Strong Towns
Bring Back the Corner Store
‘Accessory commercial units’ were once common across U.S. towns and cities. Now, zoning regulations make them illegal in many places.
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Halts $15 Billion Project
After a legal ruling favored resident groups who charged the OTA with illegal practices and a lack of transparency, the authority ordered all work on a major turnpike expansion stopped.
Florida Law Would Change the Definition of ‘Sprawl’
One quick way to build sprawl.
How Much Will That Infrastructure Really Cost?
A new tool developed in British Columbia calculates the cost of infrastructure over the entire life cycle of the project.
Oklahoma Turnpike Expansion Project Challenged by Lawsuits
A recent court ruling could turn the tide against a roadway expansion plan that threatens to displace homes and businesses and that locals say was pushed through with little transparency or community input.
Crash Analysis Studio Brings ‘Standard of Care’ to Traffic Fatalities
A new tool from Strong Towns provides a model for comprehensively evaluating the causes behind deadly crashes and how to prevent them.
Why the City Can’t 'Just Put a Trader Joe’s There'
The flawed logic behind an all-too-common planning misconception.
South Bend Offers Small Developers Pre-Approved Housing Templates
The city hopes the templates, along with other incentive programs, will spur more housing construction on its vacant lots while maintaining neighborhood character and streamlining the development process.
Rhode Island Funding Highway Expansion Despite Poor Road Conditions
In a Strong Towns article passionately argued by Charles Marohn, Rhode Island’s penchant for building new highway capacity while the rest of the state’s roads crumble is compared to Emperor Nero.
A How-To for ‘Freeway Fighters’
Ten recommendations for effective freeway removal advocacy.
TxDOT Recommends a 10-Lane ‘Infrastructure Grave’ in Dallas
Rather than removing the freeway altogether, which the Texas Department of Transportation calls ‘unfeasible,’ the agency recommends burying the road in a billion-dollar, ten-lane trench through the city’s downtown.
Strong Towns: For Better Cities, End Parking Subsidies
The parking mandates and subsidies prevalent in American cities stifle development and remove agency from property owners and residents.
One Maryland Thrift Store: 40 Pages of Zoning Documentation
A writer for Strong Towns offers a case study of "the byzantine development process" of many municipalities in the United States.
Blanket Upzoning: A Solution to Housing Pressures?
Mass upzoning could give developers and homeowners the flexibility to build new housing where it's most needed.
How to Transform the Humble Strip Mall
One Northern Virginia shopping center illustrates how the auto-centric strip mall can be repurposed to better serve its community.
To Protect Pedestrians, Install More Bollards
Roadway designs protect drivers and construction workers with robust barriers. Why don't we protect pedestrians in the same way?
Updated: Strong Towns: Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Would 'Make our Infrastructure Crisis Worse'
To some, the agreement promises too much funding for traditional infrastructure programs rather than 'adaptations and innovations.'
Strong Towns Takes Licensing Challenges to Court
For a second time, Charles Marohn is facing a challenge from the engineering profession over his work as the founder of the popular advocacy organization Strong Towns. This time, Marohn and Strong Towns are pushing back.
A Contemporary Update to the #BlackFridayParking Tradition
For years, Strong Towns readers have been pointing out the vast empty parking lots on the busiest shopping day of the year as evidence of poor land use regulations. Now the #iwishthisparkingwas hashtag imagines a different future.
The 3 Types of Developers and Why the Difference Matters
Developers are frequently cast as a kind of monolithic bad guy in the politics of development, but developers are cut from different cloths, each with distinct interests and motivations.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
