Let’s go back to the original tweet and really identify what is at stake. On the left, you have a bottom-up system where neighborhoods are shaped by many hands, a co-creative process resulting in evolution over time. It can be messy, but also adaptive and strong. On the right, you have a top-down system where neighborhoods are radically transformed based on the priorities of distant policymakers and corporations. It can feel orderly, but it resists change and is ultimately fragile. If you don’t want to be told how to live, you need to choose the approach on the left. If you want to decide for yourself the kind of place you live in, you need to choose the approach on the left. The approach on the left is a @strongtowns approach. Don’t be hard on yourself if you are just waking up to this reality. Most people don’t question the world around them -- it’s all we’ve ever known, after all -- even though the North American development pattern is the largest social experiment even undertaken. We reshaped an entire continent in a generation around new and untested theories. We live in that experiment. It’s not natural. If you want to go deeper, follow us @strongtowns. You can also get our other content free at strongtowns.org (new articles, podcasts, and videos each weekday) or dive into our first book, Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity. (strongtowns.org/strong-towns…) End Thread 19/19

At @strongtowns, we truly want people to decide for themselves the kind of place they want to live in. That’s not arrogance; it’s humility. 17/