Go Cultivate!

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**Go Cultivate!**

A podcast for community builders. Discussing ways to grow financially resilient, resource-conscious, and people-friendly cities.

Latest Episodes:

14 – Amazon HQ2 / CA wildfires / Genuine community engagement Nov 21, 2018

Show notes

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 engagement [30:20]

We also take a few moments at the end [50:00] to let you know about a few cool things we’re working on.

You can sign up for our brand-new Cultivate Journal, a monthly roundup of our best podcast episodes, written pieces, things we’ve read, and upcoming live events.
Join us on Friday, Nov. 30 [THIS IS A NEW DATE!], for a free live webinar: Dollars and Sense: How to Cultivate (Real) Fiscal Sustainability + Community Engagement
In 2019 we’re launching our Go Cultivate! Online Community. If you share our goal of building and managing cities in a more collaborative, fiscally-informed, and people-friendly fashion—and you want to discuss ways to deal with your city's challenges with like-minded peers—then this is your place. Sign up here and we’ll let you know when it’s officially open.

This podcast is brought to you by your friends at Verdunity. For more episodes, check out verdunity.com/go-cultivate.

(The music in this episode is from Custodian of Records)

13 – Is fast growth a bad thing? Nov 09, 2018

Show notes

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 a place, whether cities have knobs that can speed up growth or slow it down, whether it matters that you build a whole block out at once or over time, why scapegoating renters is off-base, and much more.

Have thoughts on this discussion? We want to hear from you. Email us: info@verdunity.com.

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com.

(The music in this episode is from Custodian of Records.)

12 – What cities can learn from socially-engaged art Nov 02, 2018

Show notes

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 making good things happen.

Here’s a further sample of our conversation topics:

Why community building is about the personal connections between people
Big Car’s role as a “neighbor-to-neighbor” project, as well as its role as a hub for arts, cultural events, making things, and as an example of putting an old place to new use with minimal infrastructure
Pop-up testing sites as a way of exposing the City of Indianapolis to new ideas
Why and how Big Car Collaborative started out in the bathroom of a (former) nunnery
How artists make a neighborhood desirable and often end up getting pushed out—and how Big Car is trying to buck that trend by building a long-term home for artists in the Garfield Park neighborhood of Indianapolis
Why “socially-engaged art” is about "making things happen," rather than just “making things"
What it means to invest in the people in a neighborhood
The Tube Factory – an example of adaptive building re-use that flexes to be what the neighborhood wants it to be
Partnering with the City, philanthropic organizations
Where the name “Big Car” comes from
Why collaboration (both internal and external) is messy but essential to making something happen – and how it leads to unexpected places
Why so many partnership difficulties revolve around money
Partnerships generally happen between people, rather than entities
What it’s like partnering with a City through changes in administration
Demonstrating that artists can (and should) be voices at the table in city decision making
How to make sure pop-up placemaking turns into “placekeeping” that benefits people in the neihgborhood
How Jim thinks you can start something like Big Car in your own community (hint: it should be fun)
The importance of working on projects with friends – and the opportunities to find a friend group through community work
Jim’s book recommendations!
Why a place can be a home instead of just a house
How planning and design could be different if we spent lots more time out in the physical places we’re working in

Follow Jim on Twitter: @walkerjj
Learn more about the seriously kick-ass Big Car Collaborative at bigcar.org. And check out the Tube Factory Artspace at tubefactory.org. (If you are planning to host an event in Indianapolis, this is the place to be!)

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 this episode is from Custodian of Records.)

11 – How might a city become fiscally sustainable? Oct 26, 2018

Show notes

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 this episode is from Custodian of Records.)

Let's chat: Neighborhood identity and community involvement Oct 24, 2018

Show notes

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 (hopefully not).

Today, Tim Wright (the brand-newest member of Verdunity!) and Jordan Clark chat about neighborhood identity and community involvement.

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of your friends at Verdunity. If you like this addition to the podcast feed, or if you hate it—or if you really want us to riff on a particular subject—let us know: info@verdunity.com.

