Chuck Marohn (Strong Towns)+

It Took Me 20 Years to Realize This

City-building games are an interactive way to see basics of how towns work. Ancient civilizations utilized things like walkability, multi-family housing, mixed-use zoning, and more to optimize their cities because they had to! We can get back to these principles starting on our own blocks.

The Curb Is More Valuable Than You Think

The curb might be the most overlooked asset in your city. Instead of using it almost exclusively to store parked cars, cities can turn curb space into places that support local businesses, outdoor dining, deliveries, and safer streets.

Should Richmond Replace This Highway Ramp

This aging highway ramp is due for repair or replacement. But before spending millions rebuilding it, what if Richmond asked a different question: do we still need it? Reconfiguring the area as an urban street could remove the flyover, reconnect the street grid, and create a more compact, city-friendly design.

The Road Is Telling You to Speed

Looking for more on transportation policy? Our newest YouTube video explores where the Highway Trust Fund goes from here.

The Sidewalks Here Really Work

Over the past ten weeks, we’ve learned a lot from what Jane Jacobs had to say about the uses of sidewalks. Hope Henchey tried out some of those insights as in a neighborhood in Chattanooga. What will you observe as you walk around your own city?

Allowing Duplexes Doesn't Mean High-Rises

When people hear "more housing," they often imagine massive apartment buildings. That's not what we're talking about.

Why Most People Don't Use Transit

One of the biggest reasons people don't use transit is simple. They've already looked it up and realized it doesn't work for them. When transit gets people where they need to go in a time that fits their lives, people ride. The goal isn't convincing people to take the bus. It's building a system that's useful enough that they want to.

Better Streets Start With Small Experiments

Want to dive deeper into federal transportation policy? Watch our latest YouTube video on the Highway Trust Fund.

The built environment directs our behaviors

If casinos have figured out how to build an environment that makes spending money convenient as you get around, can’t neighborhoods find ways to make meaningful interactions and local support more convenient too? #urbanism #cityplanning #janejacobs

How To Better Design This Intersection

We’ll say it again and again: you don’t need a giant, expensive project to make positive change!

The Most Overlooked Tool in Street Design

A safer street can start with something simple: showing up and seeing how people actually use it. Walking an intersection, observing the conflicts, and understanding the conditions around a crash can reveal problems that aren’t always obvious from behind a desk. Better street design starts with paying attention.

what if we prioritized neighborhood parks?

Scuffletown Park in Richmond, VA is exemplary of this! #urbanism #neighborhood #janejacobs #shoplocal #cityparks

The Interstate Highway System was finished in 1991.

So why are we still building as if the job isn't done? Watch the full video on our YouTube channel.

Why This Street Worked Better Before WWII

What changed on Las Tunas Drive wasn’t just the buildings. It was the rules.

The Interstate Highway System wasn't originally meant to cut through cities.

So how did so many communities end up divided by highways? Watch the full video on our YouTube channel.

The Safety Tradeoff Nobody Wants to Make

Interested in the future of transportation policy? Our latest YouTube video takes a deeper dive into the Highway Trust Fund and what comes next.

The Interstate Highway System was completed decades ago.

So why are we still funding transportation as if the mission never changed? Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn sits down with Smart Growth America CEO Beth Osborne to discuss the Highway Trust Fund, the growing cost of maintaining our infrastructure, and why it's time to rethink our transportation priorities. Watch the full conversation now on our channel.

kids playing on the sidewalk make neighborhoods better

What if helping kids become part of daily life—through unstructured play on and around sidewalks—is a major benefit not only to them but to everyone else around, too? Jane Jacobs has a whole chapter on this in The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Let us know your thoughts! #urbanism #citylife #janejacobs

The Cheapest Way to Grow a City's Tax Base

Special thanks to the Urban3 Norfolk project team for collaborating on this project. Project Team: Leah Handwerger Joe Minicozzi Brooke Robinson Phillip Walters

Built for Speed, Not for Kids

A school placed next to a high-speed road wasn’t part of the plan, but it’s the reality families face every day. Rethinking where fast traffic belongs could turn neighborhood streets into safer, people-first spaces instead of risky shortcuts.

Chattanooga’s I-24 widening just grew by $300 million.

The interstate system fulfilled its original mission decades ago. Maybe every new expansion should now have to stand on its own merits. For the larger case behind Chattanooga’s $550 million widening project, watch “We Built the Best Interstate System. Now It’s Falling Apart.” on our channel.

We Built the Best Interstate System. Now It’s Falling Apart.

The Interstate Highway mission ended in 1992. The Highway Trust Fund did not. We now face record spending, growing maintenance gaps, and projects that don’t match local realities. Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn is joined by Smart Growth America CEO Beth Osborne as they explore how we got here. To learn what should happen next, check out the Mission Accomplished white paper: https://www.strongtowns.org/missionaccomplished *LEARN MORE* Strong Towns: https://www.strongtowns.org/ Smart Growth America: https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/ Transportation for America: https://t4america.org/ An

We're all participating in a web of trust

The everyday interactions that happen by chance as we pass people walking to and from errands matter more than we think. It's all building a network where our community can lean on each other while still maintaining our own private lives. #janejacobs #urbanism #community #walkable #cityplanning

The Gas Tax Isn't Really a User Fee

The gas tax is often called a user fee. But that's never been the whole story. Highway funding has long involved redistributing money across the country, and even then, gas taxes don't fully cover the cost of maintaining our road system.

More Homes Without Bigger Buildings

In 1957, Chicago made the decision to ban additional housing units on most residential lots. Nowadays, the city is facing an affordability problem, but it's beginning to incrementally reverse course by allowing accessory homes in parts of the city. Could your community benefit from the same approach? What kinds of small housing additions are still illegal where you live? Let us know in the comments!

North Carolina just banned parking (minimums)

The state has largely ended mandatory parking minimums, giving businesses and developers more freedom to decide how much parking they actually need. Will this lead to better places—or not? Let me know what you think.