Strong Towns

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.

Instead, she championed something different: a more decentralized, diverse, and, yes, messy city life created by many hands, grown from the ground up.

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.

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.

Legalization is a good first step, but that’s it. It’s a first step. The next is actually building an ecosystem around making these changes possible.

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.

The smallest of projects must navigate systems designed for the largest of developments. A 600-square-foot backyard cottage must comply with the same development standards, permitting submission requirements, and timelines as a 2,500-square-foot house on a one-acre lot.

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.

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.

It also helps people know where to start—a crucial piece for getting new and local developers into the system. And moving from gatekeeping to guidance also means city staff work hands-on with developers and builders who are eager to build what the city needs.

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.”

Today is Giving Tuesday. The challenges our cities face are growing, but so is the strength of this movement. Every story we share, every idea we spread, and every tool we build exists because people like you are committed to showing up.

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.”

The Suburban Experiment promised prosperity and wealth by spreading out. But the farther we spread out, the more abstract our systems became. The Suburban Experiment didn’t just change our geography. It rewired our culture.

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.

By aligning itself with federal funding mechanisms, proponents allowed its priorities to be diluted. Instead of producing streets that are safe, human-scaled, and integrated into neighborhoods, we’ve ended up with expensive projects that serve as compliance exercises.

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.

Despite these accolades, a pedestrian — Hellen Jorgensen — was killed at the only designated crossing along the corridor.

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.

And he continues to live and work by that idea: during an interview for Stacked Against Us, he was actually *in* a retail center he was rehabbing. This dedication to place is part of what sets incremental developers apart.

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.

While some of the deadly corridors are getting a redesign, it’s worth asking what can be done sooner or in the interim. Other cities like Charlottesville, Jersey City, and Indianapolis are already making changes to their streets using insights from the Crash Analysis Studio.