Better Planners Podcast

Welcome to another episodes of the Better Planners Podcast brought to you by the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association. This episode is a conversation between a few of the podcast team members who are professional planners in Oregon. They talk about how things have changed since the beginning of 2025 for planners and the profession. The conversation includes topics on government dist...

Welcome to part 2 of our two-part series on sounds of cities. In this episode we focus on how the sounds of cities have influenced and inspired art and culture, including some of the most famous musicians of this generation. We get into Billie Eilish, Adele, Aminé, Dr. Dre, Kendrik Lamar, and more! Find a playlist below that will add to the listening of this episode. Feel free to listen before, af...

Welcome to another episode from the Better Planners Podcast brought to you by the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association. This episode is part 1 of a 2-part series on sounds of cities, both the good and the bad. In this episode we focus on the negative impacts of sounds on cities, especially around noise pollution. What is the definition of noise pollution, who is responsible for crea...

Today's episode is a great one! We interviewed Gary Hamer, the current Director for Strategic Planning at Partner Tulsa , but his previous role with the City of Tulsa led to the implementation of a locally owned, full service grocery store in an underserved area of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In this episode we cover how Gary, as a planner, was able to use federal funds to assist in building a community...

Welcome to another episode of the Better Planners Podcast! This time Mary is joined by four other planners who also happen to be our podcast volunteers! They bring stories and advice from all across Oregon with various backgrounds and expertise. In particular, we focus on the good, bad, ugly, and funny parts of working in urban and rural planning. We also provide some good advice for new planners...

In this episode, Mary and Shelley interview planner and artist: Miguel Vazquez! He is a FAICP planner who likes to mix the worlds of art and planning together. We discuss how to think like an artist to become a better planner and why that is important. We also discuss various projects he's been involved in where art was used to assist in planning activities. Miguel is also heavily involved in...

The Better Planners Podcast is back for 2025! In this episode, Shelley and Mary interview James Rojas and John Kamp to talk about their new book, Dream Play Build: Hands On Community Engagement for Enduring Places and Spaces. They talk extensively on their process with using hands-on community engagement methods to create an equal playing field for everyone to get involved in community planning wo...

Welcome to another installment of a pocket park episode! In this one, Mary and Shelley discuss all things high speed rail, including the new federal funding to study a potential high speed rail line in the Pacific Northwest. What are the exciting opportunities, but also what are the pitfalls? Is it worth it to be able to go from Portland to Seattle in 1 hour, but it'll take years to fund? Wha...

Shelley and Mary have a second pocket park episode for you all! This one is a shorter episode on a very interesting topic: Offshore Wind Energy. Is there going to be one along the Oregon coast? We talk about how this federal project got to this point, where it is today, and the controversies surrounding the project. Will there be environmental issues, public engagement concerns, tribal nations eng...

We have a longer episode for you all this time, but it's a good one! In this episode we discuss the state of housing: how did we get here, what does the future hold, and we interview a few interesting projects happening in Oregon as they try find innovative ways to provide housing in their communities.  Want to be a part of the podcast? Send in an email or voice message!  The team behind the...

Shelley, Mary, and special guest Kristy Kilbourne, are back with a great episode discussing various issues that come up in the Planning Department or Planning Office and those workplace dynamics at play.  This episode actually came from a listener's voicemail who was seeking advice on issues in their own workplace. We discuss topics around poor leadership, the slow movement of government or b...

Shelley and Mary are back for another fascinating discussion around urban planning and neurodiversity. In this episode they interview Dr. Gala Korniyenko, who received her PhD at The Ohio State University. Her research explores the nexus of urban design, neuroscience, and the planning process. More specifically, she focuses on urban planning and autism.  Sources: "Autism Planning and Design G...

Welcome to the first Pocket Park Episode! These episodes are shorter and focus on current events, stories, studies, etc, that are happening right now in the world.  In this episode, Shelley and Mary, focus on a case in Brookings, Oregon that revolves around the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Will it have lasting impacts on religious institutions and land use across...

