How $180, Local Talent and Bottom-Up Action Can Strengthen a Community
An example of a bus bench built by advocates in Denton, Texas.
People who care about their community often feel like they can’t make a difference. They see their neighborhoods struggling with unaddressed problems, hoping someone else will step up to fix things. It’s easy to feel powerless, but a Local Conversation group in Chicago is proving that small, intentional actions can create meaningful change.
Strong Towns Chicago recently held an online Tactical Urbanism Visioning Session to brainstorm ways to make neighborhoods safer, more pedestrian-friendly and more inviting. Tactical urbanism involves low-cost, quick-build projects that address a problem immediately while demonstrating how more permanent changes to the built environment can lead to big improvements in quality of life.
During the session, participants focused on matching their talents with the community’s needs — a simple but powerful process. For example, group member Caleb Schemmel, with his background in architecture, designed an affordable bench that’s easy to build and install. Why a bench? Eddie Lehwald, the session’s leader, explained: "You're just on a busy corner with a trash can and a gas station. It's an awful place to wait, and [a bench] just adds that little bit of dignity," he said in an interview with Streetsblog Chicago.
The group decided to build and place three benches around Chicago, targeting areas that most need them. With a clear plan and a design that costs about $60 per bench, they’re demonstrating how local talent and grassroots action can address real community needs.
This kind of local effort isn’t just about benches; it’s about showing what’s possible when people come together to solve problems. The process starts with identifying a struggle that your community is facing, asking how you could address that struggle, and then taking action — no matter how small the step may seem.
You don’t have to wait for someone else to step up. Join a Strong Towns Local Conversation near you or, if there isn’t one in your area, start your own. Strong Towns provides resources to help you get started and make a difference in your community.
