Small Is Beautiful: This Developer Targets a Neglected Housing Market

88% of all new U.S. homes have three bedrooms or more, even though 64% of buyers aren’t demanding the extra space. Flintlock LAB is working to address this mismatch and make homes more attainable for entry-level buyers.

Top Story, TrendingBen AbramsonJuly 10, 2023Incremental Housing, housing affordability, infill, single-family, zoning

Why Private Wealth Should Lead Public Investment

In today’s cities, governments sink millions of dollars into public investments before securing any taxable private wealth to fund said investments. This is a financial risk we can’t afford to continue taking on.

50 Years of Affordable Housing

Ray Gindroz, FAIA, led countless projects on transforming public housing into mixed-income neighborhoods. In this interview, he talks about his half-century-long career and insights into the future of housing.

Top StoryEric OsthJuly 7, 2023Incremental Housing, mixed use, Neighborhood Design, affordable housing, poverty

Envisioning a Rail Culture for the U.S.

Conventional wisdom holds that the U.S. doesn’t know how to do rail—but Union Station shows that we do, in fact, have a history and the knowledge to build grand public transportation systems.

Edward Erfurt, Top StoryEdward ErfurtJuly 7, 2023rail, public transportation, transit

Stop Subsidizing Suburban Development, Charge It What It Costs

I was asked how much the typical suburban development is costing this Tennessee city. Here’s what I found.

The False Promise of Suburban Town Centers

Are they a fountain of mixed-use opportunity or a financial drain for cities?

Top StoryAdeleine GeitnerJuly 6, 2023suburbs, mixed use, development

Writing It Right: Reflections on Seven Years of Neighborhood Newsletters

A neighborhood newsletter can be a great way to build connections and create opportunities for people in your community to get together. Here’s how to craft your newsletter right.

Emma Durand-Wood, Top Story, Community StoriesEmma Durand-WoodJuly 6, 2023neighborhoods

The Invisible Reason for High Housing Prices: Restrictive Land-Use Regulations

It is extremely difficult to build housing in Rhode Island. It’s also expensive to buy homes, with prices having increased by 34% since the summer of 2020. Why?

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 5, 2023podcast, zoning, Incremental Housing, Rhode Island, upzoned

How Wooden Benches Breathed Life Back Into an Emaciated Transit System

When this Texan city’s bus system fell into decline, local advocates took the next smallest (but highly effective) step toward making their public transit more hospitable: by installing homemade bus benches.

The Intersection in Front of My Kids’ School Was a Tragedy Waiting To Happen. Then It Did.

A mother’s death near a Sacramento school spurs fellow parents to step up and push for safety improvements to the stroad she lost her life on.

Top Story, TrendingIsaac GonzalezJuly 5, 2023safety, schools, pedestrians, car crash, road diet, safe and productive streets

Why Cities are Flying Blind When It Comes to Their Own Debt

For local governments, it’s often easier to let the tangled web of debt at the heart of the budget go unexplored. In cities reliant on sales tax, these problems are only magnified.

Where Do I Park My Pew?

This story about a revitalized church’s parking requirements might sound absurd, but it’s reflective of the very real and very absurd regulations most communities face when it comes to parking.

In Conversation With an Expert: Tony Tramel on Traffic Engineering's Hopeful Shift

Safe streets advocate Tony Tramel will be lending over four decades of experience to analyzing a crash in Amarillo, TX. Here’s what he has to say about the current state (and future) of transportation engineering.

Top StorySeairra JonesJune 29, 2023Crash Analysis Studio, safe and productive streets

5 Action Steps You Can Take To Start Changing the Property Tax System in Your Town

The Just Accounting for Health coalition has been researching and reporting on property tax inequities for the past 18 months. But the real work is just getting started—and it starts with you.

An Inconvenient Tree

Given all that trees do, cities should be enthusiastically planting tons of them, everywhere they possibly can. And yet, most places aren’t. What gives?

Why Can’t We Have the “Perfect” Neighborhood?

Why is this “perfect neighborhood” in Longmont, CO, not easily copied in other places around the U.S.?

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJune 28, 2023podcast, colorado, upzoned, neighborhoods

In Philadelphia, the I-95 Collapse Is Igniting a Conversation About Transit

On June 11, 2023, a tanker truck caught fire in Northeast Philadelphia, killing its driver and devastating over 100 feet of Interstate 95 above it. Now the city is reconsidering its dependency on the highway.

News, Top StoryAsia MieleszkoJune 28, 2023highways, freeways, transit, rail, end highway expansion, pennsylvania, public transportation

To Make a Place People Can Walk, First You Have to Make a Place

Earlier this year, a man was killed in a car crash while crossing the street in Amarillo, TX. The driver didn’t see him—and when you look at his surroundings, it’s not hard to understand why.