A real market urbanism looks like an organic system, where as many distortions as possible are removed and we’re left with irrational, fallible humans transacting with each other as freely as possible. There is good reason to correlate that with the traditional development pattern.
Read MoreIf local governments are going to lose money on residential development, then they have to make it up on commercial development. That’s a risky business model, one that doesn’t pencil out.
Read MoreA failed mall can feel like a monument to your community’s economic failure. A presidential hopeful has an idea to bring them back to life. But is it a good thing?
Read MorePre-order your copy of Strong Towns: A Bottom-up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity to get in on the action.
Read MoreIn a suburban development pattern, the cul-de-sac is the gravy. It’s the cherry on top. It should be the most profitable part of the system, the place with the most tax base for the least amount of cost. If that’s not true, then something is terribly wrong with our model of growth.
Read MoreIn very simple terms, infrastructure is a platform for expanding wealth. If infrastructure doesn’t expand our wealth enough to justify its construction, it’s not an investment. It’s merely a form of consumptive spending.
Read MoreEarly in my career, I helped plan a highway bypass for a small town that I was sure would generate a positive return on investment in the form of economic growth. The only problem? The actual numbers we calculated told a different story.
Read MoreGot potholes? Can’t get federal funding for routine street maintenance? That’s what you think! As it turns out, there are all sorts of ways that cities game that system.
Read MoreI’ve had to reconcile my foundational belief in markets with my experiences working with cities. This has been a painful process.
Read MoreA new study on the “perception gap” between America’s two major parties gives some hope that, at least at the local level, we can find ways to work together, despite our differences.
Read MoreThe mentality of “easy to maintain” needs to be replaced with a question of whether something is “worth maintaining.”
Read MoreFor decades, many city leaders have thought the only way to end blight was to tear down the eyesores and start fresh. Mobile, Alabama had another idea.
Read MoreSome YIMBYs don’t like Strong Towns and claim we are anti-development NIMBY. Yet, NIMBYs hate us because we insist neighborhood evolve, adapt, and change. What’s going on here?
Read MoreInstead of subsidizing or regulating our way to the finished state we think we want in our neighborhoods, there s a much more powerful—and achievable—path we can take.
Read MoreEvery time it seems like our housing crisis is going to bring everything crashing down, banks inject a dose of antigravity. How long can it go on?
Read MoreCome on, Chuck, just give it up already and tell us what works. If it were only that easy.
Read MoreWhat the Strong Towns movement needs to do is change our cultural understanding about growth, development and the way we invest in our places.
Read MoreLast call before things get really crazy.
Read MoreThe desperate need to fill pension shortfalls may be wreaking havoc on the financial system.
Read MoreLiberals and conservatives have fundamentally different ways of looking at the world. So why do so many of them agree that we need more infrastructure spending—even if it might make our town weaker?
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