top StoryStrong TownsAugust 1, 2022Podcast, podcast, car crash, Safe and Productive Streets, cars, car culture, traffic engineering, safety, #SlowTheCars

The Drip, Drip, Drip of Traffic Deaths

40,000 people die in automobile accidents every year in the United States. So why aren’t we responding to this obvious problem with more urgency?

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Top Story, #SlowtheCarsStrong TownsJuly 18, 2022Podcast, podcast, car crash, Safe and Productive Streets, cars, car culture, traffic engineering, safety, #SlowTheCars

Here’s Why We Respond in Force to One Amtrak Crash While Ignoring Thousands of Daily Car Crashes

A top-down approach to addressing accidents fails to make streets safer. A local approach could change that.

One in Three Garages Has No Car in It

You can build it, but they won’t park there.

Parking, Top StoryCatie GouldMay 11, 2022car culture, cars, Parking, parking, parking minimums

Hey, Starbucks: Your Drive-Thru Doesn't Belong in My Community

Or in anyone else’s, for that matter! A strong neighborhood has businesses that keep money in the local economy, instead of siphoning money out.

Neighborhoods, Quednau, Top StoryRachel QuednauMay 9, 2022coffee shops, local business, local economy, business, small business, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, cars, car culture, localism, Wisconsin, Third Places

Are Cars Here to Stay?

A recent article states that “real progress on climate change will require innovations that some on the left won’t like.” What’s the Strong Towns response?

Upzoned, Podcast, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 4, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, cars, car dependency, Climate Change, climate, Electric Vehicles, politics

The Way We Design Our Streets Invites Driver Aggression

This motorcyclist was acting aggressive…but what in his environment signaled to him that aggressive driving was acceptable?

#SlowtheCars, Marohn, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnApril 18, 2022#SlowTheCars, transportation, Safety, car crash, cars, STROADS, roads, Brainerd MN, design

NTSB Chair After Car Crash: “There’s a Problem With That Road Design”

The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, recently survived a car crash. And she’s not blaming it on reckless driving.

#SlowtheCars, Quednau, Roads and Streets, Top StoryRachel QuednauApril 6, 2022Safety, car crash, cars, traffic engineering, streets, Street Design, #SlowTheCars

High Gas Prices Are Just One Symptom of a Much Greater Problem

When gas prices spike, the core issue we, as a nation, should be fixating on is car dependency.

Herriges, Transportation, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMarch 17, 2022gas tax, transportation, public transit, transit, fragility, cars, car dependency

Our Fragile System Runs on Cheap Oil

Every time gasoline and oil prices spike, Americans panic—but don’t do anything to change the system. This is a cycle that cannot continue.

Upzoned, Podcast, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 16, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, fragility, cars, car dependency, transportation

Cities, Stop Bending the Rules for Drive-Thru Businesses

Cities should not be afraid to impose design standards that meet the community’s needs and that don’t jeopardize long-term planning for the public realm.

Herriges, Urban Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesFebruary 23, 2022cars, car culture, urban design, #PedestrianUnfriendly, business, urbanism, design

Pasadena Is Pumping the Brakes on This Mechanic’s Dreams

This small business owner is being financially crushed because the City of Pasadena is forcing him to get more parking spaces—parking that his small business doesn’t need.

Parking, Zoning, Top StoryDiana SimpsonFebruary 11, 2022Parking, parking, parking minimums, parking landing page, small business, local business, cars, zoning

Peter Norton: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving

Technology historian Peter Norton talks about why we need to be more skeptical toward the utopian promises of self-driving cars.

ST Podcast, Podcast, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 17, 2022Podcast, podcast, cars, car culture, car dependency, auto-oriented, automated vehicles, autonomous vehicles, Autonomous Vehicles, books

The Death of a Car City

Michel Durand-Wood takes us on a hilarious walk through the stages of grief as he puts a financial spike in the heart of his beloved city’s unsustainable 2050 Master Plan.

Transportation, #NoNewRoads, Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodJanuary 3, 2022car culture, induced demand, Winnipeg, car dependency, canada, cars, transportation, financial solvency, local government, #NoNewRoads

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