Go Cultivate!

In this episode, Kevin speaks with Liz Farmer about the current economic situation and how it compares (so far) to the 2008 recession. They discuss the magnitude and impact of unemployment, recent credit downgrades for cities and states, and the ramifications of projected budget shortfalls for Medicaid, pensions, and infrastructure. They also delve into the Federal Relief Bill and what it covers,...

We’re back with another edition of our series “Are We Doing This Right?” This time around, we take a closer look at parking minimums. They might seem like a harmless feature of your zoning ordinance, but they play a huge role in shaping the physical environment of your community. Intentionally or not, parking minimums adversely affect the viability of public transit and local businesses, housing a...

John Simmerman, founder of Active Towns  and host of the new Active Towns podcast , joins the show for a second time. John and Jordan discuss how the coronavirus is changing the way people are interacting with their neighborhoods, and some of the creative things cities are doing to enable more people to safely get outside and stay active. John explains how this crisis offers an opportunity for us...

R. John Anderson, co-founder of Incremental Development Alliance , joins the show to talk about the small developer movement, the CARES Act and its impact on small businesses right now, and what cities can do to cultivate a stronger small business ecosystem. You can learn more about IncDev at incrementaldevelopment.org and on the IncDev Facebook page . John also founded and maintains the excellent...

Disaster recovery & resilience specialist Laura Clemons rejoins the program to talk about taking advantage of federal disaster relief funds to build more resilient cities and towns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Laura previously joined us to talk about how smaller cities should be preparing for natural disasters—not just how to mitigate them but also how to effectively take advantage of (a...

The COVID-19 crisis has been a disaster for small businesses across the country. In this episode, Kevin speaks with Basel Musharbash about why an aggressive local government response to the small business crisis is essential—and what legal strategies cities and towns should be using immediately to help them survive and eventually recover. In this episode we discuss the key takeaways from Basel’s r...

In this episode, Kevin and Jordan discuss (some of) the flaws of the prevailing approach to development that are being exposed and magnified by this growing crisis. We also highlight a few opportunities that cities have for doing things differently from here on out. (It turns out that being resilient is exponentially more important in a disaster.)  This will not be our last discussion on these mat...

In this episode, Kirsten Wyatt, co-founder & executive director of Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL), joins us to talk about how her organization is doing just that. If you enjoy this episode, make sure you find the partner episode over on the GovLove podcast, where Kirsten interviews AJ and Kevin. Follow Kirsten on Twitter , LinkedIn , and Facebook . (We recorded this episode before things...

Jeff Siegler, founder of Revitalize, or Die, joins the podcast to talk about the importance of place, how cities can encourage effort (and discourage apathy), how we can cultivate civic pride, and much more.  Find out more about Jeff's work at RevitalizeOrDie.com . While you're there, make sure to check out his videos ! He's also on Twitter ( @jeff_in_one_ear ) and Facebook ( @RevitalizeOrDie ). -...

In this episode, we speak with Jerome Horne, ridership experience specialist for IndyGo , about Indianapolis's ongoing transit transformation and some of the key elements in building a reliable and effective bus system. Indianapolis makes a great case study for car-dependent cities looking to overhaul under-performing transit systems or even start from scratch. Some of the topics we cover in this...

Friend of the show Daniel Herriges , senior editor at Strong Towns , joins us to talk about some important housing-related stories from 2019 and what lessons they hold for those of us who care about housing equity.  In this episode, we discuss: An emerging trend of (re)legalizing certain types of missing middle housing in some cities and states. A peculiar story about a mixed-use project in San Br...

For the December installment of 'Are We Doing This Right?’ on the Go Cultivate! podcast, we’re diving deep into the world of pop-up retail and food trucks. The whole concept is a lot older than you (might) think. Join us for a walk through some of the history, regulatory and social issues, and much, much more. Your hosts for this episode: Jordan Clark & AJ Fawver. -- The Go Cultivate! podcast is a...

