Go Cultivate!

Latest Episodes:

Announcing Season 2! May 06, 2019

Show notes

Would you like to spend 10 minutes listening to us announcing what you can expect from the next season of the Go Cultivate! podcast? Then, boy, are you in luck! Later this week, we're releasing the first episode of the new season. Make sure you're subscribed!

ALSO: If you are a city (or other municipal) employee of any sort, and you want to be a beta tester for our online community before we officially launch, then click here! Otherwise, keep an eye out for our official announcement.

(Music: NO MONEY & Tours)

UPDATE! New opportunities, y'all Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

Hope y'all have been coping during our short hiatus. We'll be back with more episodes before you know it. Promise!

We're checking back in to let you know about a couple pretty cool opportunities:

1. WORKSHOPS!
If you've followed this podcast for a while and want to dig deeper into the complex challenges facing cities of all sizes—and the realistic actions you can take to make meaningfull progress with limited resources—then we have good news!

Our new workshop series is designed to help city leaders diagnose, understand, and explain their city’s financial situation—and get a clear idea of how to close their resource gap. Want to bring us to your town? Visit our Workshops page.

Or if you're in the Houston area, consider joining us on May 24 in League City, Texas for our "Cultivating Financially Resilient Communities" workshop! Learn more and get tickets at verdunity.com/workshops/league-city. Early registration ends Friday (4/19), in case you'd like to save a few bucks.

2. ONLINE COMMUNITY!
We're also starting something totally new, and we need your help to make sure it reaches the amazing potential we think it has. We're launching a focused online community (NOT on Facebook!) for our friends within city governments who are frustrated by the status quo, and who want to learn, discuss, and share actionable steps cities can take to become stronger & more resilient—socially, economically, environmentally, and fiscally.

Want to be a beta tester?
Sign up here: verdunity.com/online-community-test

We'll be back soon!

Go Cultivate! is a project of your friends at Verdunity. Check out more episodes and blog posts at verdunity.com/go-cultivate

(Music: Blank & Kytt)

30 – [PART 2] Revitalization without gentrification? Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

We're back with the second part of our interview with Derek and Bianca Avery, incremental developers and community builders with COIR Holdings. In this episode we talk more about the history and very present effects of redlining in American cities and why Derek and Bianca first look for those neighborhoods to invest in. We then discuss some specific things cities can do to set the environment for responsible, incremental development.

For part one of this interview, check out episode 29.

This is also the last episode of Season 1 of this podcast! We'll be back after a short hiatus with more episodes and some pretty exciting news.

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com. Find more about this and other episodes, and our blog here.

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

https://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-30

29 – [PART 1] Revitalization without gentrification? Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

On this episode, we talk with Bianca and Derek Avery of COIR Holdings about what it means to be a responsible developer – especially at a time when many people are skeptical of the profession. We talk the difference between a "spreadsheet developer" and a "community developer," and the possibility of "revitalizing" a neighborhood without generating displacement. Then we dig into their holistic approach to sustainable community development that is focused on creating mixed-income neighborhoods.

This is part one of our interview. Part two will be available next week!

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com. Find more about this and other episodes, and our blog here.

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

https://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-29

28 – A small city does the math on new development Mar 05, 2019

Show notes

Hey listeners! If you're a Strong Towns follower, don't forget that March 10 is the deadline to submit your city to the 2019 #StrongestTown contest. Verdunity is proud to be a sponsor of this year's contest. Even if you don't submit, it's a great way to learn how other cities are incrementally building financial strength and improving lives. Sign up here!

[EDIT: The original release of this episode had some audio we meant to clip out. We've gotten that taken care of now! Re-download your episode if it's still showing up. You'll know it when you hear it. :-P Sorry about that!]

Today's show (interview starts at 8:15):

We’ve talked before about the importance of understanding your city’s true financial situation. For the majority of cities across the country, their development pattern has put them in a long-term budget shortfall.

Our guests today are a pair of city leaders who are doing everything they can to make sure their development decisions strengthen their financial situation, rather than jeopardizing it.

Michael Kovacs and Justin Weiss are the city manager and assistant city manager for the City of Fate, Texas, a small city on the outskirts of Dallas.

We talk about their transition from business as usual city management to the realization that their city’s development pattern was actually setting them up to go broke—and the way they conveyed that to staff and council to get them on board with making some pretty drastic changes.

We also talk about the spreadsheet model they have been using in negotiation with developers, to steer any new development in a direction that puts them in a better long-term financial position. And we talk about their economic development strategy, which is focused on a small core footprint in the center of the town, and is geared toward small, local businesses rather than courting big outside corporations.

Link to the Curbside Chat videos mentioned in this episode: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/7/27/a-strong-towns-crash-course

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com. Find more about this and other episodes, and our blog here.

(Music in this episode is from Custodian of Records and Tours.)

https://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-28

27 – Making the jump toward more active towns, with John Simmerman Feb 25, 2019

Show notes

We're excited to bring you a conversation with Active Towns founder John Simmerman (@JohnSimmerman), who's been on a long journey to document what cities are doing to become safer and more comfortable places to walk, bike, and be active.

