Crowdsourced Value Per Acre Analyses, Discussions of Deferred Maintenance in Schools, and a Must-See Land Use Simulation
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Many of the success stories we’ve documented at Strong Towns have started with a Strong Citizen who had an idea to strengthen his or her community. Think Strong Towns member Joseph Molnar who, with the help of his neighbors, planted trees throughout South Bend to reduce stormwater runoff. Or Strong Towns member Jordan Deffenbaugh who, with his peers at Strong Towns - Sioux Falls, inspired his community to brainstorm (and execute!) small projects for Sioux Falls.
These members of the Strong Towns movement didn’t need master plans or stacks-on-stacks of funds to execute their ideas. Instead, they had a vision for a stronger community and a willingness to share it with their neighbors.
That’s the theme I discovered readers and members of Strong Towns repeated this week as I revisited a few notable engagements in the Strong Towns Community site:
Strong Towns member Alex Boston, inspired by Andrew Kelsey’s must-watch value per acre tutorial, pitched the idea of an archive of value per acre analyses created by members of the Strong Towns movement (and folk are diggin’ it).
Strong Towns reader Nic Hutchison, discouraged by his city’s proposal to close three historic schools to build a new facility in the suburbs, discovered several helpful articles and insights from the community to contest the proposal.
Strong Towns reader Ryan Cooper shared a must-see simulation he created that visualizes the difference in land use between the current and traditional development pattern. (Don’t sleep on this—for real.)
Like the folk we celebrated above, you likely have an idea to strengthen your community, such as more missing-middle housing or bike lanes throughout downtown. However, unless you have personal experience implementing the ideas, they’ll likely remain a vision followed by minimal action.
But share them in the Strong Towns Community site and you join a crew over 200 readers and members of the Strong Towns movement with the knowledge you need to turn those ideas into informed action.
My challenge for you: right now, before you close this window, consider what idea you have to strengthen your community and share it with your fellow Strong Citizens in the Strong Towns Community site. And no worries: you don’t need five-point plans or hour-long presentations—just a willingness to share your idea for the next smallest thing you can could do to address a struggle in your community.
Then, as this community has demonstrated time and time again, discover how readers and members of the Strong Towns movement can, together, help make your place stronger.
Top photo via Strong Towns reader Ryan Cooper