Herriges Rezoned: A City Shaped by Many Hands

Incrementalism is not an end in itself. Nor is it about a “small-is-beautiful” aesthetic for its own sake. Instead, it’s a practical pathway toward resilient, financially sound places.

Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 11, 2022Chaotic but Smart, traditional development pattern, incremental development, incremental, incrementalism, North Carolina, urban design, housing, south carolina, small scale developers 4 Comments

Hunched Beneath the Airport Flight Path: Terrible Places to Work, Even Worse to Get To

This Not Just Bikes video takes a look at airport business parks as an interesting (and infuriating) case study for places designed for cars instead of people

Top StoryJay StangeApril 26, 2022Not Just Bikes, car culture, car dependency, auto-oriented, urban design, business parks, pedestrians Be the First to Comment

Reflections on Seaside

What does and doesn’t work about the “great-granddaddy” of New Urbanism?

Top StorySeth ZerenApril 22, 2022urbanism, New Urbanism, urban planning, urban design, placemaking, human scale, incrementalism, incremental development, incremental, traditional development pattern, walkability, florida 6 Comments

In Hospitable Cities, You’re Welcomed by Design

Some neighborhoods can feel downright hostile, especially to outsiders. But many places have become this way due to inhospitable design, not inhospitable people.

Top Story, OwensTiffany Owens ReedMarch 31, 2022placemaking, urban design, Neighborhood Design, suburban experiment, human scale, walkability, public space, food trucks, neighborhood revitalization, traditional development pattern, texas, neighborhoods 1 Comment

The Road That Killed a City

From its one-time status as one of America’s most prosperous cities, Hartford, CT, is now one of the poorest—no thanks to its mid-twentieth-century urban renewal projects.

Top StoryJay StangeMarch 16, 2022urban design, urban freeways, urban planning, Connecticut, highways, highway spending, suburban experiment, infrastructure, poverty, urban renewal, jane jacobs 8 Comments

Copy What You Know Works

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to create places that aren’t bad—and that should be the first and foremost goal for a city.

Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMarch 10, 2022placemaking, public space, urban design, design, greenspace, public engagement 1 Comment

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?

Top StoryKevin KlinkenbergMarch 2, 2022history, urban planning, urban design, missouri, zoning 6 Comments

Cities, Stop Bending the Rules for Drive-Thru Businesses

Cities should not be afraid to impose design standards that meet the community’s needs and that don’t jeopardize long-term planning for the public realm.

Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesFebruary 23, 2022cars, car culture, urban design, business, urbanism, design, pedestrians 5 Comments

Two Highways and Two Eras in New Jersey

These two highways in New Jersey run parallel and very close to each other—and traveling along them allows a sustained view of two different development approaches.

Top StoryAddison Del MastroFebruary 17, 2022roads, development, development pattern, suburbanization, traditional development pattern, urban design, urban planning, new jersey 4 Comments

Let Main Streets Be Main Streets

A community should determine what kind of community it wants to be, not unelected DOT engineers.

Top StoryRobert SteutevilleFebruary 3, 2022main street, DOT, walkability, pedestrians, Roundabouts, small towns, urban design, engineers, cnu, new york 1 Comment

Forget What You Know About Public Engagement

It’s no secret that the conventional process for public engagement in urban planning is broken. So, what should we be doing, instead?

Top StoryJames Rojas and John KampFebruary 2, 2022public engagement, urban planning, books, urban design, california Be the First to Comment

There is Unrest in the Urban Forest

“Preserve the trees” or “clear the way for more housing”—which side should you take? (Good news: It’s a false choice, to begin with.)

Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJanuary 12, 2022street trees, environment, urban design, housing, housing activism, housing policy 5 Comments

Renderings vs. Reality: A Roundup of 2021s Most Egregious Development Illustrations

If a picture can say a thousand words, it can probably also tell at least 100 lies—as demonstrated by these development projects that did not turn out as promised.

Top StoryLauren RonnanderJanuary 10, 2022urban design, Diverging Diamond, intersections, pedestrians, design, walkability 2 Comments

Lessons from Magnolia’s “Village”

Surprise, surprise: Americans love dense, walkable places connected to a sense of history.

Top Story, OwensTiffany Owens ReedNovember 30, 2021urban design, tourism, master planned, texas 3 Comments

The Urban Experiment

We all know about the Suburban Experiment here at Strong Towns—but are we now also starting to see the rise of a new paradigm?

Top StoryKevin KlinkenbergNovember 22, 2021suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, development pattern, urban design, fragility, design, urban planning 9 Comments

Planning Without Plans

In everyday life, people usually say “I need a plan” if something has gone wrong. Plans should play a similar role in cities.

Top StoryTristan ClevelandNovember 3, 2021urban planning, urban design, walkability, incrementalism 3 Comments

Our Self-Imposed Scarcity of Nice Places

Why is it that when a place is [pick one: walkable, bikeable, beautiful, lovable, inviting, human-scale], it so often gets coded as being “gentrified” or “upscale”?