To Build Strong Towns, We Need To Change the Cultural Conversation

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses the cultural shift that the Strong Towns movement is striving to create and why that shift is so essential to building more prosperous and resilient communities.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsNovember 11, 2024podcast, advocacy, bottom-up, member week

Want To Build Strong Towns? Step One: Don’t Be a Jerk.

If there's a single document that reflects the spirit of our work and the essence of the Strong Towns movement, it's the "Don't Be a Jerk" Agreement that we ask all Local Conversation leaders to sign. As the movement continues to grow — and as Election Day draws near — we want to make this agreement public.

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnOctober 7, 2024local conversations, advocacy, strong towns approach, bottom-up, partisan, politics

One Step at a Time: The Emergent Nature of Strong Towns Advocacy

One of the most daunting questions for many would-be advocates is “Where do I start?” The answer is simple: You start by noticing the issues around you and taking a single step to fix them.

Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedJuly 30, 2024bottom-up, local government, public engagement, Strong Citizenship, activism

How To Build Strong Towns That Are Irresistible to Tourists

If you are a tourism marketer, how can you work to make your town more sustainable, resilient and attractive to visitors? And how do you do it in a way that balances the needs of the community? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Need a Bike? This Montana Shop Will Give You One for Free

How do you get more people to ride bicycles? This is a question that plagues every cycling enthusiast, advocate and industry member. Bob Giordano of Missoula, Montana, has a simple answer: Give them a bike.

How an Opera Singer Joined the Fight Against Freeways

When COVID-19 put her career on pause, opera singer Ally Smither found a new passion: fighting highway expansion.

Community Stories, Top StoryAsia MieleszkoMay 10, 2024advocacy, end highway expansion, bottom-up, arts, texas

The Drip Effect: A Small Change Can Be Powerful, Too

As an advocate, it’s easy to feel discouraged when you can’t prompt any big changes in your community, or even among your loved ones. Be patient: Just as many small actions can help cities grow incrementally stronger, the small impacts you have on others can lead to big changes over time.

Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedApril 30, 2024communication, community engagement, Small Change, advocacy, bottom-up

What Does Effective Urban Advocacy Actually Look Like?

There’s a troubling narrative out there that you can only get things done in your community if you’re in public office, or by otherwise working through official, formal channels. But this is simply not true.

Sam Quinones: Recovering Addicts Are Having a Bottom-Up Revolution in This Small Kentucky Town

Sam Quinones returns to the Strong Towns Podcast to discuss a recent, moving article he’s written about Hazard, KY, a small town that was hit hard by the decline of coal mining and the rise of the opioid epidemic.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 4, 2024podcast, kentucky, bottom-up, small towns

Citizen Versus Developer? No! It’s Citizen As Developer.

On this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck delves into the topic of citizen-led development and its potential to reshape cities in a more financially resilient manner.

Build Galesburg for People, Not Cars

Galesburg, IL, is talking about Strong Towns ideas, centered around a question that many Strong Towns readers are familiar with: “Is our downtown built for cars instead of people?”

For Those Who Wish We’d Talk About Climate Change More

Progress on climate change can and will come if we use a bottom-up approach to changing our development pattern.

Here’s Why We Respond in Force to One Amtrak Crash While Ignoring Thousands of Daily Car Crashes

A top-down approach to addressing accidents fails to make streets safer. A local approach could change that.

Local Control or Centralized Planning? There’s a Third Answer.

The problems with "community input" are many and obvious. One misguided response is to favor more top-down policy making, simply overriding the objections of local "NIMBYs." But there is a third way.