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Strong Towns
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How To Use Property Taxes to Clean Up Your Community
How To Use Property Taxes to Clean Up Your Community

Ashley Salvador is a city councilor in Edmonton, Alberta. A national leader in housing reform and urban revitalization, Ashley shares how she helped bring about a brand new tax subclass that’s making Edmonton safer and stronger.

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Podcast, Top Story 2Strong TownsAugust 5, 2025podcast, Bottom-Up Shorts, The Bottom-Up Revolution, canada, city council, property tax
How Would Your Town Welcome 5,000 New Neighbors?
How Would Your Town Welcome 5,000 New Neighbors?

Every town will be asked to grow. Maybe not today, maybe not all at once. But when that moment comes, how will yours go about it?

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Top Story 2Asia MieleszkoAugust 5, 2025urban3, Finance Decoder, transparent local accounting, maryland, Climate Change
The Housing Market Can’t Tolerate Lower Prices. Now What?
The Housing Market Can’t Tolerate Lower Prices. Now What?

No matter how easy we make it to build, the existing housing system cannot tolerate lower prices. Chuck explains why and how we can build a better system. (Transcript included.)

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Top Story 2, PodcastStrong TownsAugust 4, 2025podcast, Incremental Housing, housing market, federal housing policy, housing crisis
What Happens When Residents Act and Cities Shut It Down
What Happens When Residents Act and Cities Shut It Down

When tension builds between grassroots action and bureaucratic boundaries, cities must choose: partnership or pushback.

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MarohnCharles MarohnAugust 4, 2025strong towns approach, taking action, tactical urbanism, local government, collaboration
Chicago Slashes Parking Mandates In a Big Win for Small Developers
Chicago Slashes Parking Mandates In a Big Win for Small Developers

A new ordinance removes costly parking requirements across most of Chicago, clearing the way for more affordable housing and business development.

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Top Story 2Strong TownsAugust 1, 2025end parking mandates and subsidies, illinois, small scale developers, transit, success stories
Will This Transportation System Be More Popular Than Cars?
Will This Transportation System Be More Popular Than Cars?

Jeral Poskey is the founder of Swyft Cities, which is spearheading a totally new transportation system. Jeral describes the system and how it could address issues like traffic, land wasted on parking, and difficulty with infill development.

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Podcast, Top Story 2Strong TownsJuly 31, 2025podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, end parking mandates and subsidies, safe and productive streets, transportation
What We Lost When We Built the Claiborne Expressway
What We Lost When We Built the Claiborne Expressway

On Ash Wednesday, 1966, a highway carved up New Orleans, taking families, flowers, and futures with it. Today, the attempts to rectify those wrongs stop short of actually treating the wound.

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Top StoryAsia MieleszkoJuly 31, 2025louisiana, end highway expansion, highways, urban3, freeway removal
If John Locke Pulled Up to the Curb and Found No Space
If John Locke Pulled Up to the Curb and Found No Space

John Locke’s 17th-century proviso can help us understand the tangled web of private property rights, public space, and parking rules in North America today.

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Top StoryNorm Van Eeden PetersmanJuly 31, 2025end parking mandates and subsidies, Land Use, small scale development, parking minimums
Want To Use This Rural Road? That’ll Be $50K
Want To Use This Rural Road? That’ll Be $50K

A South Dakota agriculture company is being charged $50,000 for its road use. Abby and Edward discuss the balancing act of infrastructure costs and municipal budgets, especially in rural areas. (Transcript included.)

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Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 30, 2025podcast, upzoned, zoning, infrastructure maintenance, impact fees, south dakota
Annapolis Needs Safe Street Design, Not Orange Flags
Annapolis Needs Safe Street Design, Not Orange Flags

In April, a child was hit in a crosswalk outside a library in Annapolis, MD, despite the crossing's high-visibility signal. It’s time for officials to stop relying on signals and start redesigning the street to actually be safe.

