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 Ed...
Jan 18, 2018•36 min•Ep. 7
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 Con...
Jan 15, 2018•15 min•Ep. 6
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
Jan 12, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 5
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...
Jan 08, 2018•18 min•Ep. 4
In this episode, Kea Wilson interviews Melody Hoffmann, author of Bike Lanes are White Lanes , which examines how the burgeoning popularity of urban bicycling is trailed by systemic issues of racism, classism, and displacement. Melody discusses the many factors that contribute to a person's comfort with biking beyond just the presence of protected bike lanes and why the "build it and they will come" mentality is flawed. She also shares examples of cities that are actively working within diverse ...
Jan 04, 2018•33 min•Ep. 3
In the inaugural podcast of 2018, Rachel hosts a conversation with Chuck Marohn to discuss fresh content, recent favorite books and exciting announcements to kick off the new year.
Jan 02, 2018•20 min•Ep. 2
Chuck and Rachel ask for help choosing new intro music for this podcast ( vote here! ). Then they recap recent events in Florida and share the best podcasts of 2017. Finally, they close with Chuck's favorite books from the year. Mentioned in this podcast: Vote for our new podcast music: https://www.strongtowns.org/survey Our Best Podcast Episodes from 2017 Favorite Books from 2017 Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters--and How to Talk About It by Krista Tippett...
Dec 14, 2017•42 min•Ep. 387
Strong Towns members Bo Wright and Haile McCollum wrote dueling essays this year, debating the merits and drawbacks of small town southern life. Bo's October essay "Why I'm Leaving My Small Southern Town," inspired Haile to write her own: "The Case for Small Southern Towns." So we brought them on the podcast to discuss further. Rachel Quednau hosts this friendly, spirited conversation about what Bo and Haile find valuable about life in the small town south, and what they'd like to see change. Th...
Dec 07, 2017•38 min•Ep. 386
Chuck and Rachel discuss a recent event in Washington state, which inspired today's article: " The Ideology of Traffic ." They also chat about an upcoming meeting in Chicago and Best of 2016 content. MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST: " The Ideology of Traffic " Best of Strong Towns Global Grid's Top 20 Urban Planning Websites of 2016 Webcast: Creating a Strong Towns Comp Plan Strong Towns article archive...
Dec 05, 2017•26 min•Ep. 297
Chuck and Rachel discuss a recent trip to Montreal and the language differences present there. They also share several exciting announcements including new Strong Towns t-shirts , a new Strong Towns book , and the 2017 Annual Report . Plus they share a final update on the membership drive. Mentioned in this Podcast: Event in Panama City, Florida Strong Towns 2017 Annual Report Introducing our New Book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Roths...
Dec 05, 2017•24 min•Ep. 385
The infamous "master builder" of New York City, Robert Moses, is the subject of a new rock musical, opening today (November 30) in New York. In this podcast episode, Kea Wilson interviews Karen Carpenter, director of the musical, Bulldozer: The Ballad of Robert Moses , as well as the musical's writer, Peter Galperin. They discuss why they selected this controversial figure as the subject for their musical and how they went about depicting his vision and story within the show. They also talk abou...
Nov 30, 2017•36 min•Ep. 384
In this podcast episode, Chuck and Rachel review the highlights (lowlights?) from Strong Towns' annual #BlackFridayParking event and share some exciting news... They also provide an update on the 2017 member drive. We're so close to our goal of 2,000 members. Help us get to #2000Strong by joining today. Become a member of Strong Towns : www.strongtowns.org/membership
Nov 28, 2017•27 min•Ep. 383
This Friday is our annual #BlackFridayParking event — a nationwide action drawing attention to the harmful nature of minimum parking requirements. Each year on Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, people across North America are invited to snap photos of the (hardly full) parking lots in their communities to demonstrate how unnecessary these massive lots are. Participants then upload those photos to social media with the hashtag #blackfridayparking. Get more info about how...
Nov 21, 2017•24 min•Ep. 382
Strong Towns staff members Chuck Marohn and Bo Wright check in on the final day of our 2017 Member Drive to talk about their hopes for the future of the Strong Towns movement. They discuss the intentional choices that the Strong Towns organization has made about how we disseminate our message and push for change, and they talk about our vision for reaching more communities to transform the cultural conversation in America. Chuck and Bo also share some of the organization's plans for 2018, includ...
Nov 17, 2017•45 min•Ep. 381
A year ago, Shreveport, Louisiana was on the brink of building a highway right through the poor inner-city neighborhood of Allendale. As residents came together and rallied against this project in order to protect their homes and their community, Strong Towns became an inspiration and a voice for their efforts. In addition to sharing stories about the people and the community that would be ripped apart as a result of this highway, Strong Towns also focused on the fundamentally flawed economic ar...
Nov 16, 2017•42 min•Ep. 380
In this podcast episode, Chuck breaks down Strong Towns' core insight about the American growth model — what's wrong with it and why it's bankrupting our country — then talks about how this movement responds to that problem in a thoughtful, non-partisan manner. There are no simple answers. Success for our country will not come from the federal government or the corporate sector and trickle down to our communities. Rather, when we focus on the struggles of real people and make small, incremental ...
