Next Up: California

Next week Chuck and Jim will be in the Los Angeles area, our first Strong Towns trip to California since 2012. We're working really hard to get to Northern CA yet this year -- keep your eyes open for that.

UPCOMING EVENTS

KEEP INFORMED ON WHEN WE'LL BE SOMEWHERE NEAR YOU.

SOME STUFF FROM THIS WEEK YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED.

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

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.

Strong Towns
Connecticut Towns Are Losing Millions to Parking Minimums. Will Lawmakers Act?
Strong Towns
Connecticut Towns Are Losing Millions to Parking Minimums. Will Lawmakers Act?
Strong Towns

A new push for parking reform in Connecticut reveals just how much public space and revenue towns are losing to outdated requirements—and what policymakers can do to fix it.

Strong Towns
This Canadian City is Taking a Hard Look at its Finances
Asia Mieleszko
This Canadian City is Taking a Hard Look at its Finances
Asia Mieleszko

Calgary is transparent about it’s finances. Now it’s time to uncover where value is being created—and where resources are being drained.

Asia Mieleszko
The Rent Is Too Damn Artificial
Edward Erfurt
The Rent Is Too Damn Artificial
Edward Erfurt

In January 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice sued six of the nation’s largest landlords, accusing them of artificially inflating apartment rents. But the lawsuit reveals an even deeper problem.

Edward Erfurt
Doing the Math as a City Council Member
Strong Towns
Doing the Math as a City Council Member
Strong Towns

Steven Zittergruen is a city council member from Decorah, Iowa. He joins Norm today to discuss the ways he’s making his community stronger, including revamping the city’s budgeting process. (Transcript included.)

Strong Towns
From Abandoned Church to Community Anchor: How Small-Scale Development Revives Neighborhoods
Strong Towns
From Abandoned Church to Community Anchor: How Small-Scale Development Revives Neighborhoods
Strong Towns

If you’ve ever seen an underused property and thought, “Why doesn’t someone do something with that?”—take a look at this church in Texas.

Strong Towns
Ohio REALTORS™ Share Their Knowledge To Respond to Ohio’s Housing Crisis
Strong Towns
Ohio REALTORS™ Share Their Knowledge To Respond to Ohio’s Housing Crisis
Strong Towns

Ohio realtors and community advocates have created a practical toolkit to help communities across the state enable infill development.

Strong Towns
Cities Are Already Defaulting on Their Debts
Charles Marohn
Cities Are Already Defaulting on Their Debts
Charles Marohn

Cities slide into insolvency not with a dramatic collapse, but with a slow, steady drift into financial fragility.

Charles Marohn
The Numbers Don’t Lie: New Study Proves That Tactical Urbanism Can Boost Local Economy
Asia Mieleszko
The Numbers Don’t Lie: New Study Proves That Tactical Urbanism Can Boost Local Economy
Asia Mieleszko

A Japanese study is the first to quantitatively measure the economic impact of tactical urbanism. Spoiler alert: it’s good for business.

Asia Mieleszko
The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Designing Prosperous Places
Strong Towns
The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Designing Prosperous Places
Strong Towns

Will McCollum is the president and co-founder of Citymakers Collective, a nonprofit that teaches aspiring architects and planners how to design resilient, beautiful and prosperous places. (Transcript included.)

Strong Towns
The ASCE Infrastructure Report Card Is Propaganda. We Deserve Better.
Charles Marohn
The ASCE Infrastructure Report Card Is Propaganda. We Deserve Better.
Charles Marohn

Every few years, the American Society of Civil Engineers releases its Infrastructure Report Card. Let’s be clear about what this report card actually is: industry propaganda, not unbiased analysis.

Charles Marohn
Strong Towns