Go Cultivate!

Have you ever heard the phrase "affordable housing" used by 5 different people,  but it seems like every one of them is talking about something slightly different? This episode will help shed some light on this sometimes confusing, always complex subject. AJ and Deborah go deep and we are here for it. Lots of great content to check out after you listen to this episode: Deborah’s Business:  https:/...

In the heart of San Antonio, Texas lies 2.2 miles of 7-lane stroad that connects to I-35. Originally part of a state owned loop, the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) approved a transfer of ownership to the City of San Antonio in late 2014. Since then, the City has undertaken a public engagement process to determine how best to adjust this road to better suit its citizens. Leaders in San Anton...

What makes a great downtown? What do we sometimes miss that can influence the way new visitors feel about our downtown? AJ interviews Catherine Sak, Executive Director of Texas Downtown to get the answers to these questions. If you care about your downtown, or are just a lover of downtowns generally this episode is for you. Catherine and AJ get into when you need to drop Truth Grenades on the memb...

In this first Podcast of the year Kevin takes an introspective look look back at Verdunity’s last year and gives a preview of what we expect to be up to in 2022. Listen in to Kevin giving some thought to What prosperity is. How we are building cities we can’t afford to live in or maintain. How clear it’s becoming that there is hope at the neighborhood level. As we look forward to 2022 we hope you...

Does your community say it values fiscal responsibility but continue to make development decisions that increase infrastructure and service liabilities without a plan to pay for them in the future? If so, a fiscally-informed comprehensive plan process like the one Verdunity helped Taylor, Texas prepare might be beneficial. Taylor is a small town in Central Texas who’s heyday came and went in the l...

The Go Cultivate! podcast is back! In this episode Kevin introduces Marshall Hines who will be helping out with episodes going forward and they talk about what to expect from us in the future. Chuck Marohn (of Strong Towns) and Kevin Shepherd (of Verdunity) discuss how they came to engineering in the first place, what led them to discover some problems in the profession, and their divergent paths...

Andrew Kleine is the Former Chief Administrative Officer for Montgomery County, MD, and before that, he was the budget director for the City of Baltimore. He’s the author of one of our favorite books, City on the Line: How Baltimore Transformed Its Budget to Beat the Great Recession and Deliver Outcomes . He describes the city's implementation of outcome-based budgeting during his time there. It’s...

2020 is almost over, and it's time for our annual assessment of how we're doing and what we want to focus on in the upcoming year. In this short update, Kevin and AJ talk about Verdunity's commitment to serving our listeners, followers, and partners and how we use listener feedback to inform what we write and talk about. To help us make the podcast and other content as relevant and helpful as poss...

Kevin speaks with Jim Proce, City Manager for the City of Anna, Texas, about a pressing issue many cities are facing: the struggle to find the money needed to maintain and replace streets and other infrastructure built back in their growth years. Also discussed in this episode: The difference between street maintenance and replacement, and how they're each typically funded How cities typically pri...

In this installment of the 'Are We Doing This Right?' series, we take on the humble sidewalk. We packed a lot into this episode, including: How the use of the street right-of-way has changed over time Who “pedestrian infrastructure” is really for The common use of the term “pedestrian” and its implications The bizarre ways sidewalks get paid for (and who that impacts most) The recent resurgence in...

In this episode, Kevin is joined by a trio of folks from Smart Growth America : Vice President for Economic Development Chris Zimmerman , Deputy Director of Economic Development Jeri Mintzer , and visiting Director of Research Michael Rodriguez .  We discuss Smart Growth America's fiscal sustainability research and its implications for communities of all sizes, as well as some things the group wou...

Kevin sits down with John Lettelleir, Director of Development Services for the City of Frisco, Texas. John has been with the City of Frisco since 1998, when the population was around 25,000, and has seen it grow to more than 200,000 residents. John brings a unique perspective on planning for and managing fast population growth in North Texas.  Kevin and John discuss the recent repeal of the Plano...

