The Strong Towns Podcast

This is our sixth dispatch from the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), which took place in Savannah, Georgia in May. Chuck Marohn attended CNU and hosted a series of in-depth podcast conversations about some of the most pressing topics for cities today, with leaders, thinkers, and activists in a whole range of fields. Now we're bringing those podcasts to your ears throughout the summer.

In this episode, Susan Henderson (principal and director of design at Placemakers), Hazel Borys (principal and managing director at Placemakers), and Marina Khoury (architect and a partner at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company) discuss the challenges of engaging with client communities for the successful implementation of New Urbanist innovations such as form-based zoning codes.

Questions discussed in this podcast include:

• How do you go about engaging with communities around a vision, so that when you get to the stage of implementing policy, you’re confident that you’ve got the vision right?
• Are we doing visioning well when it comes to New Urbanist ideas, and getting the communities we work in on board with those ideas?
• How do you get a more representative cross-section of the community engaged in the planning process?
• How is public engagement different in affluent communities versus those facing more socioeconomic challenges?
• What are the cues, when you walk in the door, that tell you whether a place is going to be receptive to change?
• How do you deal with local staff that have limited capacity or interest in working with you?
• How do you overcome an internal roadblock, when your proposal gets to that one person in the bureaucracy who can derail it?
• How do you start the conversation with elected officials who aren’t receptive to your ideas?
• How do you deal with things that are outside the scope of what you can solve?
• Zoning has come in for a lot of criticism lately from multiple corners of society. How can zoning be a tool for constructive change?
• Why is the change from a use-based code to a form-based code such a dramatic shift?
• What are the highest priority changes you urge client communities to implement?
• Do you prefer to do full citywide code rewrites, or improve a city’s zoning code through more incremental steps?
• How do you deal with the backlash to a policy that has been too successful and resulted in changes that spur community opposition?
• How would you respond to the critique that you can’t legislate quality development or architecture?
• How is capacity building part of what you do, beyond a normal consultant relationship?
• What do you do to share the lessons you’ve learned?

Quint Studer is the founder of Pensacola, Florida's Studer Community Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on improving the community's quality of life and moving Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties forward. He is a businessman, visionary, entrepreneur and Strong Towns member. His new book is Building A Vibrant Community: How Citizen-Powered Change Is Reshaping America.

In this engaging conversation, Chuck Marohn and Quint Studer discuss:

• What does it mean to be a vibrant community?
• How do leaders help communities get unstuck from a negative trajectory?
• Should we stop wasting time trying to appeal to and listen to the naysayers in our towns?
• How do you balance the need to take small, incremental steps with community desires to execute big visions and address big problems?
• How can we learn from other communities' successes without trying to copy exactly what they've done in our town?
• Why is downtown the best place to begin your community's revitalization efforts?
• What is the role of local government in guiding the future of a successful town?
• How important are wealthy community benefactors today?
• How can revitalization efforts benefit all residents, especially those in poorer neighborhoods?

Every month, we host Ask Strong Towns to give you a chance to ask your burning questions about our vision for change, and how the Strong Towns approach might apply in your unique place.

The live Ask Strong Towns webcast is open to all Strong Towns members, but afterward, we share the audio on our podcast.

Below you'll find that audio, with a conversation led by Strong Towns staff members, Chuck Marohn and Kea Wilson. In this episode, Chuck and Kea discuss several audience-submitted questions on topics ranging from from parking minimums to density to how young people can help build Strong Towns

Here are the questions discussed in this episode:

• What are some of the arguments you’ve heard over the years “for” parking minimums (i.e. leaving it the way we’ve always done it), rather than moving towards a parking maximum model? If I'm going in front of elected officials to lobby for a change, what arguments should I anticipate and how should I answer them?
• If a city has large green- or gray-field lots, what can it do to promote fine-grained development in these places, especially in climates where developers are hungry to build the biggest project they can?
• When talking to policymakers, how can you shift the conversation away from the overly simple "all density is good density" and towards adding value through a broader set of solutions, like mixed use development, multi-story buildings, limited parking, infill development, etc.?
• I go to college a few hours from my home, and my home is immediately outside of the principal city in my region. What can I do during my college years to stay involved in a city I don't live in at all during the year, but that I intend to move into after my career?
• What do you think of special “District” initiatives, the "Cultural Innovation District" in New Orleans?
• As a young(ish) engineer who subscribes to Strong Towns ideas and wants to make a difference in his home town, would you recommend that I pursue a planning degree in addition to my civil engineering degree, especially if I have a chance to work in city government?
• People in our small town tend to be very engaged and hold strong opinions. Big community issues can turn nasty, especially now with social media. Any suggestions on how to engage civil discourse without personal attacks?
• Our town is embarking on a large development project in the core of downtown financed via a Tax Increment Financing. The short version of the explanation we got from our Town Council is that the tax revenue generated from the new project will be set aside to fund the project. Doesn't TIF = debt? What questions would help enlighten our taxpayers?

