A crucial part of making your city or town stronger lies in revitalizing your downtown. Here’s how one Local Conversation organizer is doing that work in her place.

Want To Make Your Town Stronger? Look for the Amateurs.

We live in a culture that exalts the people who say, “I know.” But sometimes what our places need are people willing to say, “I don’t know,” and, “What do you think?” and, “Let’s figure that out together.”

I (Don’t) Want More Than This Provincial Life

When the pandemic shut down our town, I realized how much I'd taken for granted the neighbors who showed up every day to make our community work.

Community, Pattison, Rural, Top StoryJohn PattisonApril 27, 2022community, community building, neighborliness, Small Towns, small towns, Oregon, rural

Not Just Bikes: Where We've Been Living This Whole Time (New Video)

Two of our favorite storytellers—Urban3 and Not Just Bikes—come together in this awesome video.

Urban3, Video, Top StoryJohn PattisonMarch 8, 2022Not Just Bikes, Urban3, Value Per Acre, maps, finance, resilience

Wildfires and Ice Storms and Pandemics…Oh My!

Co-housing not only saves money for these two families—and enabled them to buy a home, in the first place—it’s also allowed them to better weather hard times.

A New Vision for Economic Ecosystems: Interview with Dave Kresta (Part 2)

What are some of the practical ways that faith communities can contribute to healthy economic ecosystems?

We Are Not Just Economic Creatures: Dave Kresta’s Vision of Economic Development

How do we build vibrant local economies that are good for the people who actually live in a neighborhood?

Little Worlds

What do fractals have to do with building strong towns? A lot more than you might assume.

Start With What You Know. Build on What You Have.

This simple, fun workshop will help your community discover just how many assets it has to work with.

Community, Pattison, Taking Action, Top StoryJohn PattisonJanuary 19, 2022community, Community, community building, bottom-up, how to, taking action

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

Local Conversations: The Power of Taking Action Together

As of right now, there are roughly 100 Local Conversations happening across North America. Our dream is to turn 100 into 1,000.

Taking Action, Top StoryJohn PattisonJanuary 5, 2022local conversations, taking action

The 5 Best Strong Towns Articles and Podcasts from 2021: John's Picks

Strong Towns Community Builder John Pattison shares his favorite content from this past year.

Best of Blog, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonDecember 15, 2021Best of 2021

Strong Towns + Faith Communities: Announcing a New Series

What if religious congregations are the “sleeping giant” of the Strong Towns movement?

Faith, Pattison, Announcement, Top StoryJohn PattisonNovember 30, 2021faith communities, churches, Slow Church, Religion, announcement

Highlights from #BlackFridayParking 2021

Next time you see a half-full parking lot, especially on Black Friday, think of all the untapped possibilities trapped underneath that sea of asphalt.