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.

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Why Cities Fail When They Plan Top-Down and Hope Bottom-Up

5 days 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.
What Happens to Your City When the Federal Check Doesn’t Clear?

1 week 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.

2 weeks 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.
Traffic Deaths Are Down, But Not for the Reasons We’re Being Told

Feb 24, 2025 | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

Last month, the city of Tampa, Florida, announced that its Vision Zero initiative was working. Fatal crashes were down 12% in 2024 compared to the previous year, and serious injury crashes had dropped by 26%. The announcement celebrated these results as proof that local safety efforts were making streets safer. Everyone wants fewer deadly crashes, and any decline in fatalities is good news. But before we declare victory, we have to ask a crucial question: Is this decline real?
Massachusetts Zoning Lawsuit: Addressing Listener Pushback

Feb 11, 2025 | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

On a recent episode of Upzoned, I joined Abby Newsham to discuss a fascinating and controversial case out of Massachusetts: the state’s effort to sue a city over exclusionary zoning near transit stations. The case centers on Milton, a town outside of Boston, and whether local zoning decisions are undermining the state’s broader housing and transportation goals.
Can Sean Duffy’s New USDOT Transportation Order Bring Economic Growth?

Feb 10, 2025 | strongtowns.org | Charles Marohn

For years, Strong Towns has called for a fundamental shift in how the federal government approaches transportation spending, particularly in how it influences our development patterns. Both major parties have, in different ways, been hesitant to implement the kind of meaningful reforms needed to create financially productive, resilient places — ones that support long-term prosperity rather than just short-term economic stimulus.
Co-Living Provides Community, Not Just Housing

Feb 4, 2025 | strongtowns.org | Tiffany Owens Reed

Not even a year after tying the marital knot, Noah Tang, 28, found himself standing in a house alone, realizing that his wife was not coming back. The separation was final and the divorce would become final just a few months later. Beyond the whirlwind of emotions was the looming practical question: the mortgage. How would he pay it now that he was alone? Then an idea hit him.