Friday Faves - Your Weekly Strong Towns Roundup
Recently, Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn got to participate in two podcasts that each had very different takes on the Strong Towns message: WORLD Radio and Doomer Optimism. These were great opportunities to speak to different types of audiences, and we welcome getting to share this movement with a broad cross-section of North America. Both podcasts are below, for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Comment of the Week:
This abridged comment came from a discussion on our article, “Understanding the 85th Percentile Speed.” Join the conversation here!
Here’s what Strong Towns staff were up to this week:
Gingerbread accessory dwelling units! (Source: AARP.)
John: I have it on good authority that the North Pole isn’t a massive toy-making compound like what we see in movies. Santa Claus and the elves don’t live and work, Oompa Loompa-style, at their own factory. What I’ve heard (and please don’t ask me to reveal my source) is that the North Pole is a neighborhood. It is, dare I say it, a strong town. After decades pursuing a reindeer-oriented development pattern, residents are now working together to make the North Pole more walkable, more livable, and more financially productive. They ended mandatory sleigh parking minimums. They are using tactical urbanism to make the streets safer and more interesting for elves on foot. (It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a few bollards and some bales of reindeer straw.)
They also ended single-family zoning. Every neighborhood in the North Pole now allows the next increment of development by-right. Neighborhoods of single-family igloos are allowed to thicken up to duplexes, duplexes to triplexes, and so forth. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have been re-legalized too. What I’ve heard (okay, I’ll tell you: I heard it from Santa; I met Santa, I know Santa) is that he and the missus live in a cozy ADU just behind the main house, which is now occupied by the next two generations of Kringles. “My kids do most of the toy making these days,” he told me over milk and cookies last December. Then he did his signature laugh: “The grandkids do the toy breaking.”
These simple changes to the North Pole’s zoning laws have given the community the flexibility it needs to adapt. Younger elves who would have been priced out of the brisk Arctic housing market can find homes that work for them. Older elves are able to stay in the neighborhood. From sunrise to sunset (when there is a sunset) the snow-covered streets are bustling with activity. I’m thinking we may have found next year’s Strongest Town winner. In the meantime, when you’re making your gingerbread North Pole later this year, take some inspiration from AARP Iowa and the Des Moines Public Library: don’t forget to include that gingerbread ADU.
(Source: Unsplash.)
Chuck: This was a beautiful lesson in group dynamics and conflict resolution using the recent Get Back documentary on the Beatles. Fans know that the group broke up shortly after these sessions, so many were expecting more conflict between them than was shown in this film. It wasn’t there, and it wasn’t there for a few fundamental reasons applicable to all group artistic endeavors (including Strong Towns). There is a hierarchy of decision-making, a deference to everyone’s contributions and creative ability, and—most importantly—a shared commitment to the project being worked on. This analysis added to the profound level of love and respect I have for the four of them.
(Source: KHN.)
Michelle: This recent article on repurposing shopping malls into medical facilities caught my attention. I’ve watched Citadel Mall in North Charleston, like so many shopping malls throughout the country, enter a “downward death spiral for more than a decade.” I can’t remember the last time I was in the interior of the mall, and in the past few years, I’ve watched as much of it has been transformed into a full-service medical facility. The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is now the anchor tenant. In an odd juxtaposition, the old Sears space is now a film set for the HBO show “The Righteous Gemstones,” serving as the “Gemstone Prayer Center” in the fictional town of Locust Grove.
(Source: Unsplash.)
Rachel: In a recent newsletter from the AARP Livable Communities initiative, they shared this U.S. News & World Report article entitled, “Americans Over 50 Want to 'Age in Place' at Home, But Many Aren't Prepared: Poll.” It’s a topic I’ve personally thought a lot about watching my grandparents make their own choices about where to go as they’ve aged and their health has declined. I’ve also begun these conversations with my parents. The general idea of staying in one’s home up into your 70s, 80s, 90s is obviously appealing. This article makes the case, however, that for those who want the option of doing so, they need to make some adjustments to their houses and plan for that future so they’re prepared when the time comes. It’s worth thinking about, however old you may be. We’ve covered the topic of aging in place in a number of past Strong Towns articles and podcasts, which you can check out here. One recent conversation took place on the Bottom-Up Revolution podcast, where we hosted “universal design” expert Rosemarie Rossetti, who uses a wheelchair, and talked about the many simple tweaks you can make to things like doorways and bathrooms that will enable people of all abilities to safely and easily access your home.
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Finally, from all of us, a warm welcome to the newest members of the Strong Towns movement: JK Anderson, Tyler Bigler, Scott Cabeen, Shanna Draheim, Jon Ehrich, Brenna O'Sullivan, Tyler Roush, Ellen Soward, and Nathan Spindel.
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What stories got you thinking this week? Please share them in the comments!