My time at the Citymakers Collective 2026. This summer I visited the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina. Not as a tourist this time, but as an urbanist. For two weeks in June, a nonprofit organization called the Citymakers Collective hosted over 20 students for an intensive urban design program. Headed by my friend WillContinueContinue reading “How to Build Beautiful Communities”
Category Archives: Housing
2026 Charrette Keynote: the Courtyard Urbanist
What: Our 2026 Downtown Bloomington Charrette will kick off with a public engagement session and a keynote from prominent urbanist, Alicia Pederson! Alicia Pederson, Ph.D., is the founder and director of Courtyard Urbanist, an organization working to make fine-grained, mid-rise courtyard development practical again in American cities. Her work focuses on family-friendly housing, small-developer participation,ContinueContinue reading “2026 Charrette Keynote: the Courtyard Urbanist”
Strong Towns Blono Podcast Episode 1
https://anchor.fm/s/10ed3cb10/podcast/rss Our first guest of the podcast, longtime local Robbie Osenga of Catalyst Construction talks with Noah about building housing in central Illinois.
Return of Downtown Local Ownership?
After the September 8th 2025 Bloomington City Council meeting, residents of the urban core can now construct the beloved shophouse typology. (I know, it took some time to push this blogpost out the door). Agenda Item number 8.B. standardized the accessory dwelling unit application process (which we will talk about in a separate post), allowsContinueContinue reading “Return of Downtown Local Ownership?”
Julia’s Backyard Quest for Accessible Housing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A99FqQC9w9Q ADUs or Accessory Dwelling Units have been legalized on paper in Bloomington, Illinois since 2022. However, many conflicting clauses in the zoning code and use table effectively disallows them from being built. Julia Sutherland has been a resident of central Bloomington for more than a decade and has decided to turn her garage artist’sContinueContinue reading “Julia’s Backyard Quest for Accessible Housing”
Front N Center Charrette Process
This past Wednesday, July 9th, a group of sixteen volunteers worked to vision what could replace the buildings on the former Front N Center lots. Last year, the public was notified about the demolition of these long vacant buildings downtown due to long-term owner neglect. We wrote about our response here. Strong Towns Blono cameContinueContinue reading “Front N Center Charrette Process”
TEDx Talk: Thinking Small: Community-Oriented Responses to Urban Issues
I had the opportunity to share about about our movement and our ideals at a TEDx event earlier this year. Here is that video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8CA45PiYQo
Housing Flexibility Through Boarding
This post will be slightly different from what we have previously posted on this blog feed. However, I think it is important to discuss the personal side of the housing crunch here in Bloomington-Normal. Life can change quickly and housing situations can go from secure to precarious in a matter of days. Embracing a time-testedContinueContinue reading “Housing Flexibility Through Boarding”
The Power of Community: Cohousing
What is Cohousing? In order to help solve our growing local housing crisis, we must be willing to try new types of housing developments. The oversized McMansions that most builders prioritize today are too expensive and out of alignment for most homebuyers. The average household size has decreased significantly in the past twenty years. However,ContinueContinue reading “The Power of Community: Cohousing”
Thinking Outside the Box Housing Forum
Please join us for a housing forum this Sunday, August 25th from 2-4 pm at Bloomington Public Library. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: we have a housing “Poly-Crisis” on our hands. There are so many problems leading into so many facets of housing: overall supply, affordability, and the unhoused. Many ofContinueContinue reading “Thinking Outside the Box Housing Forum”