New Tools To Visualize How Your City Could Benefit From Incremental Development

The American Enterprise Institute has released some impressive—and free—data tools for understanding housing markets and development potential. And as a bonus, attend their upcoming talks if you’re in California!

Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesSeptember 16, 2022housing, housing crisis, incrementalism, incremental development, incremental, Incremental Housing, walkability, events, event, maps, california Be the First to Comment

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

Our On Again, Off Again, Infrastructure Future

Frequent power outages in California give pause to reflect on the overall fragility of our built environment.

Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoAugust 26, 2022climate, Climate Change, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, maintenance, wildfire, california Be the First to Comment

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Helping More People Get Out and Bike!

Strong Towns member Ari Feinsmith is making streets safer in his California town, hosting free bike repair events and more.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 21, 2022The Bottom-Up Revolution, biking, bike parking, bicycling, podcast, california Be the First to Comment

San José Joins in the Push To Abolish Parking Minimums

San José adds itself to the list of cities that are doing away with harmful parking minimums!

Top StoryDaniela CastañedaJuly 15, 2022parking minimums, minimum parking requirements, city council, transportation, success stories, end parking mandates and subsidies, california 2 Comments

High Water Victorians, Roosevelt Corner Shops, and Hipster Legos

This walking tour in Sacramento, CA, reveals much about its past and present challenges with housing.

Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoApril 18, 2022housing, housing affordability, housing market, missing middle, affordable housing, development, california, neighborhoods Be the First to Comment

Can a Houstonian Approach to Homelessness Work in L.A.?

L.A. is facing an increasing problem with homelessness. Can it learn something from the efforts of another large Sunbelt city?

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 9, 2022podcast, housing, housing crisis, upzoned, texas, homeless, home buyer, california Be the First to Comment

"We Require WAY Too Much Parking"

This Strong Towns member saw a huge problem with the parking minimums in his city—and decided to do something about it.

Top StorySeairra JonesMarch 1, 2022member story, advocacy, taking action, parking minimums, biking, bicycling, bikes, bikeability, bike lanes, minimum parking requirements, success stories, end parking mandates and subsidies, california 4 Comments

Strongest Town 2022, Round 1: Durango, CO vs. Santa Clara, CA

Cast your vote! Who should advance to Round 2 in the seventh annual Strongest Town Contest?

Strong TownsFebruary 28, 2022Strongest Town 2022, strongest town contest, colorado, california 2 Comments

The "Lickety Splits": Working Around High Housing Costs in California

Small-scale developer Johnny Sanphillippo shares tales of Californians employing simple, low-cost, high-yield measures to get by amidst the housing crisis.

Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoFebruary 25, 2022housing, housing cost, housing affordability, housing crisis, affordable housing, homeless, california 2 Comments

Monopoly Hotels and Missing Middle Housing

In Monopoly, there are only two types of real estate: houses and hotels. But were hotels understood differently in 1904, when the game was first created?

Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoFebruary 18, 2022housing, housing cost, housing affordability, housing crisis, history, missing middle, affordable housing, california 4 Comments

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

No Insurance for Wildfire-Prone California

Insurers think they have the answer to California’s most wildfire-prone areas: get people to stop living there.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 26, 2022podcast, housing crisis, natural disasters, disasters, upzoned, wildfire, california 3 Comments

State and Local Policy Tensions Focus Zoning Reforms

Let’s step back and evaluate the status of some recent, high-profile zoning reforms.

Top StoryTheo Mackey PollackJanuary 25, 2022housing, housing crisis, housing affordability, zoning, upzoning, minnesota, california, oregon 4 Comments

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...an Interdisciplinary and Incremental Leader

Andrea Marr is an engineer, a Strong Towns member, and the mayor pro tem for Costa Mesa, CA.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 13, 2022The Bottom-Up Revolution, taking action, city council, engineers, california Be the First to Comment

The Carpetbagger’s Guide to Home Ownership

Johnny Sanphillippo takes a break from writing about his current real-estate activities to talk about how he first bought property when he was younger and infinitely poorer.

Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoJanuary 11, 2022housing cost, housing affordability, homeowners, housing, home buyer, california Be the First to Comment

Zoning Desire Paths

Just as kids ignore sidewalks in favor of walking a more efficient path through the grass, homeowners in California are voting with their toolbelts to create zoning desire paths.

Top StoryJay StangeJanuary 7, 2022zoning, housing cost, housing affordability, housing, housing crisis, single-family, multi-family, suburban experiment, suburbs, accessory dwelling unit, california Be the First to Comment

California's SB 9: A Slow Reversion to the Historic Mean

California's Senate Bill 9 has sparked controversy, mainly among owners of single-family homes. But are we returning to historic forms of housing anyway, with or without state legislation?