The Strong Towns Podcast - podcast cover

The Strong Towns Podcast

The Strong Towns Podcast is a weekly conversation on the Strong Towns movement, hosted by Strong Towns Founder and President Charles Marohn and frequently featuring special guests. The podcast explores how we can financially strengthen our cities, towns, and neighborhoods and, in the process, make them better places to live. Join Chuck in examining how everything from urban design to economics to systems theory to psychology helps inform this core question.

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Episodes

The_Week_Ahead_October_19_2015

Chuck and Rachel discuss last week's staff retreat and Member Meetup in Madison as well as Chuck's upcoming events in Maine this week. In addition, we discuss Chuck's recent reading list and welcome several new and renewing Strong Towns members.

Oct 16, 201518 minEp. 180

Madison_Member_Meetup

This week, Strong Towns' staff (Chuck, Jason and Rachel) got together in Madison, WI for a speaking engagement and a staff retreat. We also hosted a Strong Towns meet up. This podcast episode features several Strong Towns members.

Oct 16, 201511 minEp. 179

Toby Dougherty

Toby Dougherty, city manager for Hays, Kansas, talks about his city's efforts to implement a Strong Towns approach.

Oct 09, 201552 minEp. 178

The Week Ahead, October 5, 2015

Rachel and Chuck discuss last week's events in Ontario, Canada and Peoria, IL, the most beautiful city in North America and an exciting trip through US customs, plus the schedule for Chuck's trip to Idaho and Indiana this week and the book, The Selfish Gene .

Oct 06, 201523 minEp. 177

A Conversation with Joe Minicozzi

This week's podcast is a conversation with one of the country's leading urban thinkers, Joe Minicozzi of Urban 3 . Joe and Chuck talk about Brainerd, Lafayette, communicating complex ideas and Taco John's.

Oct 02, 201557 minEp. 176

The Week Ahead - September, 28, 2015

Rachel and Chuck discuss last week's events in Louisville, KY and Peterborough NH, Chuck's new title as "Colonel Marohn," plus the schedule for Chuck's trip to Toronto and Peoria this week and the book, D-Day Through German Eyes .

Sep 28, 201518 minEp. 175

Marohn O'Toole Debate

The question and answer session of the debate in Lafayette, Louisiana, between Chuck Marohn and Randal O'Toole.

Sep 24, 20151 hr 16 minEp. 174

The Week Ahead, September 21, 2015

Welcome to new members Pat Kemp, Nick Whitney, Eirc Rogers, Blue Weber, Chris Kennedy and Tom Broderick. Rachel and Chuck discuss last week's events in Salt Lake City, the schedule for Kentucky and New Hampshire this week and The Selfish Gene.

Sep 21, 201524 minEp. 173

Chuck v Randal (Part 1)

Audio of the opening statements and rebuttal from Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns and Randal O'Toole of the Cato Institute in their debate in Lafayette, LA.

Sep 18, 201553 minEp. 172

Weekly_Preview-Jason_Schaefer_Lafayette_Randal_O_Toole_and_Waco

A podcast preview of the upcoming week including introducing Jason Schaefer, the new Member Support Specialist at Strong Towns, a trip to Lafayette with Joe Minicozzi, a debate with Cato fellow Randal O'Toole and a success story in Waco.

Sep 08, 201518 minEp. 171

Climates and Markets

The global climate is a complex system. Economic markets are a complex system. Why do we react so differently to these different forms of complexity and what can we learn from those reactions?

Aug 27, 201552 minEp. 170

Organizational Update

Chuck talks about the organization behind the Strong Towns movement, an update to their strategic plan based on what has been learned and a powerful theory of change.

Aug 13, 20151 hr 5 minEp. 169

Aaron Brown and the Minnesota Iron Range

Aaron Brown -- author, college instructor and radio producer from Minnesota's iron range -- joins the podcast to talk about the history of the Iron Range, economic development issues and cultural obstacles to change. You can get Aaron's book, Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range , and read his regular blog at his site, MinnesotaBrown.com.