Find us elsewhere in cyberspace: Twitter and Facebook

(Music in this episode is from Blank & Kytt)

10 – Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns Oct 16, 2018

Show notes

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 mechanisms to avoid acknowledging failure and fallibility.
The common myth in Texas and other high growth areas that "fast growth will continue indefinitely and it will solve all our problems"—and the two possible ways it could end.
Not learning lessons from major events: droughts and near-bankruptcies.
The social and economic results of "slash-and-burn city development."
Why city leaders should be more supportive of the short-term "chaos" of bottom-up action—and more wary of the long-term chaos of rigid order.
How affluence makes people and cities less adaptive—and how small, early failures can build resilience.

Links:

Chuck's Strong Towns podcast episode on the peak delusion of the long emergency
Kevin's post for Strong Towns last year: How Strong Towns changed the way I view development
Reflections on the Strong Towns North Texas Regional Gathering - Ivy Vann

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 this episode is from Custodian of Records.)

09 – City planning: it takes village (Part 2) Oct 08, 2018

Show notes

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 as a planner wants people other roles in the city to know. They run through advice and input for elected officials, city management, economic development folks, engineers, and citizens.

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 this episode is from Custodian of Records.)

08 – Nine lessons for building stronger communities Oct 03, 2018

Show notes

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 is measured at the neighborhood level. (IBM paper discussed in the episode can be found here.)
Citizens often have a lot of ideas for things (big and small) that will improve quality of life in their neighborhood.
Every citizen has time, talent or treasure they’d like to invest in their neighborhood/community.
Small tactical or pop-up projects are more effective when connected to a bigger purpose.
Code changes are needed for small developers to thrive.
The challenges facing cities are too big for local agencies to address alone.
The average citizen does not understand the financial gap many cities are facing or the relationship between development patterns, revenues and service costs, and property tax rates.
Communities need a common language and a single metric to frame discussions, inform decisions and prioritize investments.
The community engagement process should be an ongoing effort and not limited to public hearings on a project-by-project basis.

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 this episode is from Custodian of Records.)

07 – City planning: it takes a village (Part 1) Sep 28, 2018

Show notes

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 perception (in various cities) that planning departments exist to hinder growth or development
The ways that money enters the equation in decision making, for planners, for city administrators, for elected officials, and even for citizens. And the ways that it often doesn’t but should.
Why it’s so common for (vocal) residents in cities to oppose things like apartments and assisted living facilities.
AJ also addresses the politics of having discussions about development patterns with residents and elected officials.

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 this episode is from Custodian of Records.)

06 – How to start a productive conversation in your community Sep 19, 2018

Show notes

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 upcoming Strong Towns Regional Gathering (join us for that!)

13:05 – Beginning of Kevin’s discussion with Tim

15:26 – Why Tim (and Kevin) joined the Strong Towns movement

17:45 – Key challenges for an engineer who is concerned about social and fiscal sustainability

21:27 – The soft skills today’s engineer’s need to have

23:35 – On discussing the adverse effects of sprawling development with other engineers and city officials (vs. the benefits of infill)

25:45 – “Do you know what a block of your street costs?” and “Do you think your city has enough money to fix it when it needs to be replaced?”

31:50 – What it means to “Re-form Shreveport”

39:33 – Putting the principles of a people-friendly, fiscally-sustainable approach into action

51:00 – Starting small, by making Shreveport’s Highland Park a true place

54:24 – Harnessing citizens’ ideas for ways their neighborhoods could be better (and then implementing them)

1:00:07 – Advice for someone in a new city who wants to make a difference

1:02:11 – Takeaways from the discussion

1:06:38 – An impromptu discussion on resource shortages and what that means for the wellbeing of cities and citizens

We'd love to see you at the Strong Towns Regional Gathering in Plano (or the free Curbside Chat in Arlington)!

For more on our podcasts and blog, visit GoCultivate.org. This podcast is a project of the nice folks (whose voices you're listening to) at VERDUNITY.

(Music from this episode is from Custodian of Records)

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