Nov 15, 2017•22 min•Ep. 379
In this podcast on the second day of the Strong Towns Winter Member Drive, Chuck shares a bit about the history of Strong Towns and the wake up call he had while working as an engineer — building the very roads and big box stores he now recognizes as harmful for our towns and cities. To build stronger towns, we have to shift the cultural conversation in American. It's a big challenge but with your help, we know we can do it. Join the Strong Towns movement today. We've still got a ways to go befo...
Nov 14, 2017•33 min•Ep. 378
On this podcast episode, Chuck Marohn shares an update on the Strong Towns movement and invites listeners and readers to join us as members during this important week. Help us spread the Strong Towns message across the globe. Become a member today. Help us become #2000Strong.
Nov 13, 2017•14 min•Ep. 377
In this podcast, Rachel Quednau interviews long-time Strong Towns member Matthias Leyrer about how he has built a financially resilient household. They discuss topics ranging from a major home rehab project to how the birth of a child changes your perspective on what's important (with a few tangents in between). This article is part of an ongoing series about building personal and household resilience. Read more from the series here....
Nov 02, 2017•38 min•Ep. 376
Chuck and Rachel recap recent events in Ashland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Northampton, Massachusetts. They also discuss upcoming events in Dallas, Texas and Monterey, California , plus a Strong Towns staff and board retreat. Finally, they check in about their holiday baking plans. Mentioned in this Podcast: Event and member meet-up in Dallas Event in Monterey And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: Stories From the Byways of American Women and Religion by Adrian Shirk...
Oct 30, 2017•31 min•Ep. 375
In this episode, Chuck Marohn interviews Keita Demming, host of the Disruptive Conversations podcast . Keita works in the space of applied innovation, helping companies become beautiful organizations, and holds a PhD from the University of Toronto. In this conversation, Chuck and Keita discuss the concept of disruption and why disruptive conversations are so valuable. They also talk about the difference between simple problems, complicated problems and complex problems — and which we must focus ...
Oct 26, 2017•57 min•Ep. 374
Chuck and Rachel discuss upcoming events in Virginia, Washington, DC, and Massachusetts. They also discuss Chuck's newest article on the pitfalls of school drop-off zones and chat about the special content they're preparing for next week.
Oct 23, 2017•26 min•Ep. 373
The Strong Towns message has a big impact wherever it is heard, but how do we turn that into action? In this episode, Founder and President of Strong Towns, Chuck Marohn, talks about some of the next steps for the movement.
Oct 19, 2017•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 372
Chuck and Rachel recap recent events in New Haven, CT and New York, NY. They also discuss some recent success stories of Strong Towns members in action. Mentioned in this podcast: "An Open Letter to the City of Springfield" by Chuck Marohn "One Million Strong" by Chuck Marohn Join us for this week's slackchat at 12pm CT on Wednesday "Putting Portland's Urban Highway in its Place" by Rachel Quednau "Placemaking Projects Create a Stronger Iron Range" by Rachel Quednau Debt: The First 5,000 Years b...
Oct 16, 2017•26 min•Ep. 371
In this podcast episode, Rachel Quednau interviews her colleague Kea Wilson about her journey to financial freedom and personal resilience. Kea talks about how she paid off $25,000 in college debt in less than a year and how a mindset of financial frugality and saving over spending has stayed with her since. By finding joy in low-cost, productive, simple activities and adopting a lifestyle aimed at happiness, not consumption, Kea is charting a path of personal and community resilience. We can al...
Oct 12, 2017•42 min•Ep. 370
Chuck and Rachel begin with some exciting news, then discuss upcoming East Coast events and debt in Puerto Rico (and what it means for all of us). Apologies; we had some issues with Chuck's audio on this one. Mentioned in this podcast: Planetizen's List of Top 100 Most Influential Urbanists New Haven, CT presentation and meet-up New York City presentation and meet-up "The Spooky Nature of Debt" by Chuck Marohn Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graebe Cognitive Architecture: Designing for How ...
Oct 09, 2017•39 min•Ep. 369
Chuck Marohn interviews Catherine Fitts, Strong Towns member and founder of the Solari Report . Catherine served as managing director and member of the board of directors of the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first Bush Administration, and was the president of Hamilton Securities Group, Inc. In this conversation, Catherine discusses ...
Oct 05, 2017•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 368
Chuck and Rachel recap a bunch of recent Strong Towns events in Spearfish, SD, Akron, OH, Santa Ana, CA, Pensacola, FL, and Holland, MI. They also discuss Chuck's Monday article, "Rules for the Uncomfortable."
Oct 02, 2017•36 min•Ep. 367
A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of hosting a webcast for Strong Towns members with Ferguson, MO-based farmer, Molly Rockamann of EarthDance Organic Farm School . This was part of a series we've been doing throughout the last few months about local food. You can find the whole series here . Kea Wilson interviewed Molly about how the farm got started, the challenges and advantages of having a farm in this location, where local food intersects with building Strong Towns and much more. We're no...
Sep 28, 2017•57 min•Ep. 366
With Chuck on the road, Rachel brings in her colleague Kea Wilson for a special edition of the Week Ahead podcast. Rachel and Kea discuss articles they've recently written and some upcoming projects. They also announce a slackchat they're hosting on Friday and discuss some favorite books. Mentioned in this podcast: "Is your state transportation system broke? Then hit up the Prius drivers!" "False Choices in American Transportation" Event in Pensacola, FL Event in Holland, MI "Four Tips for Bette...
Sep 25, 2017•23 min•Ep. 365
