3 Trade-Offs Parents Make Living in Suburbs Vs. Cities

We’ve created a society in which families have to choose between either spread-out, single-family living or dense urban living—and each side of this (artificial) binary can come with upsides and downsides.

Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedMay 30, 2023children, suburbs, suburbanization, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, car culture, traditional development pattern, cars, car dependency 15 Comments

Progress Isn't Inevitable

The winds are shifting for cities. Are you paying attention?

Top StoryKevin KlinkenbergFebruary 27, 2023urban design, urbanism, suburban experiment, suburbs, suburban development pattern, suburbanization 9 Comments

Where’s My Flying Car? Who Cares?

New technologies can solve problems—or make them worse. In the chase for technofixes like flying cars, it's important to know when to pump the brakes.

Top StoryTony DutzikFebruary 24, 2023car culture, cars, car dependency, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, history, highways, technology, end highway expansion 10 Comments

The Largest Mistake of Our Generation

The proposed annual budget for Winnipeg, MB, reveals the true cost of the Suburban Experiment, and the vibrancy that the city (and so many others like it) has sacrificed in many of its neighborhoods.

Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodFebruary 22, 2023suburban experiment, canada, suburban development pattern, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, budget, finance, public finance, transportation, transportation spending, transparent local accounting, growth ponzi scheme 2 Comments

A Century-Old Neighborhood Provides a Model for the Present Day

Good urbanism doesn’t have to mean large apartment buildings or an immaculate row of brownstones; the ad-hoc version on display in this Florida neighborhood is more relevant as a model of adaptation for the rest of us.

Herriges, Top Story, Community StoriesDaniel HerrigesFebruary 22, 2023history, traditional development pattern, Incremental Housing, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, housing, housing crisis, infill, aesthetics, accessory dwelling unit, florida, neighborhoods 6 Comments

3 Predictions for 2023 as Communities Continue Climbing Out of the Pandemic

As America’s cities continue their halting climb up and out of the last few years, data analytics firm Urban3 foresees a few crises—as well as opportunities—waiting for them in 2023.

Trending, Top StoryKerry HayesFebruary 16, 2023economics, Economy, gentrification, climate, Climate Change, natural disasters, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, infrastructure bill, urban3, taxes, transparent local accounting Be the First to Comment

Why Is It So Difficult To Build Walkable Places?

A recent report from Smart Growth America highlights the extent to which zoning laws (in a staggering percentage of U.S. communities) stifle our ability to create walkable, human-centered places.

Top StoryBen AbramsonFebruary 14, 2023zoning, walkability, Incremental Housing, Smart Growth America, urbanism, suburban experiment, safe and productive streets, development 15 Comments

Revised Zoning Rules Make Minnesota City Legal Again

Zoning restrictions in this Minneapolis suburb have rendered much of its original development in violation of its current rules. The city’s leadership is looking to change that.

Top StoryBen AbramsonFebruary 9, 2023Incremental Housing, zoning, housing, development pattern, development, traditional development pattern, suburbs, suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, minnesota 1 Comment

Hawaii's Suburban Experiment

How does the suburban development pattern present itself in a smaller island space, versus in the contiguous United States?

Podcast, Marohn, Top StoryStrong TownsSeptember 26, 2022podcast, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, Hawaii, suburbanization, growth ponzi scheme 1 Comment

The Suburbs Are a “One-Life-Cycle” Product

A recent CNBC documentary features Strong Towns insights from Charles Marohn about why suburban development is so risky.

Top StoryRachel QuednauSeptember 20, 2022suburban development pattern, suburban experiment, suburbs, incremental development, incrementalism, incremental, Incremental Housing, housing cost, housing, housing affordability, housing crisis 2 Comments

The Jackson Water Crisis Is Not a Fluke. Your City Could Be Next.

For seven weeks Jackson’s residents had to bear the brunt of a failing water system, and unfortunately it was bound to happen.

Podcast, Marohn, Top StoryStrong TownsSeptember 19, 2022podcast, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, mississippi, water, sprawl, fragility, growth ponzi scheme 2 Comments

Suburbia Was a Housing Program

Suburbia was an experiment—an experiment in the service of building lots of housing very quickly.

Top StoryAddison Del MastroSeptember 12, 2022suburban experiment, suburbs, suburban development pattern, housing, housing policy, housing cost, housing crisis, housing affordability, NIMBY, Incremental Housing Be the First to Comment

Financial Fragility Is To Blame for Jackson’s Water Crisis

The Suburban Experiment is a bad business model, and nothing demonstrates that more clearly than Jackson, Mississippi’s, ongoing water crisis.

MarohnCharles MarohnSeptember 12, 2022infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, fragility, mississippi, development pattern, infrastructure cost, finance, suburban experiment, local economy, growth ponzi scheme 14 Comments

Remove Highway 99: A Crazy Idea in “Deep” South Park

What was once a fringe idea to convince the state of Washington to turn a section of Highway 99 over to local control has grown into a publicly funded action.

Top StoryJay StangeAugust 31, 2022highways, freeway removal, freeways, urban freeways, suburban experiment, washington, end highway expansion Be the First to Comment

"The Street Project" Is a Great Warmup for a Street Fight

This film makes a human rights case for safer streets, while showing the historic roots of safe streets advocacy in the U.S. and the power of tactical urbanism.

Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedAugust 30, 2022safety, car culture, car dependency, cars, car crash, suburban experiment, history, shared space, pedestrians, tactical urbanism, safe and productive streets, europe 5 Comments

Can Hamilton, Ontario, Hold the Line on Development—Literally?

This Canadian city made an unprecedented decision to stop expanding its urban growth boundary. What comes next?

Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesAugust 17, 2022growth, sprawl, infill, Infill Development, canada, suburban experiment, growth ponzi scheme 1 Comment

Can New Jersey Supermarkets Predict an End to the Suburban Experiment?

The trajectory of these Jersey supermarkets is a microcosm of how the suburban experiment altered small towns, turning them from tiny cities into suburban lifestyle accouterments.