The Strong Towns Podcast

Today we’re sharing the audio from a webcast we recorded earlier this week with representatives from the two final towns competing in our StrongestTown Contest—Traverse City, Michigan and Guelph, Ontario. You can view the webcast here if you prefer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjqrxgoiLuc Make sure to vote for the Strongest Town in this final match-up by 5pm CT on Friday, March 24.  Cast your...

Kea Wilson (Strong Towns' Director of Community Engagement) fills in for Chuck Marohn on this weekly podcast hosted by Rachel Quednau. They discuss  Kea's recent writing  and an upcoming article she's working on about  time banking  in St. Louis, MO. They also provide some behind the scenes info about the impending  Strong Towns Summit  in Tulsa, OK and an update on the  Strongest Town Contest . M...

Welcome to our third round of the  Strongest Town Competition . We invite you to listen to this interview that Rachel Quednau, Communications Director for Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest, then make sure to listen to their competitors' podcast (Lafayette, LA). Once you've finished listening to the episodes, please visit  www.strongtowns.org/strongtesttown  to...

Welcome to our third round of the  Strongest Town Competition . We invite you to listen to this interview that Rachel Quednau, Communications Director for Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest, then make sure to listen to their competitors' podcast (Guelph, ON, Canada). Once you've finished listening to the episodes, please visit  www.strongtowns.org/strongtesttow...

Welcome to our third round of the  Strongest Town Competition . We invite you to listen to this interview that Rachel Quednau, Communications Director for Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest, then make sure to listen to their competitors' podcast (Traverse City, MI). Once you've finished listening to the episodes, please visit  www.strongtowns.org/strongtesttown...

Welcome to our third round of the  Strongest Town Competition . We invite you to listen to this interview that Rachel Quednau, Communications Director for Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest, then make sure to listen to their competitors' podcast (Valparaiso, IN). Once you've finished listening to the episodes, please visit  www.strongtowns.org/strongtesttown  t...

In a solo podcast, Chuck Marohn continues an ongoing conversation about infrastructure spending. (Listen to the first episode in this conversation,  "Is there a crisis?" .) Chuck discusses  his letter to President Trump  and the need to create a new infrastructure funding system, not keep dumping more money into the existing system. The key is giving local leaders the power to choose how that mone...

In their weekly update podcast, Chuck and Rachel discuss the final article in Chuck's series about the economic impacts of the  Shreveport highway project . They also dish about the current standings in the  Strongest Town Contest  and reveal how their brackets have fared. Mentioned in this podcast: "The Economics of the I-49 Connector, Part 3"  by Chuck Marohn Dreamland: The True Tale of America’...

Rachel and Chuck discuss last week's campaign against an inner-city highway in Shreveport, plus the beginning of the 2017 #StrongestTown Contest. Mentioned in this podcast: Shreveport content from last week The Economics of the I-49 Connector:  Part I  and  Part II Strong Talk - a video conversation with two Shreveport residents Strongest Town Contest (see the entries and vote here) Download a Str...

Steve Shultis is a long-time member of Strong Towns, a blogger at  RationalUrbanism.com , a resident of inner-city Springfield, MA, and a frequent guest on the Strong Towns podcast. He and Chuck talk about traffic deaths and his interactive graphic  Death Race 2016  which compares criminal homicides with traffic deaths. He also discusses media coverage about homicides vs. traffic deaths. Read Stev...

Rachel and Chuck discuss the  2016 Strong Towns Annual Report . They also invite submissions for the  Strongest Town Contest  (deadline is Friday, Feb. 17). Mentioned in this podcast: 2016 Strong Towns Annual Report Strongest Town Contest Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade  by Robert Cialdini The Content Trap  by Bharat Anand  

Josef Bray-Ali is a Los Angeles resident, bike shop owner, long-time Strong Towns member and current candidate for city council. In this interview with Chuck Marohn, he discusses his experience as a small business owner and a community organizer for safe streets. He also talks about what motivated him to run for city council and the ways he's implemented Strong Towns ideas in his city. Joe Bray-Al...

