How to Find Strong Towns Advocates Near You

We like to say that you're surrounded by Strong Towns advocates...they just don't know it yet. Because even if someone hasn't heard of Strong Towns yet, chances are they care about the same things you do: your city's financial resilience, safer and more inviting streets, more and better housing opportunities, etc.

Here are some tips on how to find and engage with kindred spirits in your community:

1. Start a Strong Towns book club

A number of Local Conversations run Strong Towns-related book clubs. There are three Strong Towns books so far. They are:

• Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity
• Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town
• Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis

You might also be interested in a free ebook created by Strong Towns founder and president Chuck that he called “The Essential Reading List for the Strong Towns Thinker.” Chuck recommends 15 books that have been essential for him in his Strong Towns journey.

2. Share an article, podcast, video, or ebook

We have an archive of more than 9,000 articles. We publish three podcasts per week. We also have a growing YouTube channel. Here in Action Lab, we have more than a dozen free ebooks, webcasts, Action Guides, and much more.

If you find a resource helpful, consider sharing it with a friend, colleague, or neighbor. Make plans to talk about it or ask about it the next time you see them.

One of our newest resources is built around the Strong Towns series by the YouTuber Not Just Bikes. Those Not Just Bikes videos are funny, engaging, and informative. They have also been viewed millions of times. We recently created a free course of the Not Just Bikes Strong Towns series. We also created a series of video-by-video discussion guides for the Not Just Bikes series.

3. Start a hyperlocal blog, vlog, or podcast

A number of Strong Towns advocates, including a number of Local Conversations, produce blogs, vlogs, and podcasts with place-specific content. I think, for example, of the Winnipeg-focused blog of Michel Durand-Wood. Our friend Arian Horbovetz writes about Rochester. Allendale Strong has a podcast for the Allendale neighborhood in Shreveport.

Remember, too, that Strong Towns started out as a blog back in 2008.

4. Build a conversation online

Utilize social media — Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc. — to share Strong Towns ideas and connect with a community. Just remember: an online platform isn’t itself a Local Conversation. You really do need to meet regularly in person.

5. Invite friends to a Strong Towns event near you

Events are a great way of getting a bunch of people in a room together, hearing the same message, connecting with one another, and then “going forth” from there to put those ideas into action where they live.

Keep an eye on the Strong Towns events page to see if we’ll be coming to a community near you. We also recommend signing up for the Strong Towns email list, if you’re on it yet. If a Strong Towns speaker is speaking near you, you’ll get an email from us giving you a heads-up.

6. Invite someone to go through the free Strong Towns 101 course

In the Strong Towns Academy, you’ll find a free Strong Towns 101 course that is a great overview of Strong Towns ideas. One of the benefits of going through this course with a colleague or friend is that it gives you a common starting point from which to take action together. You and your collaborators will get the ideas, language, and tools you need to get started—and some practical action steps too.

7. Just start a regular conversation

This is the simplest and arguably the most powerful way to start a Strong Towns conversation in your city: just start a regular conversation. No Strong Towns materials are needed. You don’t need official permission from local government, don’t need an “invitation to the table,” don’t need advanced math skills, and you don’t even need an internet connection.

Go on a walk or bike ride with a friend. Notice where people are struggling to use your city. Try to understand why. Brainstorm together a small step you and a few others can take to address those struggles.

Ask each other, “What does our neighborhood need right now?” Ask, “What does our city have going for it right now that should be celebrated and protected and built upon?” Ask each other, “What are your hopes for our city?”