The Strong Towns Podcast

Welcome to the third round of our annual Strongest Town Competition! 4 towns are facing off right now and 2 will advance to the championship based on your votes. We invite you to listen to the podcast interviews that representatives from each conducted with Strong Towns staff to discuss their economic strength and resilience. Visit this page to vote: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-annapolis-md-vs-muskegon-mi  In this conversation, president of Strong Towns, Chuck Marohn, discusses Muskegon, Michigan with Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce President, Cindy Larson. They chat about Muskegon's unique farmer's market, challenging developments in the city's past, the advantages of being a lakefront community, and more.  Listen to the Annapolis, MD podcast, then vote for the strongest town in this match-up: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-annapolis-md-vs-muskegon-mi Voting closes at 12pm CT on Friday, March 23.

Welcome to the third round of our annual Strongest Town Competition! 4 towns are facing off right now and 2 will advance to the championship based on your votes. We invite you to listen to the podcast interviews that representatives from each conducted with Strong Towns staff to discuss their economic strength and resilience. Visit this page to vote: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-pensacola-fl-vs-kent-oh In this episode, Rachel Quednau, Communications Director of Strong Towns, talks with Christian Wagley of Pensacola, Florida about a unique citizen engagement and education effort, a transformative road diet on the city's Main Street, how the community is prudently utilizing settlement money from the BP oil spill, and more. Listen to the Kent, OH podcast, then vote for the strongest town in this match-up: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-pensacola-fl-vs-kent-oh Voting closes at 12pm CT on Friday, March 23.

In this episode, Chuck Marohn discusses the dynamics of school funding and facilities in his community. While some schools are well cared for and receive regular improvements, a historic neighborhood school has been slated for demolition. One of the reasons? Because the school next door wants an additional parking lot. Why do our communities make these decisions? How do we fight back while balancing the financial needs of so many other services (and other schools) that our cities have to provide for?

Rachel's guest on this week's episode is Strong Towns Director of Community Engagement, Kea Wilson. She talks about some recent articles she's written on safe streets issues in her city of St. Louis, MO. Kea and Rachel also discuss the current standings in the Strongest Town Contest. Round 2 kicks off tomorrow so don't forget to tune in and vote. Mentioned in this Episode When your city hates your traffic calming measures by Kea Wilson What if you and your neighbors redesigned your town's worst intersection? by Kea Wilson Announcing the Winners of Round 1 in our Strongest Town Contest Join us on Wednesday at 11am CT to discuss the contest on Slack. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson The Honestly Adoption Podcast  

Chuck Marohn returns to the Week Ahead podcast to report on recent events in Bismarck, North Dakota; West Palm Beach, Florida; and Thomasville, Georgia. Then he and Rachel dish about the 16 towns selected for the 2018 Strongest Town Contest. See the final bracket, read each town's submission and cast your votes here. MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST: Sioux Falls, SD presentation on March 5 Fishers, IN presentation on March 8 Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Resurrecting Easter: How the West Lost and the East Kept the Original Easter Vision by John Dominic Crossan God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World by Stephen Prothero

This week's guest is Sarah Kobos, a Strong Towns member and contributor who lives in Tulsa, OK. She talks about how she became an "accidental urbanist" and started getting involved with city planning in her community. She also discusses the slow but rewarding process of rehabbing a rental property. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: "Is zoning overlay the magic wand you've been looking for?" by Sarah Kobos "You care about the subdivision regulations. You just don't know it (yet)." by Sarah Kobos "Find a place you love that needs you" by Sarah Kobos Join us on February 27 in Thomasville, GA Join us on March 5 in Sioux Falls, SD The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Jeff Speck is a nationally-recognized expert on building walk-friendly, people-oriented places. His book, Walkable City: How Downtown can Save America, One Step at a Time, is beloved by planners, leaders and residents of cities big and small; and his planning firm, Speck & Associates, works in communities across the country. We recently invited Jeff onto our webcast to chat with Chuck Marohn about how to build slower, safer streets and why this goal is so important if we want to live in prosperous, successful cities. This is the audio from that webcast. To watch the video and see a list of questions, visit this page. And don't forget to nominate your community for our Strongest Town Contest! Nominations are due by February 26.

Rachel invites Strong Towns member and contributor Daniel Herriges onto the podcast to discuss his ongoing series about gentrification and why this issue has so firmly divided two groups of people who could actually gain a lot from working together. Rachel also shares an important reminder: Nominations for the Strongest Town Contest are due February 25. Apply today! Mentioned in this podcast: By Any Other Name: Gentrification or Economic Exclusion by Daniel Herriges (Part 1) Who benefits from neighborhood improvements? by Daniel Herriges (Part 2) Rough Waters: Gentrification and Cataclysmic Money by Daniel Herriges (Part 3) Strongest Town Contest info and application Join us February 20 in West Palm Beach, FL for a public event led by Charles Marohn.

One year ago, a woman in suburban Oregon crossed the street while under the influence of alcohol and was struck by a driver and killed. Her husband's lawyer couldn't find an engineer in his state who was willing to stand up to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and speak out about the dangerously designed street that played a part in this woman's death. So the lawyer called Chuck Marohn, President of Strong Towns, and he recently traveled to Oregon to testify as part of the case again the DOT. In this episode, Chuck reviews the case and discusses the dangerous design of the road that led to an innocent mother's death.

