This week on the Strong Towns podcast, Chuck makes a confession about something he did that he now regrets...and you might be surprised at how much of it revolves around poor placement of park benches in his town of Brainerd, Minnesota.
Of course, that's not all this episode deals with. What Chuck's beef with his local park's benches really boils down to is the systematic devaluation of public space, by people who have both good intentions and not a clue what they're doing. Their misguided attempts to enhance the park has actually made it a worse place to be. By extension, its ability to generate wealth and provide a beautiful public area for the neighborhood has been impaired.
How can you deal with similar issues in your own place? Maybe not with the exact approach that Chuck took (again, there are some regrets expressed in this episode), but there's still a lot we can learn from Brainerd's example. And if you really want to learn the ropes of urban design, then you need to enroll in our newest Academy course, Urban Design Principles for a Strong Town. It was designed specifically to teach non-professionals easy steps they can take right now to start improving their city or town.
Additional Show NotesLearn more about Urban Design Principles for a Strong Town.
Charles Marohn (Twitter)
Cover image via Unsplash.
Ask Strong Towns #10: August 2019
Steve Mouzon: Living Traditions and the Original Green
The Dignity of Local Community: Chris Arnade
What Happens When Housing Becomes a Cash Crop?
Building Cities For Our Unconscious Brains: Ann Sussman on the Failings of Modern Architecture
Start Small, and Make a Lot of Noise: John Yung on Suburban Revitalization
Ask Strong Towns #9 (June 2019)
What Does it Take to Bring a City Back from the Brink?
Autonomous Vehicles Are Coming. Do We Have a Say in Who Benefits?
Ask Strong Towns: Celebrity Edition with Community-Conscious Developer Derek Avery
Why does Strong Towns put *so* much emphasis on its members—and why is that so unusual in the nonprofit world?
It's the Strong Towns Moment
Steve Nygren of Serenbe: "I Wanted to Build a Town, Not a Development"
Land Value Tax with Joe Minicozzi
Memphis’s U-Turn: Interview with Doug McGowen
Ask Strong Towns #8: April 2019
What to Expect From Strong Towns: the Book
Greatest Hits #11: Economic Gardening With Chris Gibbons (2013)
Strongest Town Contest: Championship Round
Strongest Town Semifinals: Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
City Manager Unfiltered
Potencial Americano
The ASIC Podcast
The Chris Plante Show
Red Eye Radio