How should we think about scalable impact, and how should it inform our approach when trying to grapple with big, pervasive problems?
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Where does the Strong Towns approach intersect with environmentalism?
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Son las experiencias de personas reales que deben guiar nuestros esfuerzos de planificación. Sus acciones son los datos que deberíamos recopilar, no sus preferencias declaradas.
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Incremental change doesn’t mean slow change. In fact, unleashing the power of the many to make small changes in response to immediate needs may be the only approach that is up to the scale of the problems our cities face.
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The work of building a Strong Town is ultimately “culture-making” work.
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Are spread-out suburbs safer in a pandemic than compact, walkable cities? Short answer: Yes. Does that mean suburban-style neighborhoods are “stronger” during a pandemic? Not even close. Here’s why.
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How a place makes us feel can’t replace the hard feedback of things that can be measured, but it can be a hint that something is working…or not.
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The Strong Towns approach to city building is fundamentally different than conventional practice. Here’s a short list to help you see the difference.
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Send your relatives this interview between Chuck Marohn and Jefferson Public Radio.
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If Strong Towns is successful—really successful—you won't hear about it, because the vast majority of the change we produce won't be attributed to us at all. It will be embedded in the broader culture.
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The most successful companies iterate. Before they go “all-in” on a new product, they prototype, test, learn and adapt. If only there was a similar process cities could use before committing massive resources to something that may not work. Oh wait, there is! In defense of the much-maligned pilot project.
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The Strong Towns vision is a bottom-up revolution, one in which we rediscover the power of thinking small and acting locally. And the power of this vision transcends partisan politics as usual.
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“Though many of our worst problems are big, they do not necessarily have big solutions. Many needed changes will have to be made in individual lives… and in local communities.” Wendell Berry wrote these words about reforming agriculture, but they apply to building Strong Towns as well.
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Not everything in a Strong Town can be about dollars and cents. The finances constrain us—they are an important check on our avarice—but the things that make a place worth loving go far beyond the balance sheet.
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It is the experiences of real people that should guide our planning efforts. Their actions are the data we should be collecting, not their stated preferences.
Read MoreIf Strong Towns is successful—really successful—you won't hear about it, because the vast majority of the change we produce won't be attributed to us at all. It will be embedded in the broader culture.
Read MoreIt is the experiences of real people that should guide our planning efforts. Their actions are the data we should be collecting, not their stated preferences.
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There are no universal answers to the complex problems America’s cities, towns, and neighborhoods face. There is no playbook.
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Toby Dougherty, city manager for Hays, Kansas, talks about his city's efforts to implement a Strong Towns approach.
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Last Thursday I was part of a debate with Randal O’Toole – the self-identified Antiplanner from the Cato Institute – in Lafayette, Louisiana. I’m going to take the opportunity to reflect a little bit on things from my perspective.
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