The lament, “There’s nothing to do here,” might sound like teenage grumbling, but there may be more wisdom to it than meets the ear. Maybe we should look at our cities through the lens of organic social activities, both because they're enjoyable and because it gives us a chance to reconsider our values and the relationship between our design choices and our community’s social life.
Read MoreVison Zero is supposed to represent a commitment to achieving zero traffic deaths, but it often devolves into empty platitudes — even when public officials genuinely support it. That’s because they’re looking for solutions in the wrong place. Instead of blaming individual drivers, officials need to look at the root cause of most traffic deaths: the contradictory design of city streets.
Read MoreTrying to decide on your next smallest step? Chances are, your city already has systems in place to address infrastructure concerns. Strong Towns member Danny Williams demonstrates how you can use those systems to produce positive change.
Read MoreAn initiative that encourages people to use a bike instead of a car seems like a good thing, but does National Bike to Work Day actually encourage bikeability?
Read MoreEconomic productivity, cost-effectiveness and safety: stroads fail at all three. Advocates in Port Huron, Michigan, are working to make their city recognize that, so they can turn the dangerous Huron Avenue into a thriving community center.
Read MoreFrom arbitrary restrictions to overly harsh penalties, many homeowners associations (HOAs) do little to endear themselves to their neighborhoods. But your city may have more responsibility for these conditions than you realize.
Read MoreAt 75, she didn’t think she’d spend her time fighting freeways, but that’s exactly where Susan Graham finds herself. Founder of Stop TxDOT I-45, Graham has been fighting highway expansion in Houston for almost five years — and she’s nowhere near done. (Get to know Graham before she brings her knowledge to the national stage at the Strong Towns National Gathering, May 14-15!)
Read MoreA new development in Tempe, Arizona, claims to be “the best place to live car-free in the U.S.” But while this development has many of the trappings of a strong town, it’s lacking one of the most important elements: resilience born from incremental development.
Read MoreFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation to accelerate road projects, claiming it will make driving less miserable. However, driving in Florida isn’t miserable because of a lack of roads —it’s miserable because the road network is designed in nonsensical, dangerous ways that increase congestion and make it impossible to drive anywhere in a straight line.
Read MoreIn a frustrating move for road safety advocates, Washington, DC’s, Department of Transportation has canceled its plans to add bike lanes to a major city street. The decision comes after years of delays and despite the approval of all affected advisory commissions.
Read MoreWith an average of 39 collisions a day, Winnipeg, Canada, is a dangerous place for drivers and pedestrians alike. Residents have been fighting to change that for over 40 years, but progress is slow.
Read MoreWould you wait a month to fix a leaking pipe that was damaging your kitchen cabinets? No? Then why do we wait so long to fix streets where people continuously die in car crashes?
Read MoreIt’s hard for people to be excited about something they’ve never experienced before. How can we use positive experiences to change that?
Read MoreNew York’s popular Open Streets program might not continue this summer, as it is purportedly getting too expensive to maintain.
Read MoreLike many U.S. towns, Maumee, OH, has a state highway that cuts through their Uptown. For decades, it’s been known as a dangerous road…but no longer: the city is taking back its streets and making them places for people, not cars.
Read MoreNorfolk, NE, knows that people are the indicator species of a successful place, and it’s doing all it can to make its public spaces friendly to its people.
Read MoreIn 2015, Edmonton, a city of 1 million situated in the Canadian Prairies of Alberta, was the first city in the country to adopt Vision Zero—and they’ve taken that adoption seriously.
Read MoreWhy don’t the small things get funding?
Read MoreIn Capitola, California, residents erupted in protest after Debra Towne, a beloved local senior, was hit and killed walking across a dangerous stroad. And unlike in so many other places, the city actually responded.
Read MoreWhen Chattanooga’s Local Conversation learned of a crash that took the lives of a mother and child and severely injured the father, the group channeled their mourning into mobilization.
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