Go Cultivate!

Latest Episodes:

What did we learn about housing in 2019? — w/ Daniel Herriges Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

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 Bruno, CA, that was eventually killed after three years of concessions—and, more importantly, what it can teach us about the conflicting incentives that our desire to maintain control can create.
A fascinating new study on the impact that building new market-rate housing may have on freeing up affordable housing in the same city—and why we should think more ecologically about the ways that cities and housing markets work.

Further reading on the stories we discussed in this episode:

Making Normal Neighborhoods Legal Again
Approaching Peak Housing Dysfunction in California
The Connectedness of Our Housing Ecosystem
Kevin Bacon & musical chairs: How market rate housing increases affordability
Additional Dwelling Unit toolkit (City of Boston) – This is one of a number of city-run programs that provide design and financing assistance to residents who want to build an ADU on their property.

You can follow Daniel on Twitter at @DanielStrTowns and read his latest writings on Strong Towns.

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

And if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

(Music in this episode is from No Money & Tours.)

https://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-50

Are We Doing This Right? // Food Trucks & Pop-ups Edition Dec 20, 2019

Show notes

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 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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

verdunity.com/podcast/episode-49

Affordable housing & incremental development Dec 11, 2019

Show notes

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 workshop in your city on any of the topics discussed here? We're putting together our 2020 schedule right now. Send us an email to info@verdunity.com.

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

(Music in this episode is from Scott Joplin & Custodian of Records.)

Chuck Marohn and the revolution we need Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

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 the professional class is in generating cities that can’t pay for their growth
What it means for cities to do a comprehensive plan or a zoning code in a way that is consistent with Strong Towns thinking (and how Chuck’s thinking is still evolving on that issue)
The importance of feedback loops and what those should look like for city staff
How Chuck responds to the criticism that sometimes the incremental approach doesn’t work when you’re trying to build large-scale systems

Don't forget to pick up a copy of Chuck's book, and also make sure to check out all three of their fantastic podcast streams: The Strong Towns Podcast, Upzoned, and It's the Little Things.

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

(Music in this episode is from Custodian of Records & Coleman Hawkins.)

Are We Doing This Right? // Public Engagement Edition (Part 2) Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

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 into literally everything you need to know about public engagement. Just kidding; we probably left a few things out. But we do think this sets a good starting point for moving toward a more productive and inclusive (and, importantly, ongoing!) public engagement process. And the good news is: there are so many good examples out there already!

You can find recommendations for further reading at the show page for this episode.

This is Part 2 of our discussion. You can find the other episode in the same feed as this one!

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

(Music in this episode is from No Future & Rick Springfield.)

verdunity.com/podcast/episode-45

Are We Doing This Right? // Public Engagement Edition (Part 1) Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

You can find recommendations for further reading at the show page for this episode.

This is Part 1 of 2. You can find the other episode in the same feed.

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

(Music in this episode is from No Future & Custodian of Records.)

verdunity.com/podcast/episode-45

Engineers have feelings, too! Nov 20, 2019

Show notes

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 the other
What it means for our cities to be sustainable, and whether we’re on the right track in any meaningful ways
Whether street standards and specification should have flexibility
What the ideal Capital Improvement Plan looks like
Long-term maintenance costs, and whether engineers tend to consider them when evaluating new development
The overemphasis on auto-based mobility, and where that leaves planners and engineers who want to make life easier without a car
How to increase support for additional infrastructure funding when cities are struggling to find the money
Ways to modify design approaches to be more considerate of long-term maintenance costs and to minimize up-front construction costs
How the different staff members in a city’s development process can better collaborate
Advice for cities in the early stages of growth
Lessons learned from Mike’s long engineering career

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

(Music in this episode is from No Future, Custodian of Records, & Gary Numan.)

verdunity.com/podcast/episode-44

Are We Doing This Right? // Placemaking Edition (Part 2) Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

(Music in this episode is from No Future & Dr. John.)

verdunity.com/podcast/episode-43

Are We Doing This Right? // Placemaking Edition (Part 1) Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

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 (good and bad) examples of where it's been done.

This is Part 1 of a two-part discussion. In Part 2, we'll get more familiar with some of the different criticisms of placemaking and its outcomes.

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.

(Music in this episode is from No Future, Custodian of Records, & Sludgefest.)

verdunity.com/podcast/episode-42

Parcel data, Detroit, and you — with Jerry Paffendorf Oct 23, 2019

Show notes

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 Jerry’s team is doing to help arm residents with information they need. And of course, we geek out a bit on the history and long legacy of the U.S. public land survey, as well as the centrality of city form in generating (or constricting) possibilities for the next generations of society.

[Editor’s note: We had a few brief instances of audio issues in this episode. It’s noticeable but (we hope) not overwhelming.]

Mentioned in the episode:

Measuring America: How the United States Was Shaped by the Greatest Land Sale in History by Andro Linklater

Your hosts for this episode: Jordan Clark & Felix Landry

Learn more about Jerry’s work at Landgrid.com, or send them an email at team@landgrid.com. You can follow Jerry on Twitter, too: @wello.

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 media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

(Music in this episode is from No Future and The B-52's)

verdunity.com/podcast/episode-41