If we can't grow our trust networks beyond our tribes, we can forget about working together successfully as communities and regions, let alone as a nation of citizens or in coalitions of nations in common causes.
"Let’s take a wild stab at a generalization: Success at building a business or growing a non-profit or making a community more livable depends a lot on trust."
"You have to keep delivering what you promise to get people to keep buying what you’re selling."
"Simple concept, no? But earning and maintaining trust gets a lot harder when two conditions prevail — when it takes a lot of time to deliver on promises and when the folks doing the promising are strangers. We’ll put up with occasional screw-ups when we’re dealing with people or organizations we know well. But combine a time lag between what’s expected and what arrives with having to deal with folks who, you know, aren’t like us — that’s when the bar for investing trust is set much higher."
Community engagement guru and former journalist, Ben Brown, goes on to give city planners pointers on how to become better story tellers. And it starts with listening.
FULL STORY: Need a Better Story? Get a better to-do list

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.

The Tiny, Adorable $7,000 Car Turning Japan Onto EVs
The single seat Mibot charges from a regular plug as quickly as an iPad, and is about half the price of an average EV.

Seattle's Plan for Adopting Driverless Cars
Equity, safety, accessibility and affordability are front of mind as the city prepares for robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles.

As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?
With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.

With Protected Lanes, 460% More People Commute by Bike
For those needing more ammo, more data proving what we already knew is here.
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.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)