4 ms·

I've been a fan of "strong towns" for a while. I was wondering if anyone in the know here could answer: has it made much difference?

QuarterReptile 5y ago
I've been following along and donating since Chuck was on EconTalk in 2014, and the answer seems to be a clear 'yes'. Chuck sometimes says that the goal, other than to disappear because they're no longer needed, is to ensure that no city council or planning commission can ever make one of these really stupid developments without the opposition of people who buy into Strong Towns ideals, so it has been about fighting for mindshare. To that effect, their ~hundredfold increase in meetup attendance and the repeating of their message on huge channels like Not Just Bikes are both indicators of success. They're trying to overthrow the design vernacular of an entire society, and that's necessarily hard despite that vernacular being dangerous, dehumanizing, and expensive. It's a team effort, but I think they're pulling their weight. If you're (reasonably) wondering what they, as a particular organization, bring to the table, look at Chuck. He's a conservative Catholic engineer from a small Midwest town, which is significant both because that's a rare voice in this space, and because his broad appeal indicates something the organization is doing well so that it can reach a group that doesn't jump for 'Vision Zero', 'look at Europe', etc. In his recent announcement that the fatal library crossing from his second book just brought about another death, Chuck is as feisty as I've ever heard him; he's out for blood. I think he might be on to something with the goal of bringing crippling lawsuits against city engineers who have been sheltering from responsibility by hiding behind MUTCD.
floatrock 5y ago
Or more specifically, are there any towns out there that have gone all-in on this mindset? For example, there's lot of housing developers out there that build "eco-villages" housing developments -- the houses have solar or are well-insulated or there's a community garden or something else cute like that. But a real "eco village" isn't a housing development with a gate or two onto the local stroad, it's a walkable/bikable/mixed-development town where you don't need a car to go grab a cup of coffee. Outside of the old pre-car suburbs like Cambridge/Somerville, are there any towns that are actively all-in on these ideas?
1123581321 5y ago
Absolutely. Those of us who have been fighting for better downtowns and doing away with zoning problems and flawed arguments ad business development have so much more ammunition thanks to Strong Towns, and our opponents haven't for several years been able to pretend we're crazy or advancing unexamined novel ideas.

QuarterReptile 5y ago

I've been following along and donating since Chuck was on EconTalk in 2014, and the answer seems to be a clear 'yes'. Chuck sometimes says that the goal, other than to disappear because they're no longer needed, is to ensure that no city council or planning commission can ever make one of these really stupid developments without the opposition of people who buy into Strong Towns ideals, so it has been about fighting for mindshare. To that effect, their ~hundredfold increase in meetup attendance and the repeating of their message on huge channels like Not Just Bikes are both indicators of success. They're trying to overthrow the design vernacular of an entire society, and that's necessarily hard despite that vernacular being dangerous, dehumanizing, and expensive. It's a team effort, but I think they're pulling their weight. If you're (reasonably) wondering what they, as a particular organization, bring to the table, look at Chuck. He's a conservative Catholic engineer from a small Midwest town, which is significant both because that's a rare voice in this space, and because his broad appeal indicates something the organization is doing well so that it can reach a group that doesn't jump for 'Vision Zero', 'look at Europe', etc. In his recent announcement that the fatal library crossing from his second book just brought about another death, Chuck is as feisty as I've ever heard him; he's out for blood. I think he might be on to something with the goal of bringing crippling lawsuits against city engineers who have been sheltering from responsibility by hiding behind MUTCD.

floatrock 5y ago

Or more specifically, are there any towns out there that have gone all-in on this mindset? For example, there's lot of housing developers out there that build "eco-villages" housing developments -- the houses have solar or are well-insulated or there's a community garden or something else cute like that. But a real "eco village" isn't a housing development with a gate or two onto the local stroad, it's a walkable/bikable/mixed-development town where you don't need a car to go grab a cup of coffee. Outside of the old pre-car suburbs like Cambridge/Somerville, are there any towns that are actively all-in on these ideas?

1123581321 5y ago

Absolutely. Those of us who have been fighting for better downtowns and doing away with zoning problems and flawed arguments ad business development have so much more ammunition thanks to Strong Towns, and our opponents haven't for several years been able to pretend we're crazy or advancing unexamined novel ideas.