Compact development isn’t just for big cities. Some of the best walkable urbanism in the world is in the smallest towns. And embracing this is the key to enjoying the best of both worlds: urban and rural.
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The Strong Towns approach to public investment is part of an overall strategy of shifting our local energy from chasing the next project to building real wealth.
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An executive order from the president to make federal buildings classical again. A highway in Rochester that’s being converted into a neighborhood. And Cleveland’s dream for a hyperloop. These stories and more in our weekly Top 5.
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Jake Hamann—Founder and Executive Director at the Peoria Innovation Alliance—shares how his organization uses education, storytelling, and pop-ups to inspire local entrepreneurs to take action—in main street and beyond.
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This Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about what makes a city a great place to fall in love… and what makes a city lovable in and of itself. Often, these are the same things.
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For the last five years, Arian Horbovetz and “The Urban Phoenix” have been changing the national conversation about what it takes to build stronger towns and cities.
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The process by which aging buildings provide a naturally affordable housing stock is broken in many of America’s cities.
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The Oregon Department of Transportation’s lies about safety are so blatant they can be seen 400 miles away.
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Why does a healthy pond suddenly become overrun with algae? And what can the natural principle behind this help us understand about how change works—or doesn’t—in cities?
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It is astounding how even the most bankrupt city will fall all over themselves when presented the opportunity to spend money they don't have on the latest fad.
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How will we ensure there’s enough parking if we don’t require property owners to provide any? There’s a simple answer to this question.
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These four communities are the previous winners of our Strongest Town contest. See what made them such strong competitors. Will your town or city be the fifth?
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Shreveport, Louisiana has one of the country’s best downtowns. How did it become that way, why do so few people know about it, and what can the rest of us learn from its example?
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The stars of a home makeover show are setting their sights on a much larger goal: a whole town. Strong Towns advocates weigh in on the worst—and best—that could happen.
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A draft executive order from President Trump making classical architecture the preferred option for significant federal buildings is controversial, yet (clumsily) gets at something important. In this case, try to resist letting the brand messenger taint the brand.
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Strong Towns’s five most-read stories of the past week.
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We use the term “development pattern” all over the place at Strong Towns. Here’s your one-stop guide to what we actually mean by that.
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Half a century ago, Rochester, New York — like so many other cities — built an urban highway that tore at the social fabric, decimated neighborhoods, and made the city increasingly fragile. Today, Rochester is showing cities that there is a better way.
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If drivers—and not just cyclists—were required to learn bike-passing best practices, more lives would be saved and more people would feel comfortable riding.
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The drive-to version of a walkable main street, surrounded by parking lots, is like a Western movie set made of fake building facades: all hat and no cattle.
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