Richard Florida, author, editor and Professor at the University of Toronto, is part of a growing chorus of prominent thinkers across the country who are speaking out against the race to the bottom that Amazon's search for a second headquarters has induced. Strong Towns is fully in agreement that cities should compete on their merits and strengths, not on the amount of local tax dollars they're willing to pony up. So Florida wrote a letter and invited urban leaders, developers and economists to sign onto it — Chuck Marohn included. The letter asks elected officials in the HQ2 finalist cities to sign a mutual non-aggression pact that rejects egregious tax giveaways and direct monetary incentives for Amazon. So far, more than 1,100 people have signed it. You can join them. In this short conversation wtih Chuck Marohn, Florida discusses the letter and what motivated him to get it going.

In this episode with featured guest, Chuck Marohn, Chuck discusses his complicated relationship with Kansas City, MO culminating in a recent successful event there. Chuck also introduces the newest member of his family, Gryffindor the puppy! And Rachel introduces the 3rd annual Strongest Town Contest — with some new twists. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE STROADing in Kansas City by Chuck Marohn Nominate your city for the Strongest Town contest! Applications due February 25. Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier by Edward Glaeser This week's Slackchat on #slowthecars (Friday, Feb. 9 at 11:30am CT) The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan by Rick Perlstein Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age by Fiona Maddocks

Chuck Marohn reviews the recently leaked White House infrastructure plan and discusses the ways in which it aligns with Strong Towns principles, as well as the places where it falls short. Read more about it here and follow our ongoing infrastructure conversation here.

Rachel's guest this week is Strong Towns member and contributor Alexander Dukes, who just concluded an ongoing series on our site called A Town Well Planned. He talks about the inspiration for and response to his series, plus what it's like to be a community planner in the US Air Force. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE A Town Well Planned series Curbside Chat in Kansas City, MO (January 30) Presentation in St. Cloud, MN (February 2) Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

In this short, bonus episode, Chuck reads one of his recent articles about the chasm between the values of the average person and the values of the engineer. See the text of the article here.

Across the country, a movement of local doers is taking hold — one where problem solving happens from the bottom up instead of the top down. We're seeing this in everything from the way we educate ourselves to the tools we use to get places. The energy is coming not just from governments but also business leaders, teachers and scientists, and the solutions are interdisciplinary, too. This is what Bruce Katz, Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution, argues in new book, co-authored with Jeremy Nowak, The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism. In this episode, Chuck interviews Bruce Katz about his book, this new localism movement and how it could shape a better future for all Americans.

In this episode, Rachel has Chuck Marohn on as her guest to discuss a special Strong Towns focus on the need to build safer, slower streets. They also talk about some upcoming webcasts, with a side of football. MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST Slow the Cars by Chuck Marohn Design Speed is a Value Statement by Chuck Marohn Gross Negligence Webcast - February 1 at 12pm CT Curbside Chat in Indianapolis - January 25 A Webcast Conversation with Jeff Speck - February 15 at 12pm CT Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths by Bruce Feiler

If you're from any part of America besides Los Angeles, you've probably dissed the California city at one point or another. It's full of smog, traffic and vain movie stars, right? But that narrative misses out on so much of what L.A. has to offer. Not only is the city an exciting and rewarding place to live for many people, it's also, surprisingly, a great place to raise a family and — believe it or not — a good place to walk and bike. Alissa Walker is living proof of this. She's the Urbanism Editor for Curbed and a long-time resident of Los Angeles. She's made the city work for her and actually says that walking or biking is often easier than driving in her neighborhood. When she realized this a few years back, she ditched her car and has been enjoying bus rides, bike rides and walks with her family ever since. She's also watched the city around her change as investments in public space, walking, biking and transit grow. Alissa's hopeful that cities like hers will continue to figure out ways to welcome and

Rachel hosts Strong Towns member and guest writer Tim Wright as her featured guest on this Week Ahead podcast. Tim discusses an incremental park improvement project he's been leading in his town of Shreveport, Louisiana, plus a favorite new book that had surprising relevance with Strong Towns issues. (We encountered a couple sound quality issues in this recording so we apologize for that.) Mentioned in this podcast: Inspired Park Project Takes Root in Shreveport by Tim Wright Visit the Local Conversations page to find Strong Towns members taking action in your region. Learn more about the inner-city highway project that residents are fighting against in Shreveport. The Cost of Living by Arundhati Roy Fauda (TV show on Netflix)

This week Strong Towns president Chuck Marohn discusses risk, his own approach to investing and what it means for local governments to make investments that minimize risk and maximize potential gains. Referenced in the podcast: Blowing Up by Malcolm Gladwell

In this episode, Rachel asks Chuck Marohn why our cities need a 12 step program to get them out of their financial struggles. Rachel and Chuck also discuss some upcoming online opportunities for readers and listeners to engage in the Strong Towns movement. If you've got an idea for a Strong Towns staff member or contributor that you think would be a good guest for this podcast, email Rachel. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE A 12-Step Program for Financially Insolvent Cities by Chuck Marohn This week's open Slackchat with Chuck will take place at 12pm CT on Wednesday. Join us for a free webcast about the American Infrastructure Crisis, January 16 at 11am CT. Open Source with Christopher Lydon (podcast) The Longest Shortest Time (podcast)