Welcome back to Better Planners podcast in 2024! We're starting the year off with a big one on state housing policy in Oregon, what to expect for the 2024 legislative session, and how planners and other allied professions can participate in the public process at the state level. We talk a lot about variances, urban growth boundaries, infrastructure funding, and much more! While this episode d...

Shelley and Mary are back for another interesting episode on the the “Taylor Swift Transit Effect.” We discuss interesting stats and facts from this phenomenon, some criticisms to looking at this event as a decider on changes for transit, and finally the big question: will these concert goers continue to take transit? What does it mean for women, non-binary folks, LGBTQIA+ folks when they take tra...

We're back!! Shelley and Mary are back in full force with a new episode all about the 15-Minute City Conspiracy Theory.  We'll dive into the details surrounding the 15-Minute City theory and the conspiracy theories surrounding it, including clips from demonstrations in the United Kingdom. Included are our takes on what this all means for urban and rural planners in the United States. Thi...

In the first episode of Season 2, you'll get to know a little bit more about the new hosts: Mary & Shelley! They'll provide information on how they got interested in city planning, what to expect with the new season, how to be involved, and their hottest city planning takes. Lots of really great discussion and conversation in this episode!  Want to be a part of the podcast? Send in a...

Welcome to the Better Planners Podcast brought to you by the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association!  Better Planners is a podcast that aims to highlight and facilitate real stories about real solutions from the ground-level work of planners, community development advocates, and allied professions. With an emphasis on amplifying the voices and stories of marginalized communities. The...

[OLD PODCAST EPISODE] Adrian Freund visits the mobile studio to discuss environmental justice, hazard mitigation, and disaster recovery planning. A pillar of the hazard mitigation planning community, Adrian is an AICP Fellow with almost five decades of experience in the profession. As a two term national APA Director and Past President of the Nevada and Wisconsin; the creator of development codes...

[OLD PODCAST EPISODE] Will and Chris chat with Becky Steckler as she discusses new mobility, emerging technologies, and building the places you really want to live. Becky serves as the Urbanism Next program director for the University of Oregon. Urbanism Next conducts research and convenes partners to explore possible future implications of new technology for people, cities, and communities to inf...

[OLD PODCAST EPISODE] Steve Nygren joins the PWP mobile studio to talk about master planning for community wellness. Steve is the founder and CEO of Serenbe, a wellness community created as a model to demonstrate that preserving 70% of green space interlaced with agriculture, housing, and retail is not only economically viable but the future of community well-being. This episode focuses on Steve’s...

[OLD PODCAST EPISODE] Nick Snead AICP, the Community Development Director at the City of Madras, OR, and Dustin Nilsen AICP, the Planning Director of Hood River, OR, join the PWP mobile studio to share lessons learned from planning in smaller, often rural, communities in Oregon. While many of the planning concepts discussed at the national level highlight work being conducted in the metropolitan a...

[OLD PODCAST EPISODE] Molly Mowery, AICP and Guest/Host Will Smith join Pints With Planners to discuss “Planning for Wildfire”. With changing climate dynamics and the expansion of the built environment into natural wildfire areas, community development practitioners are required to understand wildfire planning and hazard mitigation. This discussion wanders from what defines the Wildland Urban Inte...

 [OLD PODCAST EPISODE] Kale Roberts and Peter Ulrich stop by the Pints With Planners’ mobile studio to chat about “Sustainable Urban and Regional Development”. In a wide ranging conversation, Kale and Peter present methods for promoting sustainability in communities of all sizes. Tune in for this dynamic discussion that includes national and global examples on localized efforts to address climate...

[OLD PODCAST EPISODE] Shipra Narang Suri, the current Coordinator of the Urban Planning and Design Branch at UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme), joins PWP for a conversation on “Post-Conflict / Post-Disaster Recovery Planning”. From discussions on smuggling public infrastructure plans out of Poland during World War II to the use of Minecraft in reconstruction efforts, her mand...