It's all about crop yield: "Our urban environments are out-performing our suburban ones by three-to-one."

It's only 16 minutes, and not one of them is wasted. Previously we encountered Craiglow here:

Once again: "The design of a street, more so than any posted speed limit sign, invites drivers to go fast or slow."

Craiglow suggests it’s time for traffic engineers, who tend to put car movement above all else, to share the stage with smart designers. “We have to drive home design, and what design means to our community,” he says. “We have to tell the engineers: You have to ride shotgun for a little while. You’re still in the front seat. You’re going to navigate. We’re going to do it together. But you can’t drive all the time.”

Alas, no Craiglows in these parts.

NON-TYPICAL CITY PLANNER THINKING (Strong Towns)

“I made the connection between designing a great city and actually having the resources to build one. It’s all about crop yield.”
— Wes Craiglow

Wes Craiglow is the Deputy Director of Planning and Development for the City of Conway, AR. He's also the creator of the popular 20 mph street meme.

In the following TEDx talk, he discusses his recent transition from city planning to city managing. He advocates for the radical concept of considering city revenues and expense on a per acre basis, instead of just as line items in a budget. If you've been around Strong Towns for a bit, you know this is something we advocate for too. Wes does some great per acre analyses in his town of Conway and advocates for more productive land use in true Strong Towns fashion.