James Anderson: How to Encourage Innovation in Local Government

James Anderson leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. Today, he explains how to help cities embrace an innovative, people-based approach to local governance.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsSeptember 2, 2025podcast, innovation, local government, new york, interview

How One California City Teamed Up With Residents To Stop Speeding

The city of Artesia, California, has been struggling with a speeding problem. Instead of just blaming drivers, city staff teamed up with local advocates to address the root problem: the street design.

Is the City the Problem or the Solution?

State preemption can remove obstacles, but it can’t build the local capacity that's required for lasting reform.

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 11, 2025Incremental Housing, state government, local government, housing crisis, localism

What Happens When Residents Act and Cities Shut It Down

When tension builds between grassroots action and bureaucratic boundaries, cities must choose: partnership or pushback.

Forget Megaprojects—This Teacher Has a Better Way to Fix Cities

What if fixing your city didn’t require a billion-dollar plan—just a neighbor with a shovel and a bold idea? In Bloomington, a high school teacher is quietly leading a local revolution, one small step at a time.

Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 10, 2025local government, small bets, illinois, Social Media

Answering the Top 3 Questions About Abundance and the Strong Towns Approach

A couple of weeks ago, Chuck did a Q&A about how the book “Abundance” differs from the Strong Towns approach. There were some good questions, so we’ve consolidated his answers here.

Want To Stop Your City’s Decline? Start Building Public Trust.

From school integration to budget reform, Rick Cole has spent his life encouraging cities to meet their residents’ needs in smart and sustainable ways. Here's his advice for city officials.

What Happens to Your City When the Federal Check Doesn’t Clear?

We’re not just looking at a future where cities can’t count on federal support. We’re facing one where Washington itself might be powerless to intervene, even if it wanted to.

A Strong Towns View of the New SpaceX Company Town

Abby is joined by Edward Erfurt to discuss the recent vote to turn Boca Chica, Texas, into a new official city called Starbase. (Transcript included.)

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 14, 2025podcast, upzoned, local economy, texas, master planned, local government

Elizabeth Turman-Bryant: The Bottom-Up Path to Local Leadership

Elizabeth Turman-Bryant is a councilmember in Burlington, Washington. She joins Tiffany to discuss the importance of balancing responsive bottom-up activism with influential local government involvement. (Transcript included.)

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 24, 2025podcast, The Bottom-Up Revolution, washington, local government, activism

Pittsburgh’s Leaders Made Streets Safer—Your Officials Can Too

For years, Pittsburgh struggled with rising traffic fatalities. Instead of accepting these tragedies as inevitable or waiting for outside funding, city leaders acted decisively with the resources they had. Here's how.

Top StoryStrong TownsApril 18, 2025safe and productive streets, pennsylvania, vision zero, car crash, local government

Federal Policy Broke the Housing Market. It Won’t Fix Things Now.

Attendees of last week’s National Housing Supply Summit hoped it would provide insights for how Washington can tackle America’s housing crisis. But expecting Washington to fix problems it helped create isn’t optimism; it’s a paradox.

NYC’s Congestion Pricing Was Flawed—But Killing It Won’t Fix Traffic

The Trump administration’s elimination of congestion pricing was shortsighted, but NYC’s congestion pricing was deeply flawed from the start. If congestion pricing is ever going to work as intended, it needs to be revamped with the right priorities.

Marohn, News, Top StoryCharles MarohnMarch 3, 2025new york, congestion pricing, Donald Trump, transit, local government

Rebekah Kik Is Using the Power of Local Government To Lift Barriers

To understand how one city leader can spearhead the housing reforms your city needs, look no further than Rebekah Kik, the deputy city manager for Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedFebruary 26, 2025Incremental Housing, local government, michigan, zoning, city government

A Traffic Safety Bill in Illinois Could Save Lives — but Cities Can Act Sooner

A new bill in the Illinois General Assembly would require the state DOT to conduct traffic studies after crashes involving pedestrian fatalities. This is a great step in the right direction, and it highlights how local officials can take action too.

A Plane Crash Gets an NTSB Investigation. A Car Crash Gets a Shrug.

Last Wednesday, a plane crash claimed the lives of 67 people, making it the deadliest U.S. air disaster in over two decades. It prompted an immediate, coordinated response on a local, state and federal level. And yet, when over 100 people die in car crashes a day, nothing is done. It’s time for that to change.

$20 Million Broke This Street. $2 Million Can Begin To Fix It.

To build a Strong Town is to develop governing habits and shared cultural understandings that result in a long run of small wins that may be individually imperceptible but cumulatively result in broad and meaningful change. Today, I want to share one of those small wins with you.

Transparent Local Language: Why City Officials Need To Ditch the Jargon

Local governments often use terms that downplay, minimize or obscure the severity of a situation. While this isn’t a malicious or even conscious decision, using language that is inaccurate or that the general population doesn’t understand makes it very difficult to build a strong town.

After the Crash Analysis Studio: 6 Next Steps for Creating Safe Streets

You’ve just completed a Crash Analysis Studio and you have a report in hand. Or you found the "Beyond Blame" report compelling and you want to share it with your community. Now what?