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Top StoryTony HarrisJuly 30, 2025safe and productive streets, Crosswalk, Street Design, maryland, walkability
Courtyard Urbanism: Mixing the Best Parts of the City and the Suburb
Courtyard Urbanism: Mixing the Best Parts of the City and the Suburb

Dr. Alicia Pederson is a writer and advocate who encourages cities to adopt courtyard urbanism. She explains the benefits of this development style and how to advocate for it. (Transcript included.)

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Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 29, 2025podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Bottom-Up Shorts, illinois, local conversations, mixed use, design, family
Playing the Long Game With New Zealand Infrastructure
Playing the Long Game With New Zealand Infrastructure

Chuck is joined by Graham Campbell of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission. They discuss the true cost of infrastructure and why both New Zealand and North America are facing the same challenges.

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Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 28, 2025podcast, new zealand, infrastructure cost, debt, maintenance
Six Roundabouts to Nowhere
Six Roundabouts to Nowhere

What do you get when you combine too much funding, a broken development model, and no clear priorities? A six-roundabout interchange built to serve big-box stores that are already closing.

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Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnJuly 28, 2025end highway expansion, state government, department of transportation, Roundabouts, minnesota
Small Towns Are the Real Champions of Parking Reform
Small Towns Are the Real Champions of Parking Reform

You won’t see it on cable news, but some of the boldest zoning reforms in North America are happening in places with just a few thousand residents. Here are 6 towns rewriting the rules on parking.

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Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 24, 2025Parking Reform Network, parking minimums, parking maximums, end parking mandates and subsidies, canada
This City Councilor Is Making Cambridge Safer and More Affordable
This City Councilor Is Making Cambridge Safer and More Affordable

Meet Burhan Azeem, a city councilor in Massachusetts. He’s expanded zoning for affordable housing, removed parking minimums, and helped build bike lanes throughout the city. Learn how he got here and what's next.

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Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 24, 2025podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, massachusetts, Incremental Housing, city council, bikeability
2 Ways Edmonton Is Tackling Property Speculation And Neglect
2 Ways Edmonton Is Tackling Property Speculation And Neglect

Edmonton is proving that communities don’t have to accept neglect as inevitable. Here’s how it’s turning derelict properties from liabilities into catalysts for renewal.

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Norm Van Eeden Petersman, Top StoryNorm Van Eeden PetersmanJuly 24, 2025safe and productive streets, speculation, taxes, canada, city government, enforcement, transparent local accounting
Replace a Historic Building With a Parking Lot? Not on Their Watch.
Replace a Historic Building With a Parking Lot? Not on Their Watch.

The demolition of dangerously neglected buildings gives Bloomington, Illinois, an opportunity to revitalize long-vacant parts of its downtown. Strong Towns Blono is making sure the city doesn’t waste it.

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Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 23, 2025illinois, local conversations, redevelopment, historic preservation, transparent local accounting, safe and productive streets
Bottom-Up Shorts: One Soldier’s Stand for Safer Streets
Bottom-Up Shorts: One Soldier’s Stand for Safer Streets

Meet Army Master Sgt. Ben Hultquist of Fayetteville, North Carolina. After a string of preventable pedestrian deaths, Ben started advocating for safer streets. Here’s how his testimony is changing the conversation.

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Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 22, 2025North Carolina, safe and productive streets, local conversations, podcast, Bottom-Up Shorts, The Bottom-Up Revolution
They Shared a Vision for Better Housing. Will Their Cities Listen?
They Shared a Vision for Better Housing. Will Their Cities Listen?

From New Mexico to Connecticut, Strong Towns advocates are turning hometown newspapers into platforms for change—using op-eds to push for housing reform that’s local, practical, and powerful.

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Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 22, 2025housing activism, member commentary, local conversations, bottom-up, localism
What Happens When Housing Prices Go Down (because they are)?
What Happens When Housing Prices Go Down (because they are)?

A reflection on affordability, finance, and the deep contradictions we refuse to face.

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Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnJuly 21, 2025Incremental Housing, housing market, developers, small scale development, housing crisis
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