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We advocate for a model of development that allows our cities, towns and neighborhoods to grow financially strong and resilient.
Episodes
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
A couple weeks ago, Chuck Marohn shared an image on Facebook that sparked a contentious conversation. It was an illustration of a potential retrofit project, turning a suburban big box site into a slightly denser — but still quite auto-oriented — development. Comments rained in from other Strong Towns advocates, many in agreement, others pushing back. Then the developer who originally posted the image called us and asked to talk. So we invited him onto our podcast.
Bob Barber is a founder partner at Orion Planning+Design, a Mississippi native and the former planning director for the City of Hernando, MS. In this conversation with Chuck Marohn, Barber discusses the challenges and different approaches to pushing for change in smaller, more suburban communities. In his experience, the people who approach change from a positive angle in the communities where he works have a much better chance of building a strong town than the people who begin by putting the community down and pointing out where it has gone wrong.
Monday Mar 26, 2018
Monday Mar 26, 2018
Today we're sharing the audio from the Championship Webcast in our Strongest Town Contest, hosted by Rachel Quednau and Kea Wilson. We're down to the final two communities: Muskegon, MI and Kent, OH. Visit this page to vote for whichever you think is the strongest after listening to the podcast: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/21/watch-and-vote-in-the-strongest-town-contest-championship-here
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Welcome to the third round of our annual Strongest Town Competition! 4 towns are facing off right now and 2 will advance to the championship based on your votes. We invite you to listen to the podcast interviews that representatives from each conducted with Strong Towns staff to discuss their economic strength and resilience. Visit this page to vote: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-annapolis-md-vs-muskegon-mi
Rachel Quednau, Communications Director for Strong Towns, hosts this conversation with Mayor Gavin Buckley and Sally Nash, Chief of Comprehensive Planning for Planning and Zoning in Annapolis. They discuss the ways that the city's waterfront is integrated into the life of the community, unique small business and placemaking efforts in historic neighborhoods, how Annapolis is handling the challenges ahead and more.
Listen to the Muskegon, MI podcast, then vote for the strongest town in this match-up: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-annapolis-md-vs-muskegon-mi Voting closes at 12pm CT on Friday, March 23.
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Welcome to the third round of our annual Strongest Town Competition! 4 towns are facing off right now and 2 will advance to the championship based on your votes. We invite you to listen to the podcast interviews that representatives from each conducted with Strong Towns staff to discuss their economic strength and resilience. Visit this page to vote: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-pensacola-fl-vs-kent-oh
In this conversation, president of Strong Towns, Chuck Marohn, chats with Kent City Manager Dave Ruller. They discuss unique planning processes in the city, the energy that college towns offer, and how the community approached a recent controversial issue.
Listen to the Pensacola, FL podcast, then vote for the strongest town in this match-up: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-pensacola-fl-vs-kent-oh Voting closes at 12pm CT on Friday, March 23.
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Welcome to the third round of our annual Strongest Town Competition! 4 towns are facing off right now and 2 will advance to the championship based on your votes. We invite you to listen to the podcast interviews that representatives from each conducted with Strong Towns staff to discuss their economic strength and resilience. Visit this page to vote: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-annapolis-md-vs-muskegon-mi
In this conversation, president of Strong Towns, Chuck Marohn, discusses Muskegon, Michigan with Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce President, Cindy Larson. They chat about Muskegon's unique farmer's market, challenging developments in the city's past, the advantages of being a lakefront community, and more.
Listen to the Annapolis, MD podcast, then vote for the strongest town in this match-up: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-annapolis-md-vs-muskegon-mi Voting closes at 12pm CT on Friday, March 23.
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Welcome to the third round of our annual Strongest Town Competition! 4 towns are facing off right now and 2 will advance to the championship based on your votes. We invite you to listen to the podcast interviews that representatives from each conducted with Strong Towns staff to discuss their economic strength and resilience. Visit this page to vote: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-pensacola-fl-vs-kent-oh
In this episode, Rachel Quednau, Communications Director of Strong Towns, talks with Christian Wagley of Pensacola, Florida about a unique citizen engagement and education effort, a transformative road diet on the city's Main Street, how the community is prudently utilizing settlement money from the BP oil spill, and more.
Listen to the Kent, OH podcast, then vote for the strongest town in this match-up: http://strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/20/round-3-pensacola-fl-vs-kent-oh Voting closes at 12pm CT on Friday, March 23.
Thursday Mar 15, 2018
Thursday Mar 15, 2018
In this episode, Chuck Marohn discusses the dynamics of school funding and facilities in his community. While some schools are well cared for and receive regular improvements, a historic neighborhood school has been slated for demolition. One of the reasons? Because the school next door wants an additional parking lot.
Why do our communities make these decisions? How do we fight back while balancing the financial needs of so many other services (and other schools) that our cities have to provide for?
Monday Mar 12, 2018
Monday Mar 12, 2018
Rachel's guest on this week's episode is Strong Towns Director of Community Engagement, Kea Wilson. She talks about some recent articles she's written on safe streets issues in her city of St. Louis, MO. Kea and Rachel also discuss the current standings in the Strongest Town Contest. Round 2 kicks off tomorrow so don't forget to tune in and vote.
Mentioned in this Episode
- When your city hates your traffic calming measures by Kea Wilson
- What if you and your neighbors redesigned your town's worst intersection? by Kea Wilson
- Announcing the Winners of Round 1 in our Strongest Town Contest
- Join us on Wednesday at 11am CT to discuss the contest on Slack.
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Honestly Adoption Podcast
Monday Mar 05, 2018
Monday Mar 05, 2018
Chuck Marohn returns to the Week Ahead podcast to report on recent events in Bismarck, North Dakota; West Palm Beach, Florida; and Thomasville, Georgia. Then he and Rachel dish about the 16 towns selected for the 2018 Strongest Town Contest. See the final bracket, read each town's submission and cast your votes here.
MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:
- Sioux Falls, SD presentation on March 5
- Fishers, IN presentation on March 8
- Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Resurrecting Easter: How the West Lost and the East Kept the Original Easter Vision by John Dominic Crossan
- God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World by Stephen Prothero
Monday Feb 26, 2018
Monday Feb 26, 2018
This week's guest is Sarah Kobos, a Strong Towns member and contributor who lives in Tulsa, OK. She talks about how she became an "accidental urbanist" and started getting involved with city planning in her community. She also discusses the slow but rewarding process of rehabbing a rental property.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- "Is zoning overlay the magic wand you've been looking for?" by Sarah Kobos
- "You care about the subdivision regulations. You just don't know it (yet)." by Sarah Kobos
- "Find a place you love that needs you" by Sarah Kobos
- Join us on February 27 in Thomasville, GA
- Join us on March 5 in Sioux Falls, SD
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein