Book Club: Strong Towns

Welcome to our 2020 book series! The club is open to anyone interested and will be guided by its members. We’ll post a weekly discussion topic or prompt on this website page. Book Club members (you must sign in to keep the spammers away) can visit this page and/or our private Facebook group to engage in discussion leading up to a conversation meet-up in February.

January-February 2020 Book:

Strong Towns by Charles L. Marohn, Jr

Read-a-Long: Jan 1st – February 2020 Books can be found at local book stores (may need to re-order), online, and for check out at the Wichita Public Library. Bike Walk Wichita also owns a few copies for check out.

Virtual Chapter Discussion: Facebook Group Weekly conversation prompts will be posted on this page + on Facebook beginning on Sunday, Jan 12, 2020.

Meet Up Discussion: February 2020, TBA

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Weekly Discussion Topics:

[You can post a comment to this page. Most conversation is on Facebook.]

Pre-Discussion:

As we begin our book club journey, here’s a question we would love to see your input on:

During 2019, City officials rolled out a budget simulator, asking Wichita residents how they would like to see the City’s budget allocated and showing the effect of those choices on the person’s property taxes. The underlying basis for the simulator was that the City cannot afford to do everything that its residents would like and, therefore, needs to prioritize. Did you participate in the budget simulation exercise? How would you prioritize the City’s budget?

You can see the City’s report on the results of the simulator.

Week 1 Discussion:

Week 1 Discussion:
“Strong towns aren’t made by real estate speculation or self-serving public policy. They are grown by the ideas, creativity, and the imagination of people within the community and by entrepreneurs and public servants who understand what needs must be addressed for the place to prosper.”

How can Wichita harness this energy of the people within the community?