When you have 20 different "national goals," many of which conflict with each other, then a project that destroys a neighborhood but saves 3.2 minutes of travel time can get the green light. We need a return to the laser focus and careful execution that made the Interstate Highway System possible.

Which kind of land use is the most financially productive: roads, parking, or buildings? Looking at this comparison, it isn't even close. Info courtesy of our friends at Urban3.

Trends come and go, but what’s always “in” is humbly observing where your community struggles. What’s always “in” is thinking of the next smallest thing you can do to address that struggle. Then you do it. Do it now. And repeat.

Great @strongtowns.org Towns video on how designing everything around the car makes life more difficult, especially for those who don't want to or can't drive: youtu.be/tZG-JNvYDPI

The redevelopment was recently highlighted by @strongtowns.org www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025...

Jane Jacobs published The Death and Life of Great American Cities during a time when the country demolished lively neighborhoods for highways in the name of progress.

On these platforms we hear a lot from people with strong opinions about housing, but a lot of that boils down to "I've lived in housing for most of my life, so I'm an expert." Instead, we should be listening to the people that are actually out there trying to build things:

Great thread on the importance of aligning reform with reality.

Statewide zoning reform isn’t producing the wins everyone expected. For example, state law can declare that small backyard cottages are legal. But unless cities can review them, permit them, and builders can finance them, legalization will remain largely symbolic.

One of the developers on this project presented in Kansas City recently and was really impressive. Some cool work happening in Fayetteville.

Fayetteville’s new housing program is a great example that illustrates recommendations in our Housing-Ready City toolkits. The program gets permits out quickly, reducing confusion and friction that prevents housing from being built.

YAY! IT’S PREMIERE DAY: Pls tune in today, Wed, Dec 3rd, at 2 pm EST for my chat with @healthtepi.bsky.social from Perth, Australia, about the institutional subsidization of motonormativity that directly contributes to epidemic levels of physical inactivity. youtu.be/ZGIatCdRQVY

As Charles Marohn wrote just last week: We’re living through our own Gutenberg moment now. And the real lesson is that “the technology didn’t destroy the system; it revealed its rot and accelerated the change that was already underway.”

Lots of news around the injuries and deaths of vulnerable road users in #Winnipeg. Sharing the recording of Transportation For A Strong Town in Winnipeg a few years ago. We have so much work to do. youtu.be/Hq00oq4ygyM?... #wpgpoli #mbpoli #cdnpoli @strongtowns.org

Put this to the top of your “listen-next” list… 🤩 Diane Alisa is a rising star with her new book: “Love Letter to Suburbia: How to Restore the American Village” #Strongtown @clmarohn.bsky.social @strongtowns.org podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...

On Friday, join @parkingreform.org and @strongtowns.org in the #BlackFridayParking tradition of documenting vacant spots on the biggest shopping day of the year. If there's even unused parking when demand is at its peak, why are we saddling our cities with all this asphalt 365 days a year?

The Complete Streets movement began with a compelling, people-first vision: streets designed to be safe, accessible, and welcoming to everyone, not just cars. But as this vision was absorbed into the federal transportation bureaucracy, it became a hollowed-out shell.

“To do the experiment, I have to live in it.” That’s what Monte Anderson told The New York Times when his work refitting his home into a multigenerational “roommate house” was spotlighted.

At least 15 times in the past 5 years, someone walking or riding a scooter or bicycle has been struck by a moving vehicle in Leawood, Kansas. Many of those struck were children. The parents intuitively recognize that street design is a contributing factor. And it’s time to act.

WATCH: If you really STILL don’t understand how car-dependent suburbia is HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED by downtown & all the urban parts of your city, please watch this EXCELLENT video by #NotJustBikes helped by #UrbanThree & @StrongTowns.org. And then please SHARE it as much as possible. youtu.be/7Nw6qyyrTeI

Maine communities keeping streets safe for students near schools @strongtowns.org

Walking to school shouldn’t be a death defying stunt. That’s why Strong Towns Hallowell, a group of advocates in the historic Maine city of less than 3,000 people, is working with the city to make it safe. If it’s safe for children, it’s safe for everyone.

New corporate landlords target declining markets in the Rust Belt and Midwest, confident they can profit despite local economic conditions. How did we get here? And if corporate landlords strip communities of local control and regulation gets outsmarted, how can cities actually fight back?

