The Strong Towns Podcast

Latest Episodes:

To Build Strong Towns, We Need To Change the Cultural Conversation Nov 11, 2024

Show notes

Today, we’re kicking off Member Week at Strong Towns. As a special treat, we’ll be publishing three new episodes of the Strong Towns Podcast this week. In this first episode, Chuck discusses the cultural shift that the Strong Towns movement is striving to create and why that shift is so essential to building more prosperous and resilient communities.

This is a bottom-up movement, and it needs your help to succeed. Join the ranks of people building a stronger tomorrow by becoming a member today.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

5 Things the Next President Should Do To Build a Stronger America Nov 04, 2024

Show notes

Strong Towns is a nonpartisan organization that’s focused on starting change from the local level, not the federal one. However, Chuck was recently challenged to come up with five things that the next president, whoever they end up being, should do once they’re in office. In today’s episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, he shares that list and explains why each item is important to building a stronger America.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

“5 Things For The Next President To Do” (article).
Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

Prioritizing Safety in Street Design: A Conversation with Melany Alliston Oct 14, 2024

Show notes

On this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses street safety with Melany Alliston, a project manager and civil engineer with Toole Design. They cover the role of engineers in creating safe streets, Alliston’s work with Toole Design and her experience participating in a number of Crash Analysis Studio sessions.

To hear more about street safety, join us on Tuesday, October 15 for a virtual press conference where we will release the report “Beyond Blame: How Cities Can Learn From Crashes To Create Safer Streets Today.” Representatives from Toole Design will also be speaking at the press conference.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Rethinking the “Moonshot” Approach to Complex Problems Like Street Safety Oct 07, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck talks about V2X (vehicle-to-everything) technology and how it’s an example of a moonshot — a big, risky gamble that promises an equally big reward. He explains why these big gambles often fail when applied to complex problems like street safety and how the Strong Towns approach differs.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Has the Highway Trust Fund Outlived Its Usefulness? A Conversation With Beth Osborne. Sep 30, 2024

Show notes

On this week’s episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck is joined by Beth Osborne, the director of Transportation for America, to discuss the Highway Trust Fund. They cover its history, how it affects federal and state transportation policies, and its potential future.

Before joining Transportation for America, Osborne served as a deputy assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Transportation. She also worked in multiple congressional offices, served as the policy director for Smart Growth America, and served as the legislative director for environmental policy at the Southern Governors’ Association.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

What’s the Best Career for Someone Who Wants To Build Strong Towns? Sep 23, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck addresses a question he frequently gets from young people: "What educational or career path should I take if I want to build strong towns?"

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

Exploring the Role of Religious Institutions in Community Development Sep 16, 2024

Show notes

At the Table is a podcast that discusses how community-based ministries can contribute to the common good via mutual relationships, spiritual practice, simplicity and an awareness of God’s activity in communities. They recently invited Strong Towns President Charles Marohn to appear on an episode. It was a great conversation, so we’re sharing that audio with you here on the Strong Towns Podcast, too. Up for discussion today, the Suburban Experiment, the role of religious institutions in community development and what it means for those institutions to be good neighbors.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

To hear more about the role faith communities play in a strong town, check out this Local-Motive session on October 17: “How Faith Communities Can Use Their Location and Space to Transform Neighborhoods.”
At the Table.
Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

From Crime to Common Practice: How Fraud Dominates the Housing Market Aug 28, 2024

Show notes

In this special episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck talks about fraud in the housing market. He discusses how it manifests, how it gradually saturates the market and how it’s connected to housing bubbles. He then explores how fraud plays a role in the current housing crisis and how federal and private organizations are trying to combat it.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

From Boring to Brilliant: Making Municipal Finance Fun With Michel Durand-Wood Aug 26, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses municipal finance with Michel Durand-Wood, a longtime Strong Towns contributor and local budget aficionado. They talk about the importance of the average person understanding municipal finance, the obstacles that can make such understanding difficult and how their approaches to discussing finance have changed over the years.

If you want to hear more from Durand-Wood, he’ll be co-hosting a Local-Motive session with Chuck on September 19, titled “Parsing Through Your Local Budget to Find Some Real Answers.”

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Build the Damn Train: How To Bring High-Speed Rail to the United States Aug 19, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses the report “How To Improve Domestic High-Speed Rail Project Delivery” with one of the report’s authors, Eric Goldwyn. They discuss the advantages of high-speed rail over other transportation options, the challenges that building such a system in the U.S. would pose and five key recommendations for overcoming those challenges.

Goldwyn is a leading urban scholar and program director at the Marron Institute of Urban Management, as well as a clinical assistant professor in the Transportation and Land-Use program at the NYU Marron Institute. To hear more from Goldwyn, check out this episode, where he discusses why U.S. transit is so expensive and how to fix it.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

“How To Improve Domestic High-Speed Rail Project Delivery,” by Eric Goldwyn et al., Transit Costs Project.
Transit Costs (website).
Eric Goldwyn (Twitter/X).
Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

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