American Cities, Through European Eyes (and Vice Versa)

Seeing your own place through the eyes of an outsider can reveal some uncomfortable—but necessary—truths.

Podcast, Upzoned, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsSeptember 1, 2021Europe, Italy, traditional development pattern, Upzoned, transportation, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, confessions book

Toward a New Building Culture

We need to go back to the point where we were still building architecture that inspired, lifted the human spirit, and lasted millennia—and build upon those practices.

Architecture, Small Scale Developers, Top StoryAustin TunnellAugust 26, 2021architecture, oklahoma, small scale developers, construction, traditional development pattern

We Cannot Rely on Large-Scale Development

Let’s talk about master developers and how all-at-once, large-scale development doesn’t offer the environment in which resilient economic ecosystems emerge.

Upzoned, Podcast, Planning Profession, Top StoryStrong TownsAugust 25, 2021Podcast, Upzoned, Development, development pattern, traditional development pattern, suburban development pattern, Infill Development, infill, master planned

The Spooky Wisdom of Pompeii

What lessons can we glean about anti-fragility and human psychology from a 2,000-year-old fast food restaurant?

Marohn, Strong Towns Book, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 23, 2021history, pompeii, spooky wisdom, Strong Towns Book, traditional development pattern, human scale, psychology

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

The Question Every City Should Be Asking

Let’s #DoTheMath in Ramsey County, Minnesota.

#DotheMath, Suburban Experiment, Suburban Poverty, Zoning, Davis, Top StorySarah DavisAugust 4, 2021Value Per Acre, Urban3, Minnesota, St. Paul, suburban development pattern, traditional development pattern, #DoTheMath

Delight per Acre

The same design principles behind Japanese gardens can make the building of resilient and financially strong places into a joy, rather than a burden.

Architecture, Herriges, Public Space, Urban Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJuly 21, 2021aesthetics, urban design, Value Per Acre, human scale, traditional development pattern, fine-grained, architecture

The Modern Approach to Development Doesn't Work for Local Communities

There is much we can learn from cities of the past—especially small, remote cities that grew up around the exploitation of natural resources.

Economic Development, Incrementalism, Marohn, Resource Trap, Top StoryCharles MarohnMay 18, 2021RBC Series, history, traditional development pattern, economics, resource trap, incrementalism, Resource Trap - Core Content

What the House-Hunting Process Taught Me about the Suburban Experiment

House hunting—even online—puts the effects of the suburban development pattern on full display.

Quednau, Suburban Experiment, Top StoryRachel QuednauFebruary 11, 2021Madison, Wisconsin, real estate, suburban development pattern, traditional development pattern, development pattern

Best of 2020: Effective Quarantines and Strong Towns

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.

Urban Design, Gardner, Top Story, Best of Blog, Top Story 2Spencer GardnerDecember 8, 2020Antifragile, antifragile, complexity, complex systems, coronavirus, Leon Krier, traditional development pattern, incremental development, Best of 2020

This South American City Illustrates How Incremental Development Works

The North American development pattern disrupted a way of building cities that has thousands of years of accumulated wisdom behind it—and is still at work in dynamic ways around the world.

IncrementalismDaniel HerrigesOctober 20, 2020incremental development, bolivia, traditional development pattern

Failure Is an Option

The best-laid plans can fail. Knowing that should cause us to think critically about what projects we pursue, how we pursue them, and how we evaluate success.

PattisonJohn PattisonSeptember 25, 2020traditional development pattern, Strong Towns 101 Articles

The Suburban Experiment vs. Traditional Development: 7 Key Differences

The way be build towns and cities in North America is a radical departure from how our ancestors did it (even a few generations ago) and how cities are built elsewhere in the world. Here are 7 key differences.

Pattison, Suburban Experiment, Top StoryJohn PattisonSeptember 4, 2020suburban experiment, traditional development pattern, Strong Towns 101 Articles

An Old Building Should Get A Birthday Present

The oldest buildings in your city have endured for a reason. They’re also the ones most likely to be around long into the future. Why not show them a little love?

Herriges, Architecture, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesAugust 24, 2020architecture, Joe Minicozzi, traditional development pattern

A Love Letter to the Slums: The Urbanism of Final Fantasy 7

The recent remake of a classic video game features an unusual setting—an urban slum—and some surprising real-world insights about how people who have nothing build a place that’s worth something.

HerrigesDaniel HerrigesMay 13, 2020informality, incremental growth, slums, poverty, Poverty, Urban Renewal, traditional development pattern

Effective Quarantines and Strong Towns

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.

Urban Design, Gardner, Top StorySpencer GardnerMarch 26, 2020Antifragile, antifragile, complexity, complex systems, coronavirus, Leon Krier, traditional development pattern, incremental development

Let's Not Forget What We Build Cities For

The world’s cities have played host to a lot of human misery over the ages. But they’re also a vehicle for the very best that humanity is capable of. That isn’t going to change.