The Strong Towns Podcast

In this weekly update podcast, Chuck and Rachel discuss the success of Strong Citizens Week, a recent controversial essay on sprawl, and Chuck's trip to the Strongest Town in America.

Chris Martenson is an economic researcher and futurist who specializes in energy and resource depletion. He is co-founder of PeakProsperity.com and the author of The Crash Course. We're pleased to feature him as part of Strong Citizens Week.

Ethan Kent is the Senior Vice President at Project for Public Spaces. Today he talks about his life with a family of four in a 900 sq ft apartment, as well as his work to make public spaces across the world better. We're happy to feature him as part of Strong Citizens Week.

Marian Liou is a long-time resident of Atlanta, a mother of two, and a graduate of Stanford University and Columbia Law School. She is also the founder of the social enterprise organization, We Love BuHi. We Love BuHi envisions a safe, attractive, fun and livable Buford Highway corridor that celebrates and is inclusive of its diverse communities. The organization helps to showcase local ethnic restaurants and works with restaurant owners to build a better neighborhood.

In the summer of 2010, Chris and Melissa Bruntlett, along with their two young children made the conscious deciison to sell the family car, embarking on a new and enlightening adventure. As they began to share their story of biking, walking and using transit for their daily lives with others, they gained considerable media attention and have been featured in several films, articles and more. They also started Modacity, a multi-service communications firm focused on inspiring healthier, happier, simpler forms of urban mobility through words, photography and film. We're happy to feature Chris and Melissa as part of Strong Citizens week.

We kick off Strong Citizens Week here at Strong Towns with a conversation with Mr. Money Mustache. MMM is -- by far -- the guest our listeners have most requested, and for good reason. He is the individual digital to our community analog. His insights will help you live a better life and, should you choose to be a true Mustachian, put you in position to help your community become a Strong Town. If you're not already, you should be reading everything you can at mrmoneymustache.com. You can also follow MMM on Facebook andTwitter.

Chuck and Rachel discuss the smart growth movement, neighborhood corner stores, and the winner of the Strongest Town contest. Plus, they offer a sneak preview of next week's "Strong Citizens" podcasts and articles.

Which is the Strongest Town? Hoboken, NJ and Carlisle, PA made it to the final round in our march madness Strongest Town contest. This is audio from our championship web broadcast, featuring representatives Phil Jonat (from Hoboken, NJ) and Brenda Landis (from Carlisle, PA), hosted by Chuck Marohn. Once you've finished listening, please visit strongtowns.org/strongesttown to vote.

Welcome to our Final Four round of the Strongest Town Competition. We invite you to listen to the following interview that Charles Marohn, president of Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest. Once you've finished listening to it, along with its competitor, Holland, MI (they'll be released at the same time), please visit strongtowns.org/strongesttown to vote. Brenda Landis (Carlisle West Side Neighbors), Chris Varner (Elm Street Manager) and Safronia Perry (Hope Station) discuss Carlisle's good schools, community festivals, hometown sports teams and their incredible restaurant scene. They also open up about the negative effect of local factory closures and how they're trying to handle that.?

Welcome to our Final Four round of the Strongest Town Competition. We invite you to listen to the following interview that Charles Marohn, president of Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest. Once you've finished listening to it, along with its competitor, Carlisle, PA (they'll be released at the same time), please visit strongtowns.org/strongesttown to vote. Mayor Nancy DeBoer, City Council representative Brian Burch, and City Manager Ryan Cotton discuss their community's diversity, snow melting capacity, theater scene, and strong local businesses including several breweries, plus what Brian labels "the best beaches in the world." They also discuss the challenge of redesigning their civic center.

Welcome to our Final Four round of the Strongest Town Competition. We invite you to listen to the following interview that Charles Marohn, president of Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest. Once you've finished listening to it, along with its competitor, Hoboken, NJ (they'll be released at the same time), please visit strongtowns.org/strongesttown to vote. Ryan Whaley (local business owner) and Eric Wobser (City Manager) discuss Sandusky's supportive community, the amenities that their waterfront location offers, the historic architecture, and the walkable neighborhoods. They also share their community's challenges with connectivity and creating a welcoming atmosphere for diverse residents.

Welcome to our Final Four round of the Strongest Town Competition. We invite you to listen to the following interview that Charles Marohn, president of Strong Towns, conducted with a representative from a town in our contest. Once you've finished listening to it, along with its competitor, Sandusky, OH (they'll be released at the same time), please visit strongtowns.org/strongesttown to vote. Phil Jonat, a lifelong New Jersey resident, talks about how Hoboken is a place where people can raise kids and grow old, plus the amazing Italian food, gorgeous riverfront, diverse businesses, and vibrant downtown. He also opens up about the challenges of affordability in this desirable city.

Chuck and Rachel discuss a recent trip to South Carolina, a week of open SlackChats and the March Madness competition. Plus, Chuck shares insights on economist, Tomas Sedlacek.

Strong Towns staff, Rachel Quednau, Jason Schaefer and Yuri Artisbise discuss the Strongest Town contest and share their personal predictions for the winners. Jason provides an update on the current standings. Learn more at strongtowns.org/strongesttown. CityLab has dubbed it "perhaps the most adorable bracket-style competition around."

Chuck is back from vacation. He and Rachel discuss pedestrian crossing and safety issues, along with the Strongest Town march madness competition, plus an upcoming live broadcast from the staff.

Chuck Marohn steps back to look at the Growth Ponzi Scheme and where it has taken us today. How do we currently deal with slow-downs in growth? How do anti-fragile, resilient, and fragile communities handle challenges differently? Chuck pulls from economists and scientists like Tomas Sedlacek and Jared Diamond to consider what the end of the Growth Ponzi Scheme might look like. It ain't pretty.

Juan Mullerat and Steve Wright run an urban design firm called PlusUrbia. In this interview hosted by Rachel Quednau, they discuss their newest project, helping to transform an urban highway --Calle Ocho in Little Havana, Miami-- back into a walkable boulevard. Learn more about the project and get involved at myCalle8.org.

Jason Schaefer makes a guest appearance along with Rachel Quednau while Chuck is out on vacation. They discuss a recent trip to Puerto Rico, the upcoming Strongest Town March Madness competition, membership and Tina Fey's book, Bossypants.

On this Leap Day, Chuck and Rachel discuss housing finance policy (last week's theme), a recent staff retreat to Disneyland, and a new membership page, plus behavioral economics.

Daniel Kay Hertz is a Senior Fellow at City Observatory and a graduate of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He joins the Strong Towns Podcast this week to talk about housing finance and how it impacts disadvantaged neighborhoods.