Strong Towns

Nice, California, doesn’t have nice streets. But it could, if city planners started thinking about road infrastructure in a way that prioritizes safety and walkability over asphalt. Here are a couple of redesign options, inspired by a Crash Analysis Studio held in the city. Get the whole story: https://buff.ly/45X0D3T

Conversations with local decision-makers are an essential part of advocating for stronger cities. While it's exciting to share your own ideas, it's more important to ask thoughtful questions to have a truly productive conversation. So, here are three questions to ask your city councilor: 1. "What are the constraints you're working within?" This question helps you understand the practical limitations officials face and why they may not implement your ideas even if they agree with them. Learning about these constraints can help you can develop proposals that are more likely to be implemented, and you may even be able to find creative workarounds for the constraints. 2. "What problem are you trying to solve?" This question prevents misunderstandings and ensures that you're not working at cross-purposes. Understanding how they view the problem can also help you tailor your suggestions to be more appealing. 3. "What do you think it would take to implement [specific idea]?" This question taps into their insider knowledge of how change happens in the city. Their advice can guide you toward relevant meetings, key contacts or important processes to engage with. Learning to ask the right questions is an ongoing process, so don't be discouraged by occasional missteps. Each interaction is an opportunity to improve and become a more effective advocate for your community.

Why does Strong Towns advocate for an incremental approach over big projects? There are three main reasons: 1. An incremental approach is more financially sustainable. Big projects often come with big price tags and long-term maintenance costs. They can strain a city's budget and divert resources away from other needs. On the other hand, small, incremental investments are typically more manageable and can be adjusted or stopped if they're not working out. 2. An incremental approach allows for more flexibility and adaptability. Cities are complex and constantly changing. What seems like a good idea today might not work out tomorrow. Big projects can trap you on a negative trajectory, but an incremental approach lets you test ideas, learn from mistakes and adapt as circumstances change. 3. An incremental approach is more inclusive. Big projects are often decided and implemented by a small group of people. In contrast, an incremental approach allows for more community involvement. It's about making many small decisions, over time, with the input and participation of local residents. Big projects aren’t always bad, but they should be approached with caution and a clear understanding of the potential risks and benefits that accompany them. Cities need to do the math and consider ALL of a project’s long-term liabilities before they give it a green light.

Many problems in the urbanism realm boil down to people having different ideas of what a city is and what purpose it has. To be an effective advocate, you need to make sure you and the people you’re talking to are on the same page. So, what is a city, anyway? Is it a transactional space that sustains our individual pursuits of happiness and national economy? Or is it living ecosystem in which people collaborate to provide solutions for their needs? Your answer to that question will make all the difference.

Many bus routes have ditched traditional signage for digital maps and schedules that update in real time. While this benefits transit-users in some ways, it also makes it harder for them to find all the information they need to navigate a city. A combined system would be a better method, allowing for information that is both accurate and immediately accessible.

We can't wait for big government housing programs to fix the housing affordability crisis — in fact, giving buyers more money can actually push housing prices higher and make things worse. But LOCAL governments can address the crisis in ways that actually work. Local officials, here's what you should focus on: 1. Reforming the local regulatory approach to make it easier to build units, especially entry-level units at lower price points. (Click here to see how one city did it: https://buff.ly/3zPhaLd) 2. Nurturing an ecosystem of incremental developers — local heroes who are ready to build the units you need. (Click here to hear how one organization is succeeding: https://buff.ly/4bASXFO) 3. Using the powers of the local government to localize the financing of entry-level housing units. (Click here to learn more about localizing affordable housing: https://buff.ly/4f3taZG)

The magic-bullet economic promise takes many forms: A convention center that gets rebuilt every 20 years. A transportation line to nowhere. A stadium subsidy. One thing remains the same: The projects are exciting in the moment but harmful in the long term.

Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, was promised a $10 billion #Foxconn factory and 13,000 jobs. After spending $3 billion of taxpayer money, it got three empty buildings and a mountain of debt. This is the same trap that many cities fall for. The one, big, expensive project was supposed to bring wealth and prosperity to Mount Pleasant — but that’s not how it works. Here’s what we know: - A strong town relies on incremental investments (”little bets”) to built resilience — not big projects with big price tags. - In a strong town, local leaders are obsessive about budgeting. They make sure every dollar they spend will create more wealth. And they care about how much it will cost to maintain what is built. - Job creation and economic growth are the RESULTS of a healthy local economy, not the cause of one. There are no silver-bullet solutions to make a community strong and healthy. Resilience is not handed down to our cities from deals made by the governor or endorsed by the president. These things are hard-earned by citizens who care about their community. They’re built from the bottom-up.

We’re up against a nationwide financial and housing crisis, and that means we need all hands on deck. Join the movement today.

Wisconsin was promised a $10 billion #Foxconn factory and 13,000 jobs. Instead, it got three empty buildings and a mountain of debt. Sorry, Wisconsin. As Ronny Chieng put it on the Daily Show, “You got catfished.” Get the whole story: https://buff.ly/3pQ4zTI