What Does $106 Million Get You in Maine? A Redundant Highway Expansion That Nobody Wants.

Maine residents want road maintenance. MaineDOT is giving them more roads.

NewsSeairra JonesNovember 8, 2022Nero Project, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, infrastructure cost, highways, highway spending, transportation, transportation spending, Maine, maintenance, end highway expansion 1 Comment

CDOT Leads the Way in Not Building Highways

Traffic headaches in Denver, CO, have caused the state to realize that widening highways just isn’t working, anymore. Instead, Colorado is making a huge shift in its transportation priorities.

Top StorySeairra JonesOctober 25, 2022success stories, colorado, transportation, infrastructure, local government, end highway expansion 2 Comments

Check Your Temperature—You Might Have an Assessment Fever

This new interactive map shows homeowners how their home assessment compares to other properties nearby—and has exposed that many homes of similar value are being overassessed.

Top StorySeairra JonesOctober 18, 2022homeowners, property tax, Just Accounting for Health, mapping, maps, transparent local accounting, home buyer Be the First to Comment

Springfield Delays Redesign of Deadly Street To Prioritize Traffic Flow

Springfield took a step forward in fixing this deadly stroad…but Department of Public Works officials are forcing the city to take two steps back again.

Top StorySeairra JonesSeptember 27, 2022safety, public safety, engineers, traffic engineering, transportation, pedestrians, missouri, stroad, safe and productive streets, massachusetts 2 Comments

The Pillaging of Detroit

Stunning new data analysis on the homes lost to tax forfeiture in Detroit shows that, in just a three-year span, $300 million in real estate transferred from homeowners living in Detroit to outside owners.

Top StorySeairra JonesSeptember 20, 2022property tax, homeowners, poverty, local government, Just Accounting for Health, transparent local accounting, home buyer, michigan 4 Comments

Main Street vs. Big Box Stores: A Western North Carolina Analysis

Property taxes represent the largest source of revenue for most local governments, and data shows that even unglamorous downtown areas offer more value as taxable properties than big box stores.

Top StorySeairra JonesSeptember 13, 2022big box stores, property tax, finance, public finance, Just Accounting for Health, urban3, value per acre, taxes, transparent local accounting, local economy 8 Comments

L.A. Continues Delaying Infrastructure That Could Save Lives

Everyone who uses streets would benefit from L.A.’s mobility plan…if only the city would actually implement it.

Top StorySeairra JonesSeptember 6, 2022car crash, safety, public safety, pedestrians, bicycling, bikeability, local government, safe and productive streets, california 3 Comments

Build Galesburg for People, Not Cars

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?”

Top StorySeairra JonesAugust 23, 2022downtown, main street, car dependency, auto-oriented, people centered places, design, incrementalism, bottom-up, small towns, illinois 1 Comment

Can America’s Unfair Property Tax System Ever Be Fixed?

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.

Top StorySeairra JonesAugust 16, 2022property tax, Just Accounting for Health, interview, finance, public finance, municipal finance, Assessments, urban3, transparent local accounting, illinois, local economy 5 Comments

We Often Don’t Think About Design—But It Tells Us How To Think

Design affects us in a multitude of ways, and when we look to nature as inspiration for designing the built environment, the core takeaways are: adaptation and incrementalism.

Top StorySeairra JonesAugust 9, 2022design, urban design, Neighborhood Design, aesthetics, incrementalism, incremental, incremental development, incremental growth, zoning, traditional development pattern Be the First to Comment

"Should I Protest My Property Taxes?"

The process for appealing your property taxes can be obscure, even when the appeal is merited (and more often than not, it is). This simple guide will help prepare you for when your property is next assessed.

Top StorySeairra JonesJuly 26, 2022property tax, Just Accounting for Health, local government, homeowners, North Carolina, urban3, texas, transparent local accounting, home buyer, michigan, local economy Be the First to Comment

Springfield Gets Started on Fixing State Street

City leaders in Springfield, MA, recently started a project to calm traffic on State Street, one of the city’s deadliest places for walkers and bikers.

Top StorySeairra JonesJuly 12, 2022public safety, road diet, traffic engineering, little bets, success stories, transportation, pedestrians, missouri, safe and productive streets, safety 1 Comment

What’s the First Sign of a Safe Street?

How many kids feel safe playing on your local street?

Top StorySeairra JonesJuly 5, 2022children, play, public safety, streets, pedestrians, safe and productive streets, safety 4 Comments

Why You Should Care About Property Taxes as a Renter

If you don’t own a home, and don’t have plans to own one anytime soon, you might think property taxes don’t concern you. But, what if we told you that they definitely do?

Top StorySeairra JonesJune 28, 2022Just Accounting for Health, property tax, homeowners, rent, renters, finance, taxes, transparent local accounting, home buyer, local economy 4 Comments

We Don’t Like These Curves: What Is the J-Curve and What Is It Costing You?

These curves are costing Americans a lot, both financially and physically.

Top StorySeairra JonesJune 21, 2022Just Accounting for Health, homeowners, property tax, finance, taxes, home buyer 1 Comment

This “Homegrown Project” Offers a Place To Thrive for Small Business Owners

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.