On this episode, Rachel introduces her colleague, Jacob Moses, who is Strong Towns' new Community Builder. Jacob discusses his unique background in technical writing and grocery store management, and how he ended up at Strong Towns.

Mentioned in this podcast

• Expand Your Impact with Social Media (webcast), 11am CT on July 25
• This Is Where You Belong: Finding Home Wherever You Are by Melody Warnick
• The Future of Public Space by Michelle Nijhuis, Jaron Lanier, Rachel Monroe, China Mieville & more

This is our fourth dispatch from the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), which took place in Savannah, Georgia in May. Chuck Marohn attended CNU and hosted a series of in-depth podcast conversations about some of the most pressing topics for cities today, with leaders, thinkers, and activists in a whole range of fields. Now we're bringing those podcasts to your ears throughout the summer.

In this episode, Jeffrey Tumlin, Principal and Director of Strategy at Nelson Nygaard, and Corey Ershow, Transportation Policy Manager at Lyft, discuss the hype around autonomous vehicles and what the AV future might actually look like.

Questions discussed in this podcast include:

• How will autonomous vehicles fit into our existing taxi and ride-hailing network?
• How far are we in the technological progression toward autonomous vehicles?
• Autonomous vehicles seem to work okay on a closed course, but what about in a complex urban space?
• If we don't criminalize "jaywalking," how can humans and autonomous vehicles interact in a way that allows both to move freely and safely in an urban environment?
• Will autonomous vehicles take over our cities and marginalize pedestrians, or might the opposite happen as a result of automation?
• Will autonomous vehicles encourage longer suburban commuting?
• What are governments doing right, in anticipation of autonomous vehicles?

This week, Rachel's guest is Connor Nielsen, our summer intern who is working with both Strong Towns and our friends at the geoanalytics firm, Urban3, to share data-related stories throughout the next few months. Connor talks about what led him to this internship and what he hopes to work on this summer.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Urban3
• Connor's writing on Strong Towns
• Ask Strong Towns webcast, Thursday at 12pm CT
• Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
• The Liturgists (podcast)
• The Good Place (TV show)

This is our third dispatch from the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), which took place in Savannah, Georgia in May. Chuck Marohn attended CNU and hosted a series of in-depth podcast conversations about some of the most pressing topics for cities today, with leaders, thinkers, and activists in a whole range of fields. Now we're bringing those podcasts to your ears throughout the summer.

In this episode, David Rau, a New York-city based architect and Steve Mouzon, an architect and author of The Original Green, discuss the past, present and future of American architecture. They contemplate what it means for a new generation to reject or forgive the design choices of previous generations, particularly in light of recent conversations about the removal of Confederate monuments in American cities.

Questions discussed in this podcast include:

• What are the key differences between traditional architecture and modern architecture?
• Is a willingness to accept or reject changes as humans wired into our DNA? Are liberals more interested in moving forward and conservatives more interested in keeping this as they are?
• How does the concept of absolution apply to current conversations about new urbanism? What does the process of absolution look like?
• How can we be fair judges of city builders in the past while still maintaining a critical eye toward their failings? As city builders today, how would we want to be judged by future generations?
• Is our ability to absolve people and places of the past correlated with the level of power we have or have not gained today?
• What makes a place "lovable?"

Rachel's guest this week is Michelle Erfurt, Strong Towns' Pathfinder. She shares an update on Strong Towns' events for the year and the amazing reach that the Strong Towns message has been having. Michelle and Rachel also dish about their latest favorite books and tv shows. If you want to book a Strong Towns event, head to this page to get in touch with Michelle.

Mentioned in this podcast

• Chuck speaks at the International City/County Management Association's Annual Conference in Baltimore
• Strong Towns events in:
  • Erie, PA
  • Fort Worth, TX
  • Cedar Creek, TX
• 8 Lessons Learned from Starting my First Garden by Michelle Erfurt
• Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
• Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi