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Strong Towns
We support a strong America full of strong cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
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Local Success Stories Deserve National Spotlight. Here’s Your Town’s Chance!
Local Success Stories Deserve National Spotlight. Here’s Your Town’s Chance!

Does your town have a powerful story to tell? This contest is your chance to shine a spotlight on the great things going on in your community. Apply today!

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Top StoryRachel QuednauJanuary 22, 2024strongest town contest
Where Do Infrastructure Projects Come From?
Where Do Infrastructure Projects Come From?

Your city just announced a big infrastructure project, one with significant state and federal funding. You and your neighbors are likely wondering: why this project?

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Marohn, Top Story, TrendingCharles MarohnJanuary 22, 2024end highway expansion, infrastructure cost, megaproject, public engagement, top-down
Zoning Regulations Are Choking Philadelphia's Art Scene
Zoning Regulations Are Choking Philadelphia's Art Scene

This Philadelphia museum has won regional and national praise, and titled a “Philadelphia Cultural Treasure.” Yet, that didn’t stop the Zoning Board of Adjustments from challenging the homegrown institution's right to operate.

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Top StoryAsia MieleszkoJanuary 19, 2024zoning, pennsylvania, arts, local regulation, historic preservation
You Can Help End the Epidemic of Traffic Deaths in Your Community
You Can Help End the Epidemic of Traffic Deaths in Your Community

Streets are some of the most hostile and dangerous places in our built environment, causing the deaths of over 40,000 people every year. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

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Edward Erfurt, Top StoryEdward ErfurtJanuary 19, 2024Crash Analysis Studio, car crash, Street Design
Every City Should Do This Housing Exercise
Every City Should Do This Housing Exercise

Your city or town probably needs more housing, but where should it go? This exercise could help you find out.

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Top Story, TrendingBen AbramsonJanuary 18, 2024Incremental Housing, housing crisis, new york, end parking mandates and subsidies
From “Someone Should” to “We Will”
From “Someone Should” to “We Will”

Connecting with other advocates online can be empowering, but in many ways, you just can’t beat the power of a local, in-person group. 

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Emma Durand-Wood, Top StoryEmma Durand-WoodJanuary 18, 2024local conversations, advocacy
It Didn’t Matter That She Was Riding an E-Bike
It Didn’t Matter That She Was Riding an E-Bike

A mother tragically lost her life after being struck by a car—yet local media is fixated on the fact that she was riding an e-bike. What about the dangerous conditions of the street she was killed on?

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Top Story, TrendingAsia MieleszkoJanuary 17, 2024safe and productive streets, e-bikes, Crash Analysis Studio, car crash, bike lanes, california
This City Relied on an Unstable Development Pattern for Generations—But Now, There’s Hope
This City Relied on an Unstable Development Pattern for Generations—But Now, There’s Hope

Local advocates in Langley, BC, are starting the conversations their city needs to hear if it wants to undo decades of investing in the Suburban Experiment.

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Community Stories, Top StorySeairra JonesJanuary 17, 2024local conversations, canada, success stories, safe and productive streets
Build the Urbs, but Don’t Forget the Polis
Build the Urbs, but Don’t Forget the Polis

A community is more than just its built environment: it’s also the strong, intergenerational civic ties that connect its citizens to each other.

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Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedJanuary 16, 2024cities
We Could Solve a Lot of Our Problems if We Just Built the Way We Used To
We Could Solve a Lot of Our Problems if We Just Built the Way We Used To

Many of the problems in our cities come down to a shortage in the budget—but the solution to this problem is staring us in the face.

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Community StoriesAdam RossJanuary 16, 2024local conversations, Land Use, suburban development pattern, value per acre, transparent local accounting, Community Action Lab
Taking Action in Cincinnati
Taking Action in Cincinnati

When a young child ended up in intensive care after being struck by a car, this Cincinnati Local Conversation group didn’t wait to take action to make the street safer.

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Community Stories, Top StoryBarbara DidrichsenJanuary 15, 2024safe and productive streets, local conversations, ohio, tactical urbanism, Crosswalk
Why "Local"? Why "Conversation"?
Why "Local"? Why "Conversation"?

Every month, all across North America, hundreds of Strong Towns advocates are gathering in local Strong Towns groups. We call them Local Conversations—but why? (The answer reveals a lot about the power of this movement!)

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Top StoryJohn PattisonJanuary 15, 2024local conversations
How Parking Ratios Kill Homes
How Parking Ratios Kill Homes

A string of mistakes in one city shows how easily local rules can turn arbitrary and destructive.

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Top StoryCatie GouldJanuary 12, 2024zoning, Incremental Housing, end parking mandates and subsidies, affordable housing, washington
So, You Want To Plant Some Trees
So, You Want To Plant Some Trees

Street trees are the only municipal asset that increases in value and capacity over time. Here are some things you should keep in mind for when you’re ready to get out there and start planting!

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Emma Durand-Wood, Top StoryEmma Durand-WoodJanuary 11, 2024street trees
How Many People Have To Die To Make a Street Safer?
How Many People Have To Die To Make a Street Safer?

This timeline of tragedy shows the many, many times city officials in Springfield, MA, should have addressed the unsafe conditions of State Street.

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Top StoryAsia MieleszkoJanuary 11, 2024massachusetts, safe and productive streets, car crash, Street Design, stroad
You Don't Need a License to Walk
You Don't Need a License to Walk

We need to rethink how we talk about car accidents involving pedestrians. Pedestrians are seen as obstacles for drivers who are often driving too fast and are too distracted along roads that are all too wide.

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Community Stories, Top StoryStrong Towns NanaimoJanuary 10, 2024safe and productive streets, canada, local conversations, safety, pedestrians
Okay, You Know How To Fix a Deadly Stroad. Now Do It 1,000 Times.
Okay, You Know How To Fix a Deadly Stroad. Now Do It 1,000 Times.

One reason communities hesitate to acknowledge their dangerous stroads is because the problem is so big, addressing it would paralyze our existing planning bureaucracies. But there is still a way forward.

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Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJanuary 10, 2024safe and productive streets, Crash Analysis Studio, safety, stroad, car crash
There’s No Shortcut to Lasting Revitalization
There’s No Shortcut to Lasting Revitalization

Dreaming of big goals for the year can be fun, but it’s also necessary to think of the small steps needed to reach those goals. Similarly, cities need to consider the small things they need to do to achieve long-term prosperity.

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Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedJanuary 9, 2024downtown, small bets
This Stroad’s Past Shouldn’t Seal Its Future
This Stroad’s Past Shouldn’t Seal Its Future

Why does a deadly stroad like this even exist in a city trying to achieve zero traffic deaths by 2030?

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Top StoryAsia MieleszkoJanuary 9, 2024colorado, safe and productive streets, car crash, vision zero, stroad
Long-Awaited MUTCD Update Sets New Road Safety Standards
Long-Awaited MUTCD Update Sets New Road Safety Standards

For the first time since 2009, the Federal Highway Administration has filed an updated version of its Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). But how effective will it actually be in making streets safer?

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News, Top StoryBen AbramsonJanuary 8, 2024safe and productive streets, top-down, MUTCD, traffic engineering
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