Go Cultivate!

Today is a bit of a Thanksgiving grab-bag. Kevin and Jordan discuss: what cities (of any size) can learn from the Amazon HQ2 contest about economic development and “being your best you” [1:10] what the California wildfires should be telling cities about the implications of their development patterns [19:20] whether “criticize then commit” is a philosophy city leaders can employ in citizen engageme...

This is the first of a short series on city growth. Are there good ways or bad ways to grow? In this episode, we're asking whether there is such a thing as growing too fast or too slow. Jordan speaks with Verdunity 's Felix Landry about both the financial and social/cultural implications of fast growth vs. slow growth. We discuss the ways building standards can help or hurt, what it means to love...

Jim Walker is CEO, cofounder, and lead artist at Big Car Collaborative , an Indianapolis-based art and design organization "brings art to people and people to art, sparking creativity in lives to support communities." Jim and Jordan talk about the role of artists in making neighborhoods more loving, vibrant, and homelike—and the ways partnerships are always messy but always necessary in...

Kevin and Jordan discuss the beginnings of a framework for getting any city in better fiscal shape – all while building trust and collaboration with residents of all neighborhoods. Buckle in! We made Kevin the mayor of a city for this episode. The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of VERDUNITY. Learn more at verdunity.com Find our other episodes and blog posts at GoCultivate.org . (The music in t...

We're trying something new here. The Verdunity office is always buzzing with good discussions about what's on our minds that week. So, instead of keeping them all to ourselves, we'll be dropping short, spur-of-the-moment conversations like this one into the feed from time to time. It might be something we've read that day, an interaction we've had with a community leader, or just something we ate...

Kevin sits down with (fellow engineer) Chuck Marohn from Strong Towns to talk about recognizing our delusions, admitting failure, and embracing the "chaos" of bottom-up action at the local level. Here are some highlights from the discussion: When optimism becomes delusion for city administrators. The ways that many engineers and other professionals have built up natural defense mechanism...

This is the second of a two-part interview with AJ Fawver, director of planning for the City of Lubbock, Texas. (Follow her on Twitter: @planningguru . Read her blog on ELGL here .) In part two, we talk about the world of strengths assessments and communication styles—and how they can be applied to make organizations like city government more effective and empathetic. Then Kevin asks AJ what she a...

We thought this would be a quick chat. It wasn't that quick, but we do think it's a good start to a deeper discussion on ways cities can better serve and engage citizens – and build a more sustainable community in the process. In this episode we walk through Kevin's most recent post on the blog . Here's a rundown of the nine lessons Kevin spells out in his post and this discussion: Quality of life...

This is the first of a two-part interview with AJ Fawver, director of planning for the City of Lubbock, Texas. (Follow her on Twitter: @planningguru . Read her blog on ELGL here .) Here's a sampling of what Kevin and AJ get into: The difference between land use planing and zoning—and what they’re good for. And some ways that their application hasn’t been good for cities. Dealing with the common pe...

Kevin sits down with Tim Wright, co-founder of Re-Form Shreveport , to talk about about the conversations and actions that incrementally help make a community stronger. Tim gives insight into ways to build momentum and trust, through his roles as both a civil engineer and as a neighbor in a new city. -- 1:00 – Introducing Tim Wright and Re-Form Shreveport 4:50 – Teasing our involvement in the upco...

VERDUNITY's Felix Landry joins the show to discuss the importance of understanding the fiscal consequences of our development patterns, as well as the ways that cities can use map-based fiscal analysis to make more holistic land use decisions. 3:29 – Beginning of interview 5:00 – How Felix stumbled into looking at the economics of cities 7:00 – Pro formas—why don't city planning departments have t...

Joanna Taft of the Harrison Center discusses the role of the arts, place, and story to humanize, connect, and empower a neighborhood. We talk about how a neighborhood can change and improve in inclusive and equitable ways, and how important it is for people to feel known and loved in their community and their homes. Central to it all is being a neighbor to your neighbors. This is a jam-packed disc...

Many citizens think their local government has enough money to maintain its infrastructure and keep up services, because they pay taxes. The reality is most cities do not, and it can be challenging for city leadership to communicate this to citizens. Today's guests are bucking that trend of silence. We talk to three key leaders (Mayor Connie Schroeder, City Manager Lynda Humble, and Hospitality &a...

Kevin sits down with VERDUNITY's summer intern Nadia Whitehouse for a brief chat on the ways the engineering profession is changing, and what it means to bring a resource-conscious, people-first attitude to engineering school. They also get into some of the ways Nadia sees the world differently after a few months with the VERDUNITY crew.

An in-depth discussion with VERDUNITY's Kevin Shepherd, P.E., on the past, present, and future of the civil engineering profession—and the lasting fiscal and social impacts their work has on communities. 1:30 – What does is mean to be considered a "creative engineer”? 5:15 – What the conventional approach to civil engineering misses, and how Kevin’s thought process changed as his career progr...

In the first episode of Go Cultivate! , we discuss what it means for a city to be financially resilient, resource-conscious, and people-friendly. Then, we talk about 5 key groups of community leaders. 1:03 – Why Go Cultivate ? And what's up with the name VERDUNITY? 5:00 – Revisiting the purpose of the podcast: "helping community leaders grow financially resilient, resource-conscious, and peop...