Wake Up Mesa! How To Take Acton > Attacking Head-On Current Development Patterns

10 STEPS TO A STRONG(ER) TOWN
August 29, 2016 by Andrew Burleson

Last names oftentimes say a lot -like your MesaZona bloggers : Mello(w) . . .
We often talk about cities needing to change their current development pattern, but we usually offer gentle suggestions intended to prod towns in the right direction a little at a time.
What if we attacked this problem head-on instead?
The author of this article hits it right in the head e.g..read the details
Excerpts from this source:
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/8/26/10-steps-to-fix-a-city


1. Don't issue any new bonds until the city's current debts are fully paid off.
2. Don't accept unfunded maintenance obligations.
3. Throw out your parking ordinances. 
4. Don't permit greenfield development when existing infrastructure is highly underutilized.
5. Require buildings to front the street.
6. Dramatically simplify your zoning.
7. Dramatically simplify your traffic hierarchy.
8. Stop building stroads.
9. Set a maximum block perimeter of 2000' and enforce it.

10. Fire anyone on staff who believes the above is unworkable.

In today’s municipal world the professionals are a big part of the problem. There are plenty of good people out there who could work well within the constraints above. If the people in your city staff don’t think that’s possible, then the city needs new staff.

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Each one of these actions marks a dramatic departure from the norm for most places. Take even one of these steps and your town is on its way to becoming stronger. Take them all and you might just have a truly strong town on your hands.

Want another way to assess your city's strength and build a better place? Take the Strong Towns Strength Test.