Strong Towns: Shedding “Dead Ideas” from Suburban Era

This morning, in response to America’s current economic conditions, Strong Towns released a new report calling for a dramatic change in America’s approach to growth and development. Curbside Chat; A candid talk about the future of America’s cities, towns and neighborhoods, suggests an entirely new approach to growth. In the report, Strong Towns calls on local officials to change course and shed the “dead ideas” of the suburban era and to take control of their own financial futures.

Strong Towns mission is to support a model for growth that allows America's towns to become financially strong and silient. With a vision to help educate local officials on how to do more for their communities with less, Strong Towns has created Curbside Chat. With this traveling presentation, Strong Towns primary focus is helping key community leaders in our country understand how we have built ourselves into decline; how local investments have failed to generate prosperity; and why the standard approach is harming our towns and neighborhoods. The Curbside Chat team travels across Minnesota and select parts of the Midwest to deliver their message to communities interested in hearing it.  

Their presentation has five parts:

1. Background on the current financial crisis.
2. The triggers that are forcing changes in the way we inhabit the landscape.
3. The “dead ideas” we need to overcome to renew prosperity in our towns and neighborhoods.
4. What the coming new economy is likely to look like.
5. What local leaders can do to position their communities for success in the new era.

Strong Towns’ approach emphasizes obtaining a higher rate of financial return from existing infrastructure investments, particularly within traditional neighborhoods where large public investments in infrastructure are currently being underutilized. Just as the building of industrial cities helped end the Long Depression of the 1870’s, and similarly, as suburban expansion helped end the Great Depression of the 1930’s, Strong Towns reiterates that we now must change our development approach if we wish to end the current economic crisis.

Some specific growth strategies highlighted in the Strong Towns’ report include:

• Halting  all projects that expand a community’s long-term maintenance obligations
• Improving the public’s return-on-investment and the use of existing infrastructure
• Large-scale changes in local zoning regulations to streamline approval processes
• Changes in the standard engineering approach to road and street design
• Creating new development along transportation corridors increasing pedestrian mobility
   

Read the full report >>

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