Noel Bernal and Helen Ramirez, are the city manager and assistant city manager (respectively) for the City of Brownsville, Texas. In this wide-ranging interview, they discuss some of the ways they're using the lens of fiscal sustainability to guide investments, prioritize infrastructure projects, and make land use decisions. (Last year, Verdunity conducted a land use fiscal analysis for Brownsvill...

This time on our ‘Are We Doing This Right?’ series, we take a look at the local budgeting process. Here’s what you can expect from this episode: A quick rundown of common presumptions An overview of the way budgeting processes work in most towns and cities A discussion of the “seven deadly sins” of public finance (as told by friend of the show Liz Farmer),  Some of the most common criticisms of ci...

In this episode, Kevin speaks with Kennedy Smith , Senior Researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance ( ILSR ), about strategies that city leaders can use to help local businesses weather the pandemic—and the post-pandemic world. Kennedy has just authored a report titled ' Safeguarding Small Business During the Pandemic: 26 Strategies for Local Leaders. ' The 26 actions outlined are groupe...

In this episode, Kevin speaks with Becky Gray, Director of Housing for Chaffee County, CO , to discuss the County's early efforts to build a more resilient regional housing system.  We follow up on their work since the County hosted Kevin and Monte Anderson for a workshop last year.  Curious about the original radio show discussed in this episode, featuring Kevin and Monte? We aired it as a podcas...

Our friends at Strong Towns have put out a new resource for folks in local government called The Local Leader's Toolkit: A Strong Towns Response to the Pandemic . Jordan speaks with Rachel Quednau of Strong Towns and then with Verdunity's AJ Fawver to discuss some of its key points. -- The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity . Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at v...

For this month’s edition of ‘Are We Doing This Right?’, we’re turning our attention to the comprehensive plan. There’s a lot to talk about, including: History! Where did comp plans come from? How to know when your city’s comprehensive plan is outdated (or even harmful) An alternative vision for what comprehensive plans could be… from all the way back in 1967 Why some comprehensive plans just sit o...

In this episode we’re joined by Shari Davis, Executive Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project , and Derrick Braziel, co-founder and Development Director of MORTAR Cincinnati . On today’s show, we follow the money. We discuss public budgeting processes, the moral weight of budget decisions, and the opportunities we have to make these documents “living, breathing reflections of community ne...

We're back with another edition of Are We Doing This Right? —this time to ask that question about bicycle networks. If it seems like the conversation surrounding bike networks is straightforward, it's not quite. We dip our toes in what is a much, much bigger and richer discussion, and do our best to examine some of what we're getting right and wrong about bike networks. This one could have lasted...

Today’s episode features a conversation with Bennett Sandlin, the Executive Director of Texas Municipal League . We talk about: what a Municipal League is and what they do; the ongoing dialogue between local governments and state officials in Texas about resource gaps, property tax caps, and annexation; how COVID-19 has had an impact on city budgets; ways TML is available to help all of their memb...

Quint Studer is the author of Building a Vibrant Community , which we discuss in this episode.  His most recent book, The Busy Leader’s Handbook, became a Wall Street Journal bestseller. He is the founder of Studer Community Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida. He is also the founder of Vibrant Community Partners, which...

Most cities lack the resources to keep up with infrastructure and service demands, yet daily decisions continue to prioritize growth and short-term wins over long-term costs and impacts. If you’re in local government and are looking for ways to get more out of your existing resources—while building community trust and making immediate progress—we've been working on something we think will help you...

In this episode, Kevin chats with Patrick Lawler and Chad Janicek, the co-founders of ZacTax , an online sales and hotel tax analysis platform for local governments. Before making the jump to ZacTax full-time, Patrick and Chad both worked in local government, most recently as City Manager and ACM for Hudson Oaks, TX. They share our passion for helping communities move toward a more sustainable dev...

LeVette Fuller, Shreveport councilmember and co-founder of Re:Form Shreveport , joins the show to talk about her journey from citizen advocate and "land-use nerd" (her words) to local elected official—plus a few specific challenges the city has faced during her tenure. Some of what we cover in this show: LeVette's background in community advocacy and how Re:Form Shreveport was started What motivat...