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Strong Towns gives me hope that we can build bridges between political ideology, take partisanship out of local community politics and focus on implementing sound policies that will make us happier, healthier, and solvent. —Josh Fairchild

Being a part of Strong Towns means discovering new ways to look at the problems our cities face and looking for new ways to address or mitigate them. —Marielle Brown

I originally began advocating for smarter growth for sustainability reasons, on behalf of the river conservation nonprofit where I work. But I never would have taken the next step to apply for PC had I not discovered Strong Towns. The podcasts, posts and Strong Towns book have helped me channel my environmental arguments and vague urbanist instincts into a broader and more persuasive vision that has resonated with city leadership in this time of financial stress. It’s exciting to be a part of. —Adam Lynch

There is a lot to worry about in this world, but Strong Towns provides a philosophy and approach to channel that concern into a productive way of life at the individual and community level. Rather than simplifying issues into “fixable” problems, Strong Towns embraces the complexity and contradictions that make a place resilient and delightfully human. — Gracen Johnson

As a (now former) Planning Commissioner, Strong Towns inspired me to look at the long-term financial impacts of new developments on the City, and whether they help build community wealth. The existing patterns of development are failing us… We need to develop new approaches to building our cities, and Strong Town is doing that. —Grant Henninger

I’m a member of the Strong Towns movement because it helps me connect with people outside of my community that freely share thoughts, ideas, and information about topics I believe are important. I can in turn use what I learn through engaging with other Strong Towns members in order to maker my community an economically viable and vibrant place to live. —Haile McCollum

How Will we know Strong Towns is succeeding?

Strong Towns's goal is to change the conversation everywhere about how we build and maintain productive places. This is an expansive, some would say naively ambitious, goal—and yet it's essential. We don't believe that our cities and towns will stop digging themselves into financial holes when two or three key federal policies change, for example. We believe a mass movement is required. We believe a paradigm shift in how we think about local prosperity is required—and that has to happen at the grassroots, among the people who elect local leaders, not just among the leaders currently in office.

We try to keep ourselves honest by asking "How will we know if we're winning?" And conversely, "How will we know if we're failing?"

If the name "Strong Towns" is on ten times as many tongues as today, but the same bad investments are still being made with the same frequency as today, that will be a failure. If people who say they agree with us are unable to apply our analysis in their actual work—because the institutional barriers are too high, or because they don't see the opportunities—that's a failure. 

Conversely, if Strong Towns is successful beyond measure in our work, it won't necessarily be because we're a household name when anyone talks about the built environment or municipal finance. That'd be flattering, but we really want our ideas to be viral. We, the organization, are just the delivery mechanism. 

If we win, really win, you won't hear about it—because the vast majority of the change we produce won't be attributed to us at all. It will be embedded in the broader culture.