Chuck and Rachel discuss the recent Strong Towns Staff & Board Meeting in Chicago, which included lots of planning and assessment, plus some authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. They also discuss Jonathan Haidt's work on moral foundations and a technique to clean up a toxic Facebook feed. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE "Our Contentious Culture" Drop Dead Gorgeous  (1999 movie) We Eat Our Own  by Ke...

Our nation has an infrastructure funding crisis.....or do we? Related Posts: What clearly makes us richer The real reason your city has no money Poor neighborhoods make the best investments Gladwell's question to Thaler (YouTube)

Chuck and Rachel discuss  Chuck's letter to President Trump  and ways to encourage investment in small-scale infrastructure projects instead of big ones. They also talk about recent books they've enjoyed and the growth of the Strong Towns movement. Mentioned in this episode: " A Letter to POTUS on Infrastructure " and  an upcoming Slackchat  to discuss that letter #InfrastructureCrisis stories  on...

Chuck and Rachel chat about recent articles which have garnered a ton of attention on the internet over the past week. They also discuss the non-partisan nature of Strong Towns, particularly in light of new readers coming to the site in the last week (as evidenced by the quote above). Finally, they announce that public tickets are now available for the  Strong Towns Summit . Get yours before they'...

Chuck and Rachel discuss  Chuck's recent writing on federal infrastructure spending  and today's article, " A Utah Republican Might Have the Best Urban Transportation Plan. " They also discuss books they're reading (Rachel finally got around to starting Hillbilly Elegy) and political language in the context of Strong Towns. Mentioned in this podcast: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Cultu...

Author James Howard Kunstler chats with Chuck Marohn about the newest book in his World Made by Hand series,  The Harrows of Spring . You can also listen to James Kunstler in previous Strong Towns podcasts including from  February, 2014 ,  September 2014  and  November 2015 .  

Chuck and Rachel discuss their holidays, favorite books they read over the break, and infrastructure spending in America. They also share an exciting announcement at the end of the podcast. Mentioned in this podcast: The Road to Ruin: The Global Elites' Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis  by James Rickerts The Content Trap: A Strategist's Guide to Digital Change  by Bharat Andand The Road T...

Seth Zeren is a founding member of Strong Towns, a new father and a real estate developer based in Providence, RI. In this podcast conversation, Seth and Chuck talk about the results of the election and its impact on the national dialogue.  This is our last podcast of 2016. Thank you to all our listeners. Have a wonderful holiday and we'll see you in the new year!

In the final Week Ahead podcast of 2016, Chuck and Rachel discuss their recent trip to Chicago and a spirited panel discussion Chuck participated in. They also talk about  Chuck's Monday article  and the  Best of 2016  articles being published throughout the week. Finally, they chat about the upcoming  Strong Towns Summit  and Chuck's cookie baking adventures. Mentioned in this podcast: "Our Share...

Heyden Black Walker is a Strong Towns "super member" in Austin, TX. She's an urban planner and advocate and serves on the board of the  CNU-Central Texas Chapter  and on the  City of Austin Pedestrian Advisory Council . Today, Chuck Marohn and Heyden Walker discuss the highway I-35 project in Austin, which Heyden  wrote about on Strong Towns  earlier this year. They talk about the implications of...

Thomas Fisher is a Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota, and serves as Director of the  Metropolitan Design Center . He's a graduate of Cornell University in architecture and the author of several books including  Designing to Avoid Disaster  and  Designing our Way to a Better World . In this conversation with Chuck Marohn, Professor Fisher discusses a design-thin...

Kyle Smith  is an independent urban planning consultant in transportation, land use, and housing. He recently served as Executive Director of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce in Chicago and also worked for the Center of Neighborhood Technology where he wrote a report called “ Stalled Out: How Empty Parking Spaces Diminish Neighborhood Affordability .”  Rachel Quednau interviews Kyle for the S...

Chuck and Rachel discuss last week's member drive and an event in St. Mary's, PA, plus this week's  Black Friday Parking event . MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST: Strong Towns member testimonials #BlackFridayParking