Friday Faves - Your Weekly Strong Towns Roundup
Each week, the Strong Towns team shares their favorite links—the things that made us think in new ways, delve deeper into the Strong Towns mission, or even just smile.
The view from Alexa’s balcony this week.
The pace never slows at Strong Towns. This week was a busy one—with several important strategy meetings, interviews for job candidates and planning for future events. We’ve got several virtual presentations and trainings coming up, and more will be added to the calendar soon. Check out the full list here.
One quick reminder before we get to our weekly links: If you’ve ever listened to a Strong Towns podcast and want to help us out, please take a couple minutes to fill out this survey (it closes August 31). We’ll use the results to plan future podcast episodes and better structure our podcasts to serve you.
Here’s what Strong Towns staff were reading this week:
Daniel: This Vice article, “The Broken Algorithm That Poisoned American Transportation,” has made the rounds, and I suspect it’s one I’ll be linking people to for years to come. In clear language which doesn’t require any knowledge of transportation planning jargon or formulas to understand, author Aaron Gordon dismantles the pseudoscience of travel demand forecasting, and explains how it functions—not as a meaningful prediction of future needs, but as useful propaganda for the road-building industry to justify endless new construction. This article pulls the curtain aside and exposes the man working the machinery.
John: I really appreciated a series of articles The Daily Yonder ran this week, profiling rural mayors from across the United States. They include an Ohio official trying to diversify his town’s economy, Nevada’s youngest-ever mayor now running for re-election, and the mayor of Oswego, New York, where our friends at the Oswego Renaissance Association are doing their great work.
In a presidential election year, the contest for who will occupy the White House tends to suck all the air out of the room. So much so that people competing in downballot races struggle to get our attention. That's a shame because local elected officials—mayors, city council people, and more—tend to play vitally important roles in the day-to-day lives of our towns and cities. (This is why we addressed our pandemic toolkit to the local leaders on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.)
Chuck: I debated sharing this article and had pretty much decided not to until a colleague nudged me in a different direction. If you read the word “hydroxychloroquine” and partisan alarm bells start going off, I understand. This article explores how the antiviral drug became so controversial, and I’m going to urge you to read with an open mind. If you’ve not been triggered by the mention of it, you’re also going to want to take the time to consider how science and the scientific method are being undermined by bad actors, bad incentives, and bad faith. I believe this is an emergency of epic proportions because, not only are lives at stake right now, scientific advancement and human advancement are inextricably linked.
Lauren: This New York Times feature explains one way redlining continues to affect black people: by, over time, making it hotter in neighborhoods predominantly occupied by people of color due to a lack of trees and prevalence of pavement. The mechanism for this outcome is explained though easy-to-read maps, historical context, and present-day lived experiences. What I find particularly useful about this story is that it focuses on an outcome of racist policies that persists without being carried out by living humans, willingly or not. This makes it a useful rhetorical tool.
Rachel: I’m going totally outside the box here by sharing something that is neither new nor something I read, but it’s a piece of media I’ve been unable to stop thinking about for the past couple weeks. I finally got around to watching the show, Ramy, on Hulu after many friends recommended it. Check out the trailer here. It’s a comedy following the misadventures of a twenty-something young man who’s wrestling with his identity as a Muslim in modern American society. 80% of the show is just funny, and then there’s a solid 20% that really makes you think. As a twenty-something religious person myself (Christian), I find so much to resonate with in Ramy’s story of figuring out how to relate to his family, his friends (religious and non-religious) and American culture. For anyone who feels drawn to a value system and calling that is outside the standard American expectation these days, I highly recommend this show (although a small warning: this is not something to watch around your children).
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Finally, from Alexa and all of us, a warm welcome to the newest members of the Strong Towns movement: Spencer Brown, John Elliott, Stephanie Khattak, Brandt Rydell, Clifford Selbert, Charles Stiens, and Francis Vasquez.
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What stories got you thinking this week? Please share them in the comments or continue the conversation in the Strong Towns Community.