What lessons can we glean from a century-old solution to housing crises?

Podcast, Upzoned, Incremental Housing, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 5, 2023Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, Incremental Housing, Washington, history, History

Where’s My Flying Car? Who Cares?

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.

End Highway Expansion, Top StoryTony DutzikFebruary 24, 2023car culture, cars, car dependency, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, history, highways, End Highway Expansion, technology

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.

Herriges, Incremental Housing, Top Story, Community StoriesDaniel HerrigesFebruary 22, 2023Florida, history, traditional development pattern, Incremental Housing, neighborhood, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, housing, housing crisis, ADUs, accessory dwelling units, infill, aesthetics

Do Things Need To Burn for New Things To Grow?

For a city to be “antifragile,” to bounce back from disaster and disruption stronger than it was before, it needs to embrace the lessons of healthy ecological systems.

Urban Renewal, Top StorySeth ZerenFebruary 10, 2023Urban Renewal, history, History, California

Sketches of Shenandoah

A drive through Shenandoah National Park, and a look back at its 1930s creation, offers a glimpse into the early era of American car culture, when motoring was a recreational activity with a lighter imprint on the landscape.

Edward Erfurt, Environment, Top StoryEdward ErfurtJanuary 13, 2023Parks, car culture, history, rural, environment

Water System Crises and Solutions

What are the origins of our current water systems, and how should we think about them, going forward?

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Infrastructure, Top Story, Transparent AccountingStrong TownsNovember 7, 2022Podcast, podcast, water, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, history, History

"The Street Project" Is a Great Warmup for a Street Fight

This film makes a human rights case for safer streets, while showing the historic roots of safe streets advocacy in the U.S. and the power of tactical urbanism.

Neighborhoods Were Never Meant to Be Unchanging

The idea of a permanent community “character” was an invention of the suburban era, and it's showing its cracks now—because it was never an attainable or desirable goal.

Herriges, Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJune 23, 2022neighborhood change, zoning, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, history, History, New York, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Design

Less Parking Lots, More People Space

This interactive map allows you to view just how much space is being wasted in your city (and in the rest of the U.S.) on parking lots.

Large Scale, Small Scale

What if we could get back large buildings hosting businesses at a hyperlocal scale—and what if that actually helped reduce the sentiment we call NIMBYism?

Top StoryAddison Del MastroMay 24, 2022New Jersey, Addison Del Mastro, localism, NIMBY, Small Towns, small towns, hotels, history, History

The Grim Reaper of Small Towns

Our excessive expansion of the interstate highway system has destroyed urban downtowns—and it’s wiped out many small towns altogether.

#InfrastructureCrisis, Infrastructure, Sheppard, Transportation, Top StorySeairra SheppardApril 5, 2022highways, freeway widening, freeways, urban freeways, history, History, Small Towns, small towns, Infrastructure, infrastructure, transportation

What Have Cities *Actually* Accomplished in the Past 100 Years?

The modern conceit is that we are far more advanced than the people of past generations—but how do our cities really stack up against those of the past?

Urban Design, Zoning, Top StoryKevin KlinkenbergMarch 2, 2022history, urban planning, planning profession, urban design, Kansas City, missouri, Missouri, zoning

Monopoly Hotels and Missing Middle Housing

In Monopoly, there are only two types of real estate: houses and hotels. But were hotels understood differently in 1904, when the game was first created?

Housing, Member Post, Sanphillippo, Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoFebruary 18, 2022housing, housing cost, housing affordability, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, history, History, missing middle, affordable housing, San Francisco, California, Granola Shotgun

Planning Is a Bigger Job Than Planning Can Do

Planning must become a job that planners can actually do in a 40-hour work week. This will require a different approach to planning, altogether.

Incrementalism, Member Post, Planning Profession, Urban Design, Top StoryTristan ClevelandNovember 2, 2021planning profession, urban planning, urban design, history, History, halifax, incrementalism, complexity, Complexity

Where Did All the Small Developers Go?

We need people who will build in the places where big, corporate developers won’t. But how do we get enough small-scale developers back to make a difference?

My Family's Kansas City Story

One family’s history tells volumes about the development of Kansas City since the 1950s.

Davis, Neighborhoods, Race, Urban3, Top StorySarah DavisSeptember 15, 2021Kansas City, Kansas, redlining, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, highways, history, History, race, Race, race relations, Urban3, freeways

The Anecdotal "Buyback Effect"

What can we learn about the housing market and corporations buying back their own stock...through anecdotal references? (As it turns out, quite a lot!)

Sanphillippo, Housing, Member Post, Small Scale Developers, Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoSeptember 13, 2021history, small scale developers, small scale development, California, missing middle, housing, Housing, Granola Shotgun

U.S. History Shows Spending on Infrastructure Doesn’t Always End Well

The past proves that people tend to disregard the long-term costs of the plans they make, particularly if they reap the benefits and others pay the costs. We must become more sophisticated than this.