Over 20 communities have used the Finance Decoder to turn dense spreadsheets into clear direction—proving that financial transparency doesn’t have to be dull.

Top StoryStrong TownsMay 30, 2025Finance Decoder, financial solvency, ohio, utah, transparent local accounting

What do these cities in Wisconsin and Texas have in common? They ditched parking mandates.

How much does parking cost? Enough to make cities rethink whether it should be mandatory at all.

Top StoryStrong TownsMay 29, 2025end parking mandates and subsidies, texas, wisconsin, parking pricing, Land Use

Noah Roth: How Animation Can Build Strong Cities

Noah Roth is the founder of Streetcraft, a platform that uses visual storytelling and urban design to explore and improve the built environment. (Transcript included.)

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 29, 2025podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Street Design, advocacy, arts

One Intersection. 28 Crashes. Locals Say No More.

By embracing the Crash Analysis Studio model, New Haven residents are shifting the conversation away from blame and towards preventing the next tragedy.

Bottom-Up Shorts: How State Governments Can Foster Strong Towns

Danny Lapin is a revitalization specialist with the New York State Department of State. He and Norm discuss the ways that New York state is encouraging bottom-up community development. (Transcript included.)

How to Escape the Housing Crisis, With Jeff Speck

Today, Chuck is joined by Jeff Speck, a city planner, author, and principal of an urban design and consultancy firm. They discuss the ideas shared in Chuck’s book “Escaping the Housing Trap” and how those concepts play out in the real world, including examples from Jeff’s own work. (Transcript included.)

Cities of Yes: 6 Places Opening the Door to More Housing

By clearing the path for more homes in more places, these places aren’t just tweaking policy—they’re rewriting the rules to build stronger, more resilient communities.

Top StoryStrong TownsMay 27, 2025Incremental Housing, housing market, housing policy, bottom-up, neighborhoods

What Happens to Your City When the Federal Check Doesn’t Clear?

We’re not just looking at a future where cities can’t count on federal support. We’re facing one where Washington itself might be powerless to intervene, even if it wanted to.

Can Loosening Parking Rules Unlock Madison’s Missing Middle?

What do expensive rent, stalled construction projects, and endless parking lots have in common? Mandatory parking minimums. But in cities like Madison, Wisconsin, that might change soon.

Rachel Leonardo: How Social Media Builds Collaboration and Great Places

Rachel Leonardo is the video producer at Strong Towns. She and Tiffany discuss the importance of collaboration in building great places and how social media can encourage that collaboration. (Transcript included.)

What’s With the Vacant Storefronts? 8 Reasons for Empty Commercial Spaces

Here are eight reasons a storefront might sit vacant, applying to both professionally new built and legacy storefronts.

Washington Just Rewrote the Rules on Parking — Here’s Why It Worked

Washington just passed one of the strongest statewide parking reforms in the country—by rethinking not just the rules, but the way we talk about them.

Why Do Commercial Spaces Sit Vacant?

Instead of letting their commercial buildings sit empty, surely it would be better for landlords to lower the rent and got some use out of the building, right? Wrong. Here’s why.

Columbus Locals Turn Data into Dialogue

What happens when everyday people dig into a city’s balance sheet? In Columbus, it sparked a three-hour conversation—and maybe a shift in mindset.

Bottom-Up Shorts: How To Build a Network of Advocates

Hazen Elwood is a student and Local Conversation member in Calgary, Alberta. Norm and Hazen discuss ways to build an advocacy network and the power of raising local awareness through storytelling. (Transcript included.)

Cars Rarely Speed in Residential Areas. That Doesn't Make Them Safe.

If you think cars are speeding down your residential street, you're almost certainly wrong. That doesn’t mean cars are moving at a safe speed, though.

Why Sprawl IS the Housing Crisis

On the surface, sprawl seems like an easy answer to the housing crisis. That doesn’t make it the right one. Here’s why. (Transcript included.)

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 19, 2025podcast, Incremental Housing, sprawl, suburban experiment, yimby

Dallas Just Ditched Its Outdated Parking Rules—Here’s What That Means

Relief for small businesses. A win for historic buildings. And room for more affordable housing. Dallas just scrapped a rule holding the city back since 1965.

When Systems Are Fragile, They Break. Here's What That Looks Like.

Programs that rely on federal subsidies eventually collapse—or hollow out in slow motion. That doesn’t mean we should fight harder to protect those subsidies. It means we should build towns that don’t need them.

Dallas City Council Approves Sweeping Parking Reform in 14–1 Vote

On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council passed sweeping parking reforms, making it easier to open businesses and build housing in the city.

Get Involved

Resources

About

Site

Each month, this website is funded by Strong Towns members.

Join the movement to keep the message going.