When it comes to advocating for your place, you may feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problems, or feel that you don’t have the right skills to address them. But effective advocates come in all shapes and sizes.

Emma Durand-Wood, Top StoryEmma Durand-WoodApril 13, 2023community, Community, advocacy, Strong Citizenship

On Choosing a Place

Settling down from a cross-country move, Strong Towns Editor-in-Chief Daniel Herriges reflects on what makes a place feel like “home,” and what prompts people to put roots in a location—even if it’s not a “perfect” place.

Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesApril 5, 2023home, community, Community, Florida

10 Ways Rural Communities Sabotage Themselves

Your community may need to reshape how it thinks about community and economic development.

Rural, Top Story 2Andy PorteraMarch 1, 2023rural, community development, economic development, Economic Development, community, Community

Social Infrastructure: The Real Investment Our Cities Need

Too often, cities invest in the storage and movement of cars rather than the movement, visibility, and interactions of human beings. But the latter is precisely what makes for communities that are worth caring about.

OwensTiffany Owens ReedFebruary 28, 2023community, Community, community site, public space, public safety, Public Safety, Safety, safety, Third Places

Vermont Activists Help Abolish Parking Minimums in Burlington

The group Vermonters for People-Oriented Places just launched this year, but they’re already off to a fast start in Burlington, VT, where they’re supporting important changes for the community.

End Parking Mandates, Success Story, Top Story, Community StoriesJohn PattisonFebruary 13, 2023Parking, parking minimums, parking, End Parking Mandates and Subsidies, Vermont, community, local conversations, Community, success, success stories

Beware the Impersonal City

The increasing presence of technology in our third places poses a challenge to collective life and collective action.

Community, Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedJanuary 31, 2023Third Places, community, Community

Church Members Propose Urban Village for Congregation

Parishioners of a historic church in Detroit want to develop eight vacant blocks with missing-middle housing to build a church-centered community.

Incremental Housing, CNU, News, Top StoryRobert SteutevilleJanuary 27, 2023faith communities, Religion, religion, churches, Michigan, public space, community, Community, Incremental Housing

Not a Stranger, Not a Friend: The Second-Ring Relationships Our Cities Need More Of

Relationships with neighbors once made up an important part of our social fabric, forming the basis for civic collaboration and local problem solving. Here’s how we can get those relationships back.

Community, Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedDecember 6, 2022community, Community, public space, neighborliness, Texas, coffee shops

“The City Should Put a Trader Joe’s There” (and Other Muddled Thinking About Development)

Many of us are keen to express the “what” that we’d like to see in the built environment, but unwilling to think rationally and clearly about the “how.”

Herriges, Local Government, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesOctober 17, 2022development, local government, Municipalism, city government, localism, community, Community, big box stores

6 Tips for Hosting Your First Local Conversation

Want to get together with your neighbors to talk about Strong Towns ideas? Here’s some tips on getting started.

Community, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonSeptember 7, 2022local conversations, community, Community

Want to Build Community on Your Street? Just Hit "Print"!

Sometimes, building connections with your neighbors is as simple as hosting a block party.

Community, Neighborhoods, Van Eeden Petersman, Top StoryNorman Van Eeden PetersmanAugust 22, 2022neighborliness, neighborhood, community, Community, community building

Strongest Town Contest Sister Cities Come Together

Representatives from Norwood, OH, went to visit their counterparts in Jasper, IN, after facing off in this year’s Strongest Town Contest. Here’s 7 reasons the Norwoodians found Jasper to be a worthy champion!

Strongest Town Contest, Top StoryAlisha Loch and Mary C MillerAugust 18, 2022Strongest Town Competition, Strongest Town Winner, Strongest Town 2022, Jasper IN, Ohio, Indiana, community, Community, public space, public investment

City Pattern, Life Pattern

Question: “Why don’t people dance in the street today?” Answer: Because the design of our cities shapes the design of our lives.

Public Space, Urban Design, Top Story, OwensTiffany Owens ReedJuly 28, 2022Street Design, design, urban design, development pattern, public space, neighborhood, community, Community, car culture

Why I Started Reading the Local Newspaper

Sometimes, it’s worth it to take a step back from national news and pay attention to the things that are happening in your own community.

Community, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonJuly 20, 2022local conversations, politics, localism, local government, Small Towns, small towns, Oregon, community, Community

Our Year Without a Car (With Kids)

It’s not easy to live without a car when you have young children, but it’s certainly possible. Plus, having to walk can help you build unexpected connections with your community.

Public Transit, Walkability, Community, Top StoryGrace OlmsteadJuly 19, 2022walkability, Europe, Gracy Olmstead, children, bus, buses, public transit, community, Community

Inside Eden Center: What a Strip Mall Can Be

We’ve explored the outside of Fairfax County’s Eden Center before, but what does the inside of this surprisingly fine-grained strip mall look like?

#ChaoticButSmart, Public Space, Top StoryAddison Del MastroJune 27, 2022fine-grained, urbanism, strip malls, Virginia, immigrants, community, Community, shared space, business, small business, local business, Chaotic but Smart, Addison Del Mastro

Walking America: Bridgeport to New Haven

From Housatonic Community College to Yale: The story of a 20-mile walk along I-95.

Walkability, Top StoryChris ArnadeJune 24, 2022walkability, Connecticut, community, Community, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, poverty, Poverty, suburban poverty, schools

Majora Carter: Reclaiming Your Community

In this interview with author Majora Carter, she explains an empowering truth: that you don’t have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Top Story, NeighborhoodsStrong TownsJune 20, 2022Podcast, podcast, books, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, neighborhood change, neighborhood revitalization, New York, community, Community

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Community Design for Stronger Towns

Ann Zadeh is a Strong Towns member, former city councilwoman, and community design leader in Fort Worth, TX.

“I Want To Make a Change in My Community…but Where Do I Start?”

Sometimes it can be daunting for advocates to begin…well, actually advocating. Here’s a simple, 4-step process that can help you overcome that first hurdle toward making your place stronger.

Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonMay 26, 2022taking action, how to, community, Community, advocacy, Strong Towns Academy, Local-Motive Tour

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