Episode

Why Great Streets Are Not Enhancements

Podcast
The Strong Towns Podcast
Published
Jul 6, 2026
Duration seconds
3592
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://podcast.strongtowns.org/e/why-great-streets-are-not-enhancements/
Audio
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/e6wr4sywx98cu2n3/STP_7-6-26.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/the-strong-towns-podcast-496821/episodes/why-great-streets-are-not-enhancements
Markdown
/podcast/the-strong-towns-podcast-496821/why-great-streets-are-not-enhancements.md

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Summary

Street trees, benches, slower speeds, and beautiful proportions are often treated as extras, added only after the “real” engineering work is done. Victor Dover argues that this gets the whole assignment wrong. In this episode, he talks about the second edition of Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns and why great streets have to be designed as places, not just routes. Dover makes the case that beauty belongs in the brief from the beginning, because when a street is designed only for traffic flow, that is all it can ever really become: a place for traffic. Additional Show Notes Victor Dover (LinkedIn) Street Design (Book) Dover, Kohl, & Partners (Site) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.