How Strong Towns Turns Doubt and Disillusion Into Hope and How-To

The realization starts to creep in slowly. It’s your self-doubt and resignation about problems you see in your neighborhood, town or city. The street that’s scary to cross (you know the one, where there's an accident just waiting to happen). The family that can’t find housing that meets their needs at a price they can work with. The senior who struggles to stay connected. The last small grocery store that just closed for good. The potholes that never get filled. The dead trees that never get replanted. The community pool that got so run down that it's not worth repairing.

You love (or at least like) your place. You can see what’s wrong and what should change, but you feel uneasy about asserting your own expertise or even believing your own eyes. You start to tell yourself, “I guess this is just how it is.” “I must be overreacting.” “They say it’s safe, so it must be.” “Maybe I’d be happier somewhere else.”

It’s asking for a safe way to cross the street and being told, “Sorry, a crosswalk isn’t warranted.”  It’s that voice inside your head that says, “I’m not an engineer, so what would I know?”

It’s your city claiming that widening roads is essential to grow the economy and will have many environmental benefits.

It’s the unquestioned free rein given to “experts” and “leaders,” even when their recommendations fly in the face of our collective values.

It’s a public engagement survey that asks you to weigh in on inappropriately technical questions that the average person can’t meaningfully assess. The survey leads you to believe that you probably don’t know what you’re talking about, and that you should really leave this topic to the professionals.

It’s the ambitious plans and policies that take years and thousands of dollars to develop, only to sit on the shelf gathering dust or be thwarted by a lack of funding or political will.

It’s the bureaucracy whose glacial pace and endless red tape erode the momentum, enthusiasm and goodwill of everyday people who want to do small things to make their places just a little better.

It’s taking a day off work to speak at a city council meeting only to be dismissed as a “special interest group.” (Meanwhile, the red carpet is rolled out for paid lobbyists who are thanked profusely for their time and ongoing partnership.)

And to top it all off, it comes from inside the urbanism world, too, from people who say, "You’re doing advocacy the wrong way! Effective advocacy means getting elected or working inside the system!"

We are up against all of this: an endless stream of both overt and subtle signals and mixed messages telling you not to bother, you’re not qualified, it’s not your job, you don’t understand, there isn’t enough money, it’s not a priority, you can’t do that, there’s nothing we can do about it. And at the same time: we can afford this, this is what people want, there’s no problem here, everything is fine.

Is it any wonder that more folks don’t take action?

Yes, we’re up against a lot. But if you find yourself unwilling to lose hope, unwilling to give up, then you will find yourself in good company here at Strong Towns.

Together, we’re building a movement that says you should never believe that there’s nothing you can do.

What I love about Strong Towns is that, in this community and with this approach, there’s no challenge too big or predicament too complex that we can’t find some small action to make a difference.

With encouragement, practical ideas, research and, of course, moral support, Strong Towns gives us both the hope and the how-to knowledge we all need to make our places a little bit stronger every day.

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If Strong Towns has given you the hope and how-to knowledge you need to make your place stronger, become a member today by making a donation of any amount.

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Strong Towns is a member-supported nonprofit that gives local leaders, technical professionals and involved residents the insights to make their communities strong and financially resilient. You can support this work by becoming a member today.