It's a crossover episode! Kevin Shepherd (along with our friend Monte Anderson) was recently interviewed on an episode of Chaffee Housing Report from KHEN in Salida, Colorado, and we're delighted to share it on our feed. In this hour-long chat, Kevin, Monte, and the hosts discuss affordable housing, the fiscal impact of development patterns, incremental development, and much more.  Want to host a...

In this episode, we welcome back Chuck Marohn, Founder and President of Strong Towns , to talk about some of the themes from his brand-new book Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity . Here's a sampling of what Chuck and Verdunity's Kevin Shepherd talk about in this show: What Chuck says when people ask him “okay, well what specifically should we do?” What the role of...

For the November installment of 'Are We Doing This Right?’ we’re tackling public engagement. What does it look like when it’s done well? What are some pitfalls to look out for? Who and what is it for, exactly? It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s no one-size-fits-all right answer to public engagement. But we think there is such a thing as the right approach . In this double episode, we dig...

For the November installment of 'Are We Doing This Right?’ we’re tackling public engagement. What does it look like when it’s done well? What are some pitfalls to look out for? Who and what is it for, exactly? It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s no one-size-fits-all right answer to public engagement. But we think there is such a thing as the right approach . In this double episode, we dig...

In this episode, AJ and Kevin sit down with Mike McKay, Assistant City Engineer for Lubbock, Texas, for a wide-ranging discussion on the past, present, and future of the engineering profession, and its role in the way we’ve built our cities. Some of the ground we cover in this episode: The relationship between engineers and planners—how it could improve, and what each side should understand about...

This is Part 2 of our 'Are We Doing This Right?' discussion on placemaking! This time, we delve deeper into some criticisms of placemaking as it is commonly applied. Your hosts for this episode: Jordan Clark & AJ Fawver. -- The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity . Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate . You can also find us on social medi...

Placemaking is one of those ubiquitous urbanist buzzwords these days. Yet it can be difficult to get a broadly agreed-upon definition. We discuss what is actually means (as far as we can tell), what trends it came about as a response to, and why it might look different depending on the location. We run through some of the key elements of (the different forms of) placemaking, and a few notable (goo...

The fascinating Jerry Paffendorf, CEO & co-founder of Loveland Technologies , joins the show to talk about the ways that fine-grained parcel data can be a tool for making cities more equitable and transparent. We also discuss Detroit’s history and present, where its majority Black population is undergoing a historic loss of property ownership due to a flawed tax foreclosure problem—as well as what...

Federally declared disasters impact countless communities every year, and the vast majority are small municipalities with very limited resources. We brought on Laura Clemons, a disaster recovery and resilience specialist, to talk about what smaller cities ought to do (and sometimes not do!) before, during, and after a disaster. We discuss what cities should be planning for now to take advantage of...

Verdunity CEO Kevin Shepherd sits down with Lynda Humble, city manager of Bastrop, Texas, to talk about what she learned from a fiscal model of the city's development pattern, how that reshaped discussions with City Council and citizens, and how it is informing Bastrop's overhaul of plans and codes that don't align with its goal of fiscal sustainability. (Spoiler: they learned the city would soon...

Tiny homes have been growing in popularity over the past decade. To some, they’re an opportunity to shed unnecessary “stuff” and fully embrace a minimalist lifestyle. To others, they’re a critical part of addressing the homelessness crisis in this country. But in most cities in the U.S., it’s not exactly clear where they fit in with housing regulations. In this installment of our “Are We Doing Thi...

Cities across the country face a shortage of affordable housing, despite a nationwide glut of single-family homes. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs)—often referred to as granny flats or other quaint-sounding names—have emerged as one way to quickly add affordable units to single-family neighborhoods, without tearing down existing homes. Yet, in most cities, they remain illegal to build. And while so...

Texas is the latest state to pass or amend legislation capping the amount cities’ revenue from property taxes can increase year to year. Bills like Texas’ SB2 are passed with the intent of limiting the amount homeowners have to pay in property tax and keeping them from getting priced out of their homes. That stated goal is a noble one (on its face), but there’s another side to the equation, and th...