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What Japan Knows That We Don’t
A country with thirteen zoning categories builds better neighborhoods than a country with fifty. The reason is one word long and we already know it, because it’s sitting in our comprehensive plan.
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Incremental Growth
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Rigid Zoning is a Bottleneck on Indiana's Competitiveness.
Indiana has spent decades perfecting a 20th-century economic playbook: keep taxes low, regulations light and the cost of doing business…
Feb 9
•
Jeffery Tompkins
5
Double Up the Lot: Turning Backyards into Bank Accounts
We should start saying "yes in my backyard" quite literally. The result could be generational wealth-creation for long-term residents.
Jan 6
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Jeffery Tompkins
8
1
1
I Want My MTV (Mall to Village): A 6-Step Guide to Retrofitting Suburbia
Stop, collaborate, and listen. It’s time to turn dead retail boxes into living neighborhoods. Just not all of them.
Dec 15, 2025
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Jeffery Tompkins
16
1
2
From Strip to Hip
Cities should create a Shopping Center Potential Index to understand where limited municipal resources should be spent
Dec 14, 2025
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Jeffery Tompkins
6
2
Will AI Replace Concept Work Done by Architects?
Hint: it already has
Dec 1, 2025
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Jeffery Tompkins
2
Indianapolis
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Welcome to Speed City
Indianapolis's new branding strategy can be a winning one. But we have to imbue it as part of our culture.
Mar 9
•
Jeffery Tompkins
7
1
Rigid Zoning is a Bottleneck on Indiana's Competitiveness.
Indiana has spent decades perfecting a 20th-century economic playbook: keep taxes low, regulations light and the cost of doing business…
Feb 9
•
Jeffery Tompkins
5
Double Up the Lot: Turning Backyards into Bank Accounts
We should start saying "yes in my backyard" quite literally. The result could be generational wealth-creation for long-term residents.
Jan 6
•
Jeffery Tompkins
8
1
1
You don’t hate paying taxes!
What you hate is paying taxes and getting nothing in return.
Dec 8, 2025
•
Jeffery Tompkins
8
1
Land Value Tax Would Solve This (But Probably Not in Indy)
Cities have other tools to encourage vacant properties to develop
Dec 3, 2025
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Jeffery Tompkins
9
How to Make Places Go
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What Japan Knows That We Don’t
A country with thirteen zoning categories builds better neighborhoods than a country with fifty. The reason is one word long and we already know it…
May 26
•
Jeffery Tompkins
28
2
7
The Cart Test™
A stupid-sounding heuristic for whether you’ve built a real place. We can think big by thinking cart instead of car.
May 20
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Jeffery Tompkins
26
1
9
Why the Five-Over-One Feels Dead
The most common new buildings in America score well on every planning metric we have. Except the ones we feel.
Mar 24
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Jeffery Tompkins
54
8
9
What Makes a Place Go?
Something separates the streets that hum from the streets that don't. I've spent my years trying to name it.
Mar 16
•
Jeffery Tompkins
14
5
3
Rigid Zoning is a Bottleneck on Indiana's Competitiveness.
Indiana has spent decades perfecting a 20th-century economic playbook: keep taxes low, regulations light and the cost of doing business…
Feb 9
•
Jeffery Tompkins
5
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