Friday Faves - Your Weekly Strong Towns Roundup
For the touching story behind this photo, check out Lockport’s photo essay in Round 2 of the Strongest Town contest.
Happy Friday! A huge congratulations to Lockport, Illinois, the winner of our sixth annual Strongest Town Contest, which culminated this week. There were so many fantastic communities in the spotlight this year and we especially applaud Lockport; the folks there are doing the work to be a strong town every day. Thanks to all who applied, voted and championed these wonderful towns. We learn a lot from this contest every year, particularly from the examples and success stories we get the chance to hear about across the country. You can find many more stories, case studies and guides to building a stronger town in our Action Lab.
Here’s what Strong Towns staff were reading this week:
Chuck: My wife is a journalist, which over the years has occasionally caused some tension when something I was working on overlapped with a story she was pursuing. We’ve kind of made a friendly agreement to stay out of each other’s way, professionally, especially as she is a highly competent and respected newsperson who doesn’t need her husband to tell her what is going on (seriously, she doesn’t). So, every now and then, there is this great story about a topic I’m really interested in and I dive into it only to discover that it was written, and in this case recorded, by my wife. This story on North Star—a disaster of a project that, rightly or wrongly, disproportionately shaped my opinions on public mass transit—was made possible by my kids having to eat sub sandwiches as I shuttled them back and forth to dance because we only had one car while my wife was out on assignment.
Lauren: Pictured at right is the recipe I use to bake bread, which I took from Down Home Cooking. I grew up with this cookbook, which is full of really great recipes and all of the baking and cooking basics you might need to know. The pages in my copy that are most stained with butter and gritty with sugar are the ones that explain how to make sugar cookies, banana bread, and pie crust. If you’re going to pick up a copy, make sure to order it through your local bookstore. And, if you try your hand at this recipe, I have three recommendations:
Butter the crust of your loaf when it’s fresh out of the oven.
Store your finished loaves in a dutch oven after they’ve cooled to keep them at the perfect moisture level.
Bring a loaf to your neighbor when it’s still hot.
Rachel: Our friends at Greater Greater Washington shared this powerful advocacy essay, following the death of a four-year-old child who was hit by a driver while crossing the street. Every single news story we read about traffic deaths should be a resounding wake-up call that our streets must be better designed to prioritize safety, particularly for those walking, biking, or rolling, who stand little chance of survival when a car comes careening towards them. The Greater Greater Washington piece also included this surprising and devastating fact: “In DC, the most crashes involving people on foot happen in neighborhoods where the fewest number of people own cars.” Something is very, very wrong with our transportation system and if we want streets that are welcoming, safe, and productive for all people, we need to #slowthecars.
Photo by John Pattison.
John: Last Saturday I took my camera to a national wildlife refuge in suburban Portland, Oregon. I really didn’t know anything about this particular refuge (I just happened to be in the area), but I hadn’t walked far before a stranger—also carrying a camera—asked if I’d come to see the bald eagles. Apparently a pair of eagles had started nesting along the river there. The only shots I managed to get were of an eagle peeking over the rim of the nest. Still, it was fun to watch a steady stream of locals, including many young kids, file in to catch a glimpse of the impressive birds.
Not long ago bald eagles were in serious trouble in the U.S., despite their place of honor as our national symbol. In the early 20th century, Alaska put a bounty on bald eagles, leading to more than 120,00 confirmed killings. Later, DDT decimated the population across the country; the insecticide made the eggshells so thin they would break when the mother sat down to incubate them. By 1963, only 417 known nesting pairs remained. But bald eagles have made an impressive comeback. The New York Times reported last month that the population in the lower 48 states has risen to nearly 317,000, including 71,400 nesting pairs. The resurgence of bald eagles isn’t without complications, for them or for humans—see this fascinating 2017 story about the toll bald eagles are taking on farmers’ chickens, and this 2019 story about eagles dumping trash on the Seattle suburbs—but, for a bird once on the brink, this is a welcome conservation success story.
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Finally, from all of us, a warm welcome to the newest members of the Strong Towns movement: Jacqualine Pagani, Patricia Griffin, Nicholas Herold, Anne VanDerzee, Brice Childers, Tommy Delgado, Huy Vuong, Gwen Hoberg, Erin Hofener, Donna K. Virklan, Stephen Rausch, Leigh Fitz, Jeenly Louis, Mary Allen, Alexandra Startsev, Jon Maynard, Reto Morosani, Lynn Dehlinger, Kate Greene, John McClung, Joshua Hopkins, and Anand Pandian
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What stories got you thinking this week? Please share them in the comments!
Cover image via Metro Transit on Flickr.