Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity

by Charles L. Marohn Jr.

At the old house, the girls were stuck biking the driveway, maybe the cul-de-sac. Anything unaccompanied beyond that risked tragedy with a speeding vehicle and a moment of inattention. And even if they had ventured further, there was no place to go. Their friends were likewise spread across the area, brought together outside of school only through scheduled play dates and long car rides. The new neighborhood is full of kids. A city park is a mere block away. The girls have learned to navigate the neighborhood on their own, a life skill I took for granted yet few of their peers seem to possess. They can go to the store or the library or, when they scrounge up some money, downtown for an ice cream. I’m watching them grow into the kind of confident people I always hoped they would be. The move has saved me five hours a week of commuting. Instead of being stuck behind the wheel, I walk or bike to work. And to get groceries. And to the hardware store. And anyplace else I can reasonably get to, even in the winter. I go days without driving, and I’ve felt myself become more relaxed, less stressed, as a result. The most consequential change with the move has been adding neighbors to my life. I will acknowledge, having grown up on a farm without neighbors, and having watched some of my short-tempered uncles get in petty feuds with theirs, this was the thing I was most nervous about with the move. My apprehension could not have been more misplaced.