Across North America, parking mandates harm businesses, residents and cities. Fortunately, a rapidly growing number of cities are questioning these requirements, inching toward reforming or even repealing them altogether. Here are some of the communities that are rethinking their approaches.
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A new bill in the Illinois General Assembly would require the state DOT to conduct traffic studies after crashes involving pedestrian fatalities. This is a great step in the right direction, and it highlights how local officials can take action too.
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In this episode, Abby is joined by Chicago aldermen Matt Martin and Andre Vasquez to discusses the Western Avenue corridor study, one of the most ambitious planning efforts Chicago has seen in decades. (Transcript included.)
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When suddenly faced with paying his mortgage alone, Noah Tang of Bloomington, Illinois, went old school. He turned his spare rooms into monthly rentals for students in his college town. This helped him make ends meet and also helped him build community.
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A privately funded megaproject in Chicago plans to redevelop parking lots into a walkable, mixed-use entertainment district. However, a history of disinvestment and fears of gentrification mean residents are fighting the project. Here’s how the developers could increase buy-in and integrate smoothly with the community.
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Here’s how Strong Towns Chicago is making its neighborhoods safer, more pedestrian-friendly and more inviting.
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In this episode, host Tiffany Owens Reed is joined by Chloe Groome and Aaron Feldman, co-leads of the Local Conversation group Strong Towns Chicago, to discuss the initiatives their group is working on and their coalition strategy for driving change.
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Many cities are experiencing a rapid decline in their under-age-5 population, as a lack of family-sized housing forces families to leave for the suburbs. How should cities respond? One method is adopting courtyard blocks.
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On this episode of The Bottom-Up Revolution, we catch up with a Local Conversation leader whose initial gathering sparked a movement that led to his city changing its zoning code.
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Through a series of walk audits, local leaders in Peoria, IL, are not only observing the urban environment, but starting to understand how small, simple actions can profoundly shape it.
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Conflicting priorities between city transportation departments and their state counterparts is one of the biggest barriers to pedestrian safety improvements. Chicago is taking a step toward mending that relationship.
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Local Conversation leader Noah Tang appeared on the radio to talk about how his group, the Bloomington Revivalists, are making positive changes for housing in their community.
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Galesburg, IL, is talking about Strong Towns ideas, centered around a question that many Strong Towns readers are familiar with: “Is our downtown built for cars instead of people?”
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Strong Towns interviews Dr. Christopher Berry, of the University of Chicago, on how we can begin making meaningful changes to the U.S.’s broken property tax system.
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These pop-up shops in Berwyn, IL, are a great example of how communities can provide low-cost, low-risk spaces for local business owners to get their foot in the door.
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In this town where so many people have front-lawn gardens, why is anyone still arguing that they shouldn’t be allowed?
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In this follow-up to last week’s piece about Galesburg, IL, we’ll look at what the town needs in order to recover and thrive.
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Citizens of Galesburg, IL, are trying to save their public indoor pool and create a new activity complex. City council is sympathetic, but there's just one problem: money.
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The question for a city with a history of embracing the suburban experiment is now, "Where should your energies be expended?"
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Learn how Lockport, Illinois, helped its small businesses get back on their feet during the pandemic…using rubber duckies!
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