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.

Build to the Street

Building to the street can create urban form and character, and increase the productivity of a site—even a site like this airport hotel.

A Highway Continues to Haunt Shreveport, Louisiana

Residents of Allendale, LA, learned that controversial Interstate 49 inner-city connector will not be cutting through their neighborhood. Unfortunately, however, the victory has been bittersweet.

News, Top StoryAsia MieleszkoFebruary 23, 2023highways, freeway widening, freeways, advocacy, urban freeways, end highway expansion, louisiana

A New Tool to Calculate the Lifecycle of Infrastructure

Calculating the 100-year lifecycle costs of new development shouldn’t be an obscure process, and the province of British Columbia, Canada, has created a tool to help its communities do exactly that.

The Largest Mistake of Our Generation

The proposed annual budget for Winnipeg, MB, reveals the true cost of the Suburban Experiment, and the vibrancy that the city (and so many others like it) has sacrificed in many of its neighborhoods.

Colorado Development Scheme Yields Billion-Dollar Debt

The town council in Castle Rock, CO, received a shocking briefing at a recent meeting: that their single, mid-sized region within a single, mid-sized state has accrued almost a billion dollars of debt. But how?

A Century-Old Neighborhood Provides a Model for the Present Day

Good urbanism doesn’t have to mean large apartment buildings or an immaculate row of brownstones; the ad-hoc version on display in this Florida neighborhood is more relevant as a model of adaptation for the rest of us.

History Teacher Steps Up and Starts the Conversation for Change in Bloomington, Illinois

Local Conversation leader Noah Tang appeared on the radio to talk about how his group, the Bloomington Revivalists, are making positive changes for housing in their community.

Cincinnati Bridge Battle Highlights Historic Highway Harms

Cincinnati activists are bringing a civil rights claim against the Ohio Department of Transportation in order to put a halt to a multibillion-dollar infrastructure boondoggle.

News, Top StoryBen AbramsonFebruary 21, 2023highways, transportation, transportation spending, race, advocacy, end highway expansion, ohio

What Ever Happened to Beauty?

Being human means being connected to place. So why have we stopped seeing our places as extensions of ourselves, of our homes, and of our values?

Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedFebruary 21, 2023architecture, aesthetics, design, urban design, highways

The Property Tax System is Broken—Regrid Works on Tools to Help Fix It

Alex Alsup comes back to the Strong Towns Podcast to talk about property taxes and assessments in Detroit—and a useful tool that homeowners, assessors, and nonprofits can use in balancing this imbalanced system.

Podcast, Marohn, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 20, 2023podcast, property tax, maps, transparent local accounting

The Sensitivity That Killed Frank Radaker

We’ve become desensitized to the car crashes—and the factors that cause them—that kill people like Indianapolitan Frank Radaker every day on our streets. It’s time to change that.

Marohn, News, Top Story, TrendingCharles MarohnFebruary 20, 2023bicycling, cycling, Crash Analysis Studio, car crash, stroad, safe and productive streets, indiana

America Has No Transportation Engineers

If all a nation can provide are civil engineers who are given a crash course in transportation studies, what do we get?

Five Simple Fixes for a Deadly Intersection in Indianapolis

A cyclist was killed at this intersection in Indianapolis. Here are five low-cost, easy fixes to prevent additional tragedies in the future. City officials, take note.

Governor Parson Proposes $859 Million Driving Subsidy

Missouri’s governor is stuck on a mid-20th-century economic model, wherein connecting cities via interstates provides big economic returns. But such a mindset is going to do a lot more harm than good in today’s world.

News, Top StoryRichard BoseFebruary 16, 2023missouri, car dependency, induced demand, highways, subsidies, end highway expansion

3 Predictions for 2023 as Communities Continue Climbing Out of the Pandemic

As America’s cities continue their halting climb up and out of the last few years, data analytics firm Urban3 foresees a few crises—as well as opportunities—waiting for them in 2023.

We’re Getting Worse at Construction Despite Technology Advances

If the U.S. is advancing in its ability to build things, why does it seem like our places are falling apart?

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 15, 2023podcast, Economy, economics, construction, complex systems, Incremental Housing, housing, upzoned

With Flexibility Over Parking, Oregon Homebuilders Get to Work

Tens of thousands of homes are now more buildable, including several projects now resurrected that local parking mandates had previously killed.

Why Is It So Difficult To Build Walkable Places?

A recent report from Smart Growth America highlights the extent to which zoning laws (in a staggering percentage of U.S. communities) stifle our ability to create walkable, human-centered places.