McGilchrist Street in Salem, Oregon is not a critical corridor of commerce. It is a low-intensity, low-value industrial street. So why is it getting $28.4 million in funding for an “improvement” project?

Last week, the Trump administration announced support for a 50-year mortgage. Except, this won't make housing more attainable, more affordable, more stable.

Everything about the "Chester riverfront redevelopment plan" that had the Union's PPL (now Subaru) Park at the center of it was doomed to fail. The ramps drop you RIGHT at the parking lots and you have zero incentive to go outside the lots before games or stay in the area after the final whistle.

This project highlights a broken infrastructure funding system: In the 2000s, Chester, PA officials pitched a revitalization plan centered around a waterfront soccer stadium, speculative development, and two new highway ramps to improve access from I-95.

This year's World Day of Remembrance and Ride for Your Life were inspiring and uplifting. #WDOR2025 @waba.org @safestreetsdc.bsky.social @strongtowns.org

New from @strongtowns.org: Small, precise zoning code text revisions that can unlock big opportunities for communities facing housing shortages. www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025...

Highways/Freeways are good for connecting far flung places to each other. Running them through cities/neighborhoods was one of the worst ideas of the 20th century -

We built highways to connect our towns. But then we never stopped building them, even when the interstate highway system was finished. This is because we fundamentally misunderstand crucial facts about highways:

“Tell me why I’m full of crap, over coffee.” In 2024, Strong Towns Member Tristan Cleveland posted that message to his local subreddit. He wrote about issues like bike lanes and congestion charges for the local paper, and his opinions were not popular.

To address the housing crisis from the bottom-up, we must understand: 1. We are in a Housing Trap. Housing is an investment. Investment prices must go up. Housing is shelter. When the price of shelter goes up, people experience distress.

DIY Roundabout! Good job!

The city of Artesia, California, was struggling with a speeding problem that sent cars hurtling into parked vehicles and even houses. City staff teamed up with Strong Towns Artesia to fix the street design that made the area so dangerous.

Strong Towns are inherently Active Towns because they are striving to be naturally walkable and bikeable places, which is why I’m proud to support @strongtowns.org as one of its founding members, and I invite you to join me in growing the movement now: bit.ly/3WPB15m See 🧵 for some fun extras...

I have had the honor of working with @strongtowns.org since 2012 and have created a fantastic playlist of profile videos, podcast episodes, and even a handful of walking interviews with @clmarohn.bsky.social, which you can access here: bit.ly/StrongTownsP...

We fundamentally misunderstand these things about streets: 1. Streets are a liability, not an asset. 2. Street design is the primary factor in crash prevention and safety. 3. Streets should prioritize human movement, not automobile movement.

Bus stops in Buffalo, New York, often lack any kind of seating. It’s a daily struggle for people who rely on public transit, as they’re forced to wait for long periods of time with nowhere to rest.

It’s Members Week! I’m incredibly proud to support @strongtowns.org because their work cuts to the heart of so much that’s wrong with our culture—how we build our cities and towns. Join me and become part of a movement dedicated to rebuilding real community! Link here: www.google.com/url?q=https:...

Parking mandates stifle the creation of homes and businesses. They cost the city money by making destinations farther and farther apart; you end up with more streets and roads per capita, more stormwater runoff to manage, and more liabilities on the city’s books.

I have largely given up cycling round this corner as too many drivers approached the blind bend too fast to react to the unexpected

Crashes aren’t accidents—they’re the predictable result of streets designed to forgive high-speed driving, even if that means putting people in harm’s way. Take, for example, this area of Portage Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I have been a member of @strongtowns.org since the very beginning, because their work is changing how we build our cities and towns—one block at a time. And as Chuck and I say frequently, Strong Towns are Active Towns. Please join me in growing the movement during Member Week bit.ly/3WPB15m

The Growth Ponzi Scheme: A city builds new infrastructure. That development brings in some quick revenue. But the long-term cost of maintaining all that infrastructure is far greater than the revenue it generates. So when the bills come due, the city doesn’t have any money.

This is such an easy solution to a problem and will save lives.

The Before looks like every road next to a school in Regina. Funny that 🤔

The "Before" looks just like Bob Wallace where Morris Elementary is. These road changes can and should be made. I have seen multiple close calls already in front of the school because of the unsafe design of the road.

www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025... @strongtowns.org national taking aim at some questionable investments in a sprawling part of Salem, OR

Speed cameras catch speeders. Better design actually prevents them.