Strong Towns and the "15-Minute City"

Watch the presentation on Vimeo.

There’s a lot of good conversation right now about “15-minute cities.” In an article for CNU earlier this year, Andres Duany and Robert Steuteville described the 15-minute city as an ideal geography where all human needs can be met within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. They went on to describe the positive benefits of such communities, including socioeconomic equity (“those without a car could easily access all their needs”), lighter environmental impact, better health, and higher quality of life. We also know that neighborhoods built according to the traditional development pattern (i.e., human-scaled design, walkable distances, and a fine-grained mix of uses) are more financially productive than those built according to the auto-oriented suburban development pattern.

The Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is currently presenting a series of webcasts called 15-Minute Seattle: Creating Livable Places for All. So far, they have facilitated presentations on walkability, housing, and homelessness, among other topics. And earlier this week Rodney Rutherford and Cary Westerbeck talked about how their own smaller cities—Kirkland and Bothell, respectively—are using these same concepts to become stronger and more resilient.

Rodney and Cary’s names may be familiar to many Strong Towns readers. Rodney leads Strong WA, a coalition of people putting Strong Towns ideas into practice across Washington State. He’s also a member of the Kirkland Planning Commission and the founder of Livable Kirkland. Cary is a practicing architect and a small-scale developer. He was recently featured on an episode of The Bottom-Up Revolution, and is the co-founder of Bothellites for People-Oriented Places (BOPOP). Both Strong WA and BOPOP can be found on our Local Conversations map, and both Rodney and Cary are Strong Towns members.

Rodney Rutherford (left) and Cary Westerbeck (right)

In their webcast, Rodney and Cary show how the Strong Towns approach can help cities large and small move closer to becoming 15-minute cities. They discuss the social and financial impacts of the suburban experiment, talk about the power of incremental adaptation, and make specific recommendations for cities that want to become stronger. They talk about why small developers are the engine to build productivity and why the financial system needs to evolve new ways to support those small developers. (Hint: It shouldn’t be easier to get a $50 million loan than a $2 million loan.) They also recommend the groundbreaking financial analyses of firms like Urban3 and Verdunity to help local officials see the many benefits of building people-centered places. (We couldn’t agree more.)

The time-tested principles behind the “15-minute cities” deserve more than just 15 minutes of fame. That’s why we’re grateful for the work Rodney Rutherford and Cary Westerbeck are doing to make positive, lasting change in Washington...and beyond.

Cover image via Flickr user Steve Ginn.

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