We’re Seeing a Groundswell of People Doing Amazing Things in Their Communities
Nov 15, 2023
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The podcast discusses the importance of in-person meetings in creating meaningful impact in local communities and introduces a new program launching in 2022. It also explores innovative initiatives happening in a community, such as a tax on homes selling over a million dollars to fund affordable housing. The speaker encourages listeners to contribute to the strong towns movement and highlights the impact of membership support on various initiatives.
Local conversations have gained significant traction and are mobilizing people to make positive changes in their communities.
Strong Towns empowers local communities by providing resources and training, enabling them to push for safer streets and create a credible voice for change.
Deep dives
The Growing Impact of Local Conversations
Local conversations, a program initiated by Strong Towns, has gained significant traction and impact. The program began with places around North America identifying themselves as strong towns and taking action to improve their communities. These local strong towns groups have been organizing and mobilizing people to make positive changes in their areas, such as planning street trees, recruiting candidates for local government, and advocating for affordable housing through innovative taxes. Strong Towns recognized that groups with more than one leader who met in person were the most successful. As a result, they launched the local conversations program to support and expand these groups. Currently, there are over 180 local conversations across the country, with numerous requests to start more. Strong Towns is working to scale up the program and provide resources and training for local leaders, with the aim of creating a bottom-up revolution that positively transforms communities.
Empowering Local Communities through Programming
Strong Towns has been aligning its programming to empower local communities and harness their potential for positive change. The organization's crash analysis studio, which promotes safer streets, is a model they encourage cities to adopt. To support this initiative, Strong Towns has been partnering with local conversations that are passionate about safe streets and helping them launch their own crash analysis studios. By providing training and resources, Strong Towns enables these independent local groups to push for safer streets and create a credible and influential voice on the issue. The success of the community action labs, held in various cities, has further encouraged the formation of local conversations in those areas. Strong Towns views its role as a guide and cheerleader in this groundswell of people working towards positive change in their own communities.
The Power of Membership Support
Strong Towns acknowledges the significant role that its members and supporters play in driving the impact of the movement. Membership contributions, regardless of the amount, provide essential support for producing content, supporting local conversations, and expanding programs. Strong Towns expresses gratitude for the generosity of its members, as their contributions directly enable the organization to showcase success stories, explore new avenues for change, and sustain a powerful movement across North America. The movement has grown far beyond its founder and continues to inspire individuals and communities to take action and make a difference. Strong Towns encourages everyone, within their means, to become a member and be part of the bottom-up revolution that is reshaping communities for the better.
On this special Member Week episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck Marohn reflects how, despite being sick, his spirits were bolstered this week by the efforts of advocates he’s observed doing amazing work in their cities and towns. We get to support these local heroes through programs like Local Conversations and the Community Action Lab—and your donations are what support us so that we can continue making these programs happen. So, will you help us in making all of this possible by becoming a Strong Towns member today?
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