Strong Towns’ critique of America’s car-centric sprawl sounds appealing. But its proposed solutions rely on a conservative politics that prioritizes ‘wealth creation’ over just and equitable urban planning.
Great read! I always found Strong Towns’ critiques of North American suburban planning useful because they put things in terms that liberals can understand easily - essentially, that widening roads and encouraging low-density development ends up costing towns more money, and that we can provide better services to more people by building more densely with more mixed uses. I hadn’t looked into the actual recommendations of Strong Towns’ founder, though, and this article points out some real doozies that are good to keep in mind when using his critiques.
