Tactical Urbanism, Housing Permits, and Fixing Engagement | Ask Strong Towns Anything – Jan 7, 2026

Key Topics Discussed

• Permit-ready and pre-approved housing plans

• Missing middle housing and traditional neighborhood design

• Why most public engagement processes fail residents

• Coalition-building and shared ownership of advocacy efforts

• Tactical urbanism tools, materials, and quick-build projects

• Bike lanes as a low-cost way to narrow streets

• Preparing candidate questions and issue-based pledges

• Choosing between large systemic reforms and early wins

Insights Shared by Members

• Members highlighted how permit-ready housing programs in places like Fayetteville, AR and Overland Park, KS help shorten approval timelines while reducing uncertainty for builders and staff.

• Strong Towns Houston shared that coalition visibility matters. Public events that visibly include multiple organizations signal legitimacy and shared responsibility.

• Several participants expressed frustration with performative public engagement, where public input is filtered or diluted before residents are meaningfully involved.

• New Local Conversation leaders wrestled with whether to tackle large systemic issues or smaller problems first, with guidance emphasizing momentum, learning, and trust-building over scale.

Links

Here are all the links that were shared in the January 7 session chat.

http://www.libertyhouseplans.com/
A library of traditional, builder-ready house plans that communities can use to reduce design costs and speed up housing approvals.

https://missingmiddlehousing.com/neighborhood-kit/
A visual toolkit that helps residents, staff, and elected officials understand how missing middle housing fits naturally into existing neighborhoods.

https://allisonramseyhouseplans.com/traditional-neighborhood-design-tnd/
A collection of traditional neighborhood design house plans created to support walkable, incremental development patterns.

https://www.kalamazoocity.org/Community/Community-Development-Housing-Programs/Pre-Approved-Housing-Plans
An example of a city-led pre-approved housing plan program designed to shorten permitting timelines and reduce uncertainty for builders.

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018-7-30-most-public-engagement-is-worthless
A Strong Towns article explaining how many public engagement processes fail to build trust or produce meaningful outcomes.

https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/most-public-engagement-is-worse-than-worthless
The archived version of Strong Towns’ critique of conventional public engagement and why it often does more harm than good.

https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2021/6/29/local-decision-making
An article exploring why strong communities depend on local decision-making rather than centralized control.

https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/tag/subsidiarity
A collection of Strong Towns articles focused on subsidiarity, the principle that decisions should be made at the most local level possible.

https://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2016PeoplefoBikes_Quick-Builds-for-Better-Streets.pdf
A practical guide to low-cost, quick-build street projects that allow cities to test safer designs before making permanent investments.

https://tacticalurbanismguide.com/
A comprehensive resource for planning and implementing tactical urbanism projects that create immediate, low-risk improvements.

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018-1-3-10-questions-to-ask-someone-running-for-local-office
A ready-to-use guide that helps residents ask better questions of local candidates about fiscal responsibility, land use, and governance.