Hacker News Reader

I agree with most of their content, but I've never been able to figure out a solution that didn't cost "all the money".

Of course, I'm biased since I desperately want walkable neighborhoods far from street traffic, but the developers bribe their way into creating more ginormous parking lots, strip malls, and standalone fast food restaurants near the sprawling McMansions on postage stamp lots.

Town planners have no vision and/or balls to build communities.

View on HN

I guess what I’m trying to puzzle out is what their ideal city looks like. So apparently it isn’t New York nor Houston. Is it downtown Palo Alto? Is it one of the master-planned communities along 30A in the Florida panhandle? Those are both pretty pleasant, walkable places, but they don’t scale (and the price of admission starts in the mid seven digits, or maybe more, I dunno).

I’m reading some more of the pieces on their site, but like you, I can’t really tell what exactly they would propose as a real world solution that is scalable for everyone.

I'd guess that Strong Towns would advocate for cities more along the lines of Amsterdam and many other similar European cities than NYC. Of course, I personally tend to agree with the thesis of walkable cities and what Strong Towns is advocating for. I don't know if this would necessarily be the answer, but it is a strong hunch.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com