Top 5 Recent Stories (May 20–May 31, 2019)
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1. Do You Want to Know What Works?
by Charles Marohn | May 28, 2019
Come on, Chuck, just give it up already and tell us what works. If it were only that easy. At the heart of the Strong Towns message is the need to rethink who the real experts are when it comes to city-building.
2. We Used to Do This Everywhere
by Daniel Herriges | May 29, 2019
We’ve destroyed so many traditional, human-scale neighborhoods in America that we tend to think of the ones that remain—like New Orleans’ famous French Quarter—as inherently exotic, the kind of place you love to visit but certainly wouldn’t live. Let’s stop treating timeless, great urban design like it’s only for tourists.
by Bo Wright | May 22, 2019
“Though many of our worst problems are big, they do not necessarily have big solutions. Many needed changes will have to be made in individual lives… and in local communities.” Wendell Berry wrote these words about reforming agriculture, but they apply to building Strong Towns as well.
4. How to Revitalize a Neighborhood Without Gentrifying It: A Conversation With Developer Derek Avery
Ask Strong Towns Webcast | Charles Marohn & Derek Avery | May 29, 2019
Does development in a struggling part of town mean displacing the people who already live there? Derek Avery doesn’t think so—and he’s walking his talk as an incremental developer who works hard to lift up the communities he works in. If you missed our live webcast with Derek, check out his answers to your toughest questions here.
5. I Love the Place I Live. I Fear for the Place I Live.
by Daniel Herriges | May 21, 2019
I’m a member of the Strong Towns movement because I love the place I live, enough to want to change the destructive path it’s on. I know there are many thousands out there like me. Our movement needs you more than ever.
(Cover photo by Daniel Herriges)