"The Strong Towns movement transcends the normal answers to the very complex issues that our communities face."
Strong Towns is a member-based movement. Last month, we asked our members to answer the question, What draws you to the Strong Towns movement? and we were floored by their responses. Here are a handful we'd like to share with you today.
After you've read them, we invite you to become a member and join this amazing group of people who are working to build Strong Towns.
Photo from Strong Towns' Next Gen debate at CNU in Detroit (by Johnny Sanphillippo)
"Strong Towns' analysis is right on the money. It is like they are talking about our town every time. So many towns are close to making what they think are great decisions for all of the wrong reasons and if you help them see the other side of the argument, it is almost like a light bulb goes on."
- Jerry F
"The Strong Towns movement transcends the "normal" answers to the very complex issues that our communities face. Too often, the "solutions" offered are more of the same approaches that got us to this point. The Strong Towns movement digs deeper, often to places where the typical design professions and organizations fail to go, and I have found that the Strong Towns approach resonates with people outside of the design professions. That is what it is going to take to bring real change, and that is why I am drawn to and supportive of this movement."
- Brian Ludicke
"No one else is spreading this message. This isn't Smart Growth, it isn't New Urbanism. This is a unique advocacy organization dedicated to creating human-centered spaces in rural, suburban, and urban communities."
- Matthew Adair
"Strong Towns has attracted some of the best writers and thinkers about some of the most important issues."
- Ron Green
"The Strong Towns discourse is fascinating, mentally stimulating and tears down modern sociopolitical walls."
- Erik Brubaker
"'I thought that, too! That's what I said at that meeting!" or "D'oh! Of course!" These are my thoughts reading or listening to Strong Towns messages. Strong Towns content is infinitely refreshing, entertaining, and affirming to me."
- Beth Gehred
“Strong Towns gave me a community of people that were thinking the same thing. It was incredible to know I was not alone.”
"For years, I've been drawn to walkable cities, towns, and streets. My state (Connecticut) is not nearly as walkable or transit-friendly as I wish, and I was frustrated by it. What’s more, it seemed like none of my friends or colleagues questioned the way we built our environments, they just accepted it as "how things were done." Strong Towns gave me a community of people that were thinking the same thing. It was incredible to know I was not alone. However, what kept me interested in Strong Towns is its overwhelmingly positive message. It's so easy to look at the challenges facing our cities and towns and feel overwhelmed, as if there's nothing that can be done. Strong Towns, though, shows the power of incremental investments and the care of a citizen."
- Tom Broderick
I've seen so many downtowns suffer from the effects of poor decision-making. This is not rocket science but our city leaders need to be enlightened about the long-term effects of their decisions. I see Strong Towns as filling that niche.
- Mike Corbett
"Strong Towns talks about all the changes I'd like to see in the places where I live and work. The promise of the realistic vision of Strong Towns, and probably some of my own selfish hopes that I'll get to one day live in a strong place myself, draws me to the movement."
- Tim B.
"I live in a town that has seen its best days go by, but I'm not ready to give up on it yet. A lot of positive things are happening, due in no small part to some people who are followers of the Strong Towns movement."
- Mark McManus
(Top photo of Strong Towns in Shreveport, LA, courtesy of Re-Form Shreveport)