The Top 3 Strong Towns Articles from 2023: Rachel's Picks
Hi, it’s me, Rachel. You haven’t heard from me in a while on our podcasts or in our articles because I’ve been working behind the scenes a lot (mostly on our upcoming National Gathering!). But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading what’s been published on our site. It was hard to narrow my list down to three favorite pieces for this annual Strong Towns tradition, but here’s what I have for you.
1. “Award-Winning Complete Street Just Another Deadly Stroad,” by Charles Marohn
Rewind back to April of this year, when we published a hard-hitting piece by Chuck holding engineers, planners, and local and national leaders to account for their failure to make streets really and truly safe. Strong Towns has always been critical of labels and programs that give the veneer of safety with bling like painted bike lanes and native plants while failing to be places that are actually safe for those biking, walking, and driving. In this case, it was Agar Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, where a woman was tragically killed while crossing the street on her way home—a street that has also won several awards for its purported safety and design. We explored the crash on Agar Road in one of our first Crash Analysis Studio sessions, some of the most important work the Strong Towns movement has been leading this year.
2. “To Address Public Washroom Shortage, This City Took an Incremental Approach,” by Seairra Jones
Now on to a topic that might seem trivial but absolutely is not: bathrooms. Earlier this fall, Seairra wrote a thoughtful piece documenting successful innovations to address a problem that so many cities face: a lack of easily accessible public restrooms. These innovations, coming out of one of our Community Action Lab cities, Medicine Hat, Alberta, were cheap and quick to implement and every town can learn from them, whether you’re hoping to make downtown visitors feel more welcome or offer some options for unhoused people who have nowhere to do their business. It’s a no-brainer and Seairra documents it so well.
3. “Rick Steves: What Americans Can Learn From Europe’s People-Friendly Places,” by Ben Abramson
Let me conclude with my fangirl moment. When I heard several months ago that Ben was interviewing Rick Steves, I got very jealous and very excited to read the final article. I’ve been an avid reader of Steves’ guidebooks and viewer of his PBS show since I was a kid growing up in a somewhat globe-trotting family. He was a pioneer in helping Americans not just get comfortable traveling to foreign countries, but also have a nuanced perspective on the value of travel, on seeking out the unique experiences one can glean in a different place and on recognizing what we can all learn by immersing ourselves in unfamiliar cultures. And, of course, after crisscrossing the globe, Steves knows a thing or two about the way so many countries achieve walkable, people-centered places a heck of a lot better than the U.S. does. Here’s my favorite quote from Ben’s interview with Steves: “I live in a beautiful community, and it's so clear to me that beautiful communities don't just happen. They happen because of quiet heroism of local citizens who get involved, sit in meetings, stick at something they're passionate about, and make a difference in a grassroots kind of way.”
Rachel Quednau serves as Program Director at Strong Towns. Trained in dialogue facilitation and mediation, she is devoted to building understanding across lines of difference. Previously, Rachel worked for several organizations fighting to end homelessness and promote safe, affordable housing at the federal and local levels. Rachel also served as Content Manager for Strong Towns from 2015-2018. A native Minnesotan and honorary Wisconsinite, Rachel received a Masters in Religion, Ethics, and Politics from Harvard Divinity School and a Certificate in Conflict Transformation from the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium, both in 2020. She currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband and young son. One of her favorite ways to get to know a new city is by going for a walk in it.