John joins Jordan Clark on the podcast talk about his findings since beginning his Active Towns Tour in 2012, including:

The best ways to encourage cycling among the "less confident" majority of the population
How cities can navigate potential "bikelash" by trying out small, temporary accommodations
The "hardware" and "software" assets that every city needs
How an "active transportation" network can serve as way more than just "exercise"

If you dig what John's about, and you want to find out more, follow his updates on Vimeo, or find Active Towns on social media: @ActiveTowns on Twitter and facebook.com/activetowns.

ALSO: Don't forget that John's Indiegogo campaign wraps up at the end of February. If you'd like to make a contribution, you can do that here.

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com. Find more about this and other episodes, and our blog here.

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

https://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-26

26 – Should states be setting a limit on city property taxes? Feb 20, 2019

Show notes

Today we're talking about a push by state lawmakers in Texas to put a cap on how much cities can raise their property tax rates from one year to the next. This proposed legislation would have huge repercussions, severely undercutting cities' ability to collect enough revenue to pay for needed services. To help us dive deeper into what this means for city governments, we're joined by Mayor Connie Schroeder of Bastrop, Texas.

Though this episode is specifically about the legislative battle in Texas, the discussion absolutely has relevance for cities and citizens across the country. As we've talked about repeatedly, so many cities are facing a resource gap between what they have on hand and what they really need. We feel strongly that cities (and the people who make them up) would suffer unnecessarily should their state legislatures restrict their ability to collect revenue.

Have some thoughts on this episode? Let us hear it! Email info@verdunity.com.

Here's the link to Texas Municipal League's "Our Home, Our Decisions" campaign that Mayor Schroeder mentioned in the episode. Be sure to catch the two videos they produced.

Attention Podcast Land!

Could you take a moment to help us make this podcast more relevant or interesting to you? We're running a quick (nearly pain-free!) little questionnaire to learn more about what you'd like us to dive deeper into, and what things we could stand to work on.

Just go to this Google Form. It'll take you 5 minutes, tops, or your money back. ;) We really appreciate it.

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com. Find more about this and other episodes, and our blog here.

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

Show page: https://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-26

[B-Side] 25 - Dollars, decisions, and your city's future Feb 18, 2019

Show notes

We're back with the B-Side to episode 25! That discussion ran too long for one episode, so we're back to talk about some specific ways cities could tie their zoning codes, subdivision ordinances, transportation plans, and economic development decisions to a rigorous fiscal analysis.

Attention Podcast Land!

Just go to this Google Form. It'll take you 5 minutes, tops, or your money back. ;) We really appreciate it.

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com. Find more about this and other episodes, and our blog here.

(Music in this episode is from Custodian of Records and Tours.)

25 - Dollars, decisions, and your city's future Feb 14, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, we follow up on last week's chat on the crucial challenge facing city administrators across the country—their city's resource gap. We talk about how city leaders can understand whether their current processes and daily decisions are moving them toward or away from long-term fiscal health. We say often that in many cities, "business as usual is broken." But that doesn't mean city administrators have to throw everything they know out the window. We explore some new ways cities can put the tools they already possess to work to close their resource gap.

We got so wrapped up in talking about this that we had to split it into two parts. Check out the 'B-Side' (coming soon) for some more specifics on how cities might tie their zoning codes, subdivision ordinances, transportation plans, and economic development strategies to their goals of financial strength.

Joining Jordan Clark on this episode are Kevin Shepherd, CEO of Verdunity, and Felix Landry, urban planner at Verdunity.

Attention Podcast Land!

Just go to this Google Form. It'll take you 5 minutes, tops, or your money back. ;) We really appreciate it.

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com. Find more about this and other episodes, and our blog here.

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

https://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-25

24 – Your city's resource gap (and what you can do about it) Feb 05, 2019

Show notes

Running a city is hard work, and it’s even harder when there aren’t enough resources to cover basic service and infrastructure needs. More and more cities are finding themselves in this tricky spot, and it’s easy for city leaders to feel helpless.

In this episode, we talk about the challenges facing city administrators (as well as their staff) who are increasingly stretched thin by their city's growing resource gap. Then we discuss what they can do about it.

There are plenty of tools (related to land use, growth management, economic development, etc.) that cities across the country are using to become more fiscally viable. But these involve changes to the status quo, and change often generates pushback. This episode is about clarifying and communicating your city's resource gap so that you can build consent for taking measures that cultivate greater financial resilience.

We discuss:

The importance of quantifying your city's real resource gap.
How you can use fiscal strength as the common language for framing your community's decisions on planning, development, housing, economic development, street design and maintenance, and more.
How you can put fiscal analysis to use to communicate the resource gap to the broader community—and the 3 options it presents you with.

Attention Podcast Land!

Just go to this Google Form. It'll take you 5 minutes, tops, or your money back. ;) We really appreciate it.

The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Learn more at verdunity.com. Find more about this and other episodes, and our blog here.

(Music in this episode is from Custodian of Records and Tours.)

https://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-24

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