Strong Towns Podcast

Summary: For decades we have avoided a difficult truth: Our pattern of development – the very way we build our towns and neighborhoods – costs more to maintain than it generates in return. We’ve masked this reality by inducing more growth through transfer payments between governments, reactionary transportation spending, debt and a Ponzi scheme of local government incentives. Our ability to use these mechanisms of growth is waning. Our cities and states now face a financial crisis of tremendous proportions. We can cut spending and we can raise taxes, but we will not be on a path to sustained prosperity unless we are willing to reform our approach to growth. Strong Towns is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on the root of these systemic problems: our land use patterns—the way we have designed our towns and neighborhoods.