Thank you, Alabama
I had a good pair of events this week in Birmingham with some people very enthused to help their communities become Strong Towns. It was really nice to be back in Alabama and I'm hoping for an opportunity to go back soon. In the meantime, here's what the schedule for sharing the Strong Towns message in person looks like for the next couple of months.
April 24-25 - Stevens Point, WI - Half day training session, AICP Credits will be offered - Register Here
April 28 - Dallas, TX - Curbside Chat
April 30 - Dallas, TX - Member Appreciation Event (Strong Towns members should have received an email this week.)
May 13 - Fargo, ND - Curbside Chat
May 14 - Grand Forks, ND - Curbside Chat
May 19 - Hays, KS - Curbside Chat
May 21 - Lewiston, ME - Conference Keynote
June 17 - Boston, MA - Conference Keynote
June 18 - Denver, CO - Strong Towns on Tap
June 23 - Detroit, MI - Conference Panel
June 30 - Des Moines, IA - Conference Keynote
In case you missed it....
Officials in Ottowa, Canada, are showing that local governments don’t need to accept expensive and unproductive projects, even if they have a lot of momentum behind them.
Attendees of last week’s National Housing Supply Summit hoped it would provide insights for how Washington can tackle America’s housing crisis. But expecting Washington to fix problems it helped create isn’t optimism; it’s a paradox.
Cities thrive when residents actively participate in conversations about their future. Whether through public comment or the written word, speaking up isn’t just an act of protest—it’s an act of stewardship. Here’s how one Albuquerque resident advocated for more housing in his city.
Recent publications from The New York Times and the Civitas Institute prove that years of work by the growing Strong Towns movement — by people like you — is successfully spreading a forward-thinking approach to building towns.
Most of today’s property tax systems discourage productive use of land while rewarding neglect. Minnesota is considering a policy that would change that.
Sean Hayford Oleary is a city council member in Richfield, Minnesota. Today, he and Norm discuss his efforts to reintroduce duplexes, reduce parking mandates, and support walkable neighborhoods. (Transcript included.)
When cities fall into the Growth Ponzi Scheme, they prioritize rapid, short-term growth that strains city resources and reduces long-term prosperity. Residents of Bentonville, Arkansas, are feeling those effects firsthand.
Chuck is joined by Shayne Kavanagh, senior manager of research for the Government Finance Officers Association. Kavanagh discusses the role of finance officers as “decision architects” and shares some tactics they can use to improve their processes. (Transcript included.)
The Finance Decoder reveals the long-term trends hidden behind annual balanced budgets. For Kansas City, those trends are deeply problematic.
The ripple effects of outdated parking mandates are felt everywhere, making it harder to build the kind of communities people want and need. North Carolina might be about to change that.