John,

When's the last time you walked through an empty parking lot in the dark of night?

The answer is probably "not lately"—because in most American cities, local regulations demand that we keep that lot floodlit by streetlights from dusk til dawn.

Sure, it's a massive waste of electricity. Of course, there's a cheaper, more elegant lighting solution out there for your particular parking lot. But even if we wanted to find it, there's no sense in reinventing the wheel—right? Isn't that just the price we pay for efficient, scalable urban design?

Today on the site, Chuck Marohn questions the wisdom that our cities can't afford to come up with place-specific solutions for our community problems.

[link removed]

And then he makes a provocative case: if we want to be financially prosperous, we can't afford not to think outside the box—or learn from our local history.

Give it a read, and let us know: what's something else in your built environment that deserves to be re-imagined?

-Kea and the rest of the Strong Towns Team

Website

[link removed]

| Twitter

[link removed]

|

[link removed]

Facebook

[link removed]



[link removed]

| Slack

[link removed]

| Become a member

[link removed]

1511 Northern Pacific Rd. Rm 206

Brainerd, MN 56401

You may unsubscribe

[link removed]

from this list at any time. A tidy inbox is important, and we hope you'll come back and join us again soon!