• Our cities need social infrastructure also

    People don’t live by water pipes, sewers, street lights, and thoroughfares alone. Social infrastructure is what transforms cities from collections of buildings and roads to communities worth caring about.
    Note: This article first appeared on Strong Towns .​ My first summer of living in Waco, Texas, I sat up late one night journaling. It had been about 10 months since leaving Brooklyn. What did I miss, exactly, I wondered to myself as I leaned my head back against my pillow. A few predictable answers...Read more

  • 35 aspects of the 15-minute city

    A photo essay illustrates elements that are critical for a successful 15-minute city.
    Note: This photo essay is adapted from a Twitter thread . What is the 15-minute city? It's every city ever built by humans on this planet until a century ago, but with a catchy new name. And if the old parts haven't been destroyed in the last century, it's where the tourists go. And people travel...Read more

  • Parking is a national policy issue, thanks to Donald Shoup

    A growing number of cities and states are reforming their parking regulations, and Donald Shoup, this year’s winner of the Seaside Prize, deserves considerable credit.
    Once the exclusive topic of poorly attended planning meetings in local town halls, parking requirements have now become the unlikeliest of national issues. Nolan Gray, author of the zoning book Arbitrary Lines , says that parking has become “an incredibly influential policy area that no one thought...Read more

  • Debunking the 15-minute city conspiracy

    The 15-minute city has nothing to do with restricting freedom—it's about restoring freedom.
    If you spend much time on social media, and you are interested in urban planning, you know that the “15-minute city” has recently been the subject of controversy and conspiracy theories. As one Instagram user claimed in a video that has 5,600 likes: “You won’t be able to use your own car on certain...Read more