Strong Towns

To ensure the United States thrives, it is essential to cultivate robust cities, towns, and neighborhoods. True prosperity can't be imposed from outside; it must be nurtured from within, gradually over time. As America undergoes change, the emphasis should be on fostering vibrant local communities where creativity, kindness, and teamwork can thrive. We support a development approach that helps communities in America become financially stable and resilient. Currently, the focus on growth often prioritizes new infrastructure to spur or support new developments. This method tends to waste public funds, unfairly favors certain types of development, and leaves significant maintenance responsibilities for future generations. The Strong Towns approach advocates for maximizing returns on existing infrastructure investments. We can no longer overlook past commitments in favor of new projects. Instead, we should focus on making the best use of the resources we are already dedicated to maintaining.

National

English

Non-profit

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

#262150

United States

#76957

News and Media

#3056

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

The Light Still Shines

5 days ago | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

I could give my own sermon here—on what Christ said about comfort (not much) and what He said about sacrifice (quite a lot)—but that’s not my role. That’s someone else’s role. And I’m frustrated that it wasn’t filled. That in a parish called to carry so much, the thing we consistently choose to carry with our greatest allocation of resources is our own transactional convenience. That feels, at best, uninspired. At worst, it feels misdirected. I’m frustrated with the parish council.
How Ordinary People Doing Small Things Can Change the World

1 week ago | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we change the world. That’s the challenge—and the inspiration—I bring with me today. Last night, I sat down to prepare these remarks. I wrote pages of notes, but nothing felt quite right. I kept asking myself: What do I want to say to a room full of people I consider close friends? What do we most need to hear at this moment?
The Trouble with Abundance

2 weeks ago | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

Abundance is a powerful word. It evokes optimism, confidence, progress. It gives a sense that a better future is not only possible but within reach, if only we can clear away what holds us back. That’s the energy behind "Abundance," the new book by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein. It’s a hopeful, energetic manifesto that diagnoses a key American failure: We’ve forgotten how to build. On its face, the argument is hard to disagree with. Our cities are choked with red tape. Housing is scarce and expensive.
Why Cities Fail When They Plan Top-Down and Hope Bottom-Up

3 weeks ago | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

A few weeks ago, someone shared a book title on Twitter: "Planning Like Moses with Jacobs in Mind." I haven't read the book so it is possible I am missing something profound, but the very concept suggested in the title struck me as absurd.
Noah Roth: How Animation Can Build Strong Cities

1 month ago | strongtowns.org

Noah Roth is the founder of Streetcraft, a platform that uses visual storytelling and urban design to explore and improve the built environment. (Transcript included.)
What Happens to Your City When the Federal Check Doesn’t Clear?

1 month ago | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

For my entire adult life, people have warned that Japan's debt was going to blow up its economy. I remember being a much younger investor thinking that it was an obvious trade — no economy could have a debt-to-GDP ratio that high and not lose control of its bond market. At the time, I was very frustrated at being too poor, and too much of an outsider, to be able to take advantage of this obvious opportunity. How naive I was. And, as it turns out, quite lucky to have avoided that mistake.
When Systems Are Fragile, They Break. Here's What That Looks Like.

1 month ago | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

What did we think was going to happen? In May 2016, I asked a series of hard questions about an airport water and sewer extension project here in my hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota. What’s our return on investment? What’s the long-term obligation we’re taking on? What does success even look like? These questions went unanswered. More precisely: nobody in the decision-making process was interested in an answer. Not the city council. Not the city staff.
America Should Sprawl? Not If We Want Strong Towns

1 month ago | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

There’s been a lot of buzz around Conor Dougherty’s recent New York Times piece, “Why America Should Sprawl.” The article argues that the country’s housing crisis is so severe—and infill development so insufficient—that we need to embrace aggressive outward expansion of our metro regions, what many would call sprawl, to build the millions of homes America needs. It’s a compelling, well-written piece, and it’s struck a chord with a lot of readers.
NYC’s Congestion Pricing Was Flawed-But Killing It Won’t Fix Traffic

Mar 3, 2025 | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

Last week, the Trump administration rescinded federal approval for New York City’s congestion pricing program, a move that left many transportation advocates and urban advocates frustrated. After years of delays, political fights and legal challenges, the first congestion pricing system in the U.S. was just getting started — only to be abruptly shut down by a policy reversal from Washington. If you believe in congestion pricing as a tool to manage traffic (and we do), this decision is infuriating.
Rebekah Kik Is Using the Power of Local Government To Lift Barriers

Feb 26, 2025 | strongtowns.org | Tiffany Owens Reed

To understand how one city leader can spearhead the housing reforms your city needs, look no further than Rebekah Kik, the deputy city manager for Kalamazoo, Michigan. Kik began to notice the “broken teeth” pattern of vacancy in Kalamazoo’s neighborhoods 10 years ago, during her daily bike rides to work. There were no bike lanes back then, so she would weave through residential streets looking for safe routes. She began to wonder why there were so many empty lots.