Jul 23, 20151 hr 1 minEp. 168

Gross Negligence

Chuck reviews three different incidents involving children killed by automobiles and asks: Who are really the ones showing casual indifference here?

Jun 12, 20151 hr 2 minEp. 166

Who pays for roads?

Tony Dutzik, Senior Policy Analyst with Frontier Group , joins the podcast to talk about a new report he co-authored: Who Pays for Roads? How the "Users Pay" Myt Gets in the Way of Solving America's Transportation Problems.

Jun 05, 20151 hr 1 minEp. 165

1000 Friends v. United States DOT

A ruling last week in U.S. District Court has potentially profound implications for road widening projects. This podcast features an interview with Steve Hiniker, Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin , the plaintiff that prevailed in a recent lawsuit against the USDOT, WisDOT and others. We also speak with an appellate attorney, Mahesha Subbaraman, about details in the ruling and potential subsequent moves....

May 29, 20151 hr 3 minEp. 164

Jonathan Coppage and Benjamin Schwarz at CNU 23.

Jonathan Coppage and Benjamin Schwarz of the American Conservative talk about their publication, how they got involved in New Urbanism and why conservatives are embracing New Urbanist approaches.

May 03, 201531 minEp. 163

Robin Bergstrom at CNU 23

Robin Bergstrom of CNU New England talks about how she became involved in CNU, how she came to be the Executive Director of CNU NE and the unique challenges of New Urbanism in the Northeast.

May 03, 201527 minEp. 162

John Anderson and Monte Anderson at CNU 23

John Anderson and Monte Anderson (no relation, except in good looks) talk about how small, incremental development can save the world and make a nice living for the entrepreneurial startup builder trying to transform their city.

May 03, 201544 minEp. 160

Matthias_Leyrer_at_CNU_23

Strong Towns contributor Matthias Leyrer talks about how he got started blogging, how urban renewal hurt his city and the memes he has been sharing on the Strong Towns Blog.

May 03, 201524 minEp. 159

Chuck Marohn and Andrew Burleson at CNU 23

In what has become a CNU tradition, Andrew Burleson takes over the podcast and turns the table on the host. Andrew pushes Chuck to talk about the advice he would give a fictional mayor in handling contraction of the city.

May 02, 20151 hr 3 minEp. 158

Sinclair_Black_and_Heyden_Walker_at_CNU_23

Sinclair Black and Heyden Walker, architects with Austin-based Black and Vernooy, talk about great streets, Austin and the potential to bury and cap an interstate. Their new ebook is available at ProjectGreatStreets.com .

May 01, 201523 minEp. 157

Lynn Richards at CNU 23

CNU President and CEO Lynn Richards talking about accelerating the pace of change, #IamCNU and ways the Congress for the New Urbanism is leading a movement for building great places.

May 01, 201531 minEp. 156

_Jarrett_Walker_and_James_Llamas_at_CNU_23.mp3 ×

Jarrett Walker of Jarrett Walker + Associates and James Llamas of Traffic Engineers, Inc . talk about the reimagined Houston transit network, the hard choices that brought it about and how the city's bus network now provides more service to more people with the same budget.

May 01, 201517 minEp. 155

Jeff Tumlin at CNU 23

Jeff Tumlin of Nelson/Nygaard talks about the nuances of the Trinity Toll Road, the cognitive dissonance of parking and using performance metrics to make good local decisions.

May 01, 201530 minEp. 154

John Simmerman at CNU 23

John Simmerman of Active Towns talks about his move to Austin, the Active Living tour and efforts to slow cars.

May 01, 201525 minEp. 153

Hazel Borys

Hazel Borys of Placemakers talking about living in a northern city, the spread of form based codes and being a reluctant, but necessary, free range parent.

May 01, 201525 minEp. 152

Steve Mouzon at CNU 23

Steve Mouzon talking about the Original Green, his new book, Cuba and a rescue project in Bahamas.

May 01, 201529 minEp. 151
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