Fiscally-informed planning, design, and community engagement to cultivate strong neighborhoods.
All in City Management
Is your city racing to the bottom or the top?
Playing the low-price game is a common economic development strategy, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good one.
Nine lessons for putting Strong Towns principles into practice
“So, what is needed to help communities put Strong Towns principles into practice in a meaningful and lasting way? Or, in broader terms, to cultivate civic vitality in our cities?”
On 'civic vitality'
For us, civic vitality describes our professional goal for cities as an ongoing condition of progress and improvement, while avoiding silver-bullet syndrome.
Do our cities gather enough property taxes?
Like any business, cities generate revenue to pay for current costs of operation and for capital improvements. All these services and facilities have a cost, and some such as public safety and streets have enormous costs.