The Strong Towns Podcast

One year ago, a woman in suburban Oregon crossed the street while under the influence of alcohol and was struck by a driver and killed. Her husband's lawyer couldn't find an engineer in his state who was willing to stand up to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and speak out about the dangerously designed street that played a part in this woman's death. So the lawyer called Chuck Marohn, President of Strong Towns, and he recently traveled to Oregon to testify as part of the case again the DOT.

In this episode, Chuck reviews the case and discusses the dangerous design of the road that led to an innocent mother's death.

Richard Florida, author, editor and Professor at the University of Toronto, is part of a growing chorus of prominent thinkers across the country who are speaking out against the race to the bottom that Amazon's search for a second headquarters has induced. Strong Towns is fully in agreement that cities should compete on their merits and strengths, not on the amount of local tax dollars they're willing to pony up.

So Florida wrote a letter and invited urban leaders, developers and economists to sign onto it — Chuck Marohn included. The letter asks elected officials in the HQ2 finalist cities to sign a mutual non-aggression pact that rejects egregious tax giveaways and direct monetary incentives for Amazon. So far, more than 1,100 people have signed it. You can join them.

In this short conversation wtih Chuck Marohn, Florida discusses the letter and what motivated him to get it going.

In this episode with featured guest, Chuck Marohn, Chuck discusses his complicated relationship with Kansas City, MO culminating in a recent successful event there. Chuck also introduces the newest member of his family, Gryffindor the puppy! And Rachel introduces the 3rd annual Strongest Town Contest — with some new twists.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• STROADing in Kansas City by Chuck Marohn
• Nominate your city for the Strongest Town contest! Applications due February 25.
• Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier by Edward Glaeser
• This week's Slackchat on #slowthecars (Friday, Feb. 9 at 11:30am CT)
• The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan by Rick Perlstein
• Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age by Fiona Maddocks

Chuck Marohn reviews the recently leaked White House infrastructure plan and discusses the ways in which it aligns with Strong Towns principles, as well as the places where it falls short.

Read more about it here and follow our ongoing infrastructure conversation here.

Rachel's guest this week is Strong Towns member and contributor Alexander Dukes, who just concluded an ongoing series on our site called A Town Well Planned. He talks about the inspiration for and response to his series, plus what it's like to be a community planner in the US Air Force.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• A Town Well Planned series
• Curbside Chat in Kansas City, MO (January 30)
• Presentation in St. Cloud, MN (February 2)
• Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

In this short, bonus episode, Chuck reads one of his recent articles about the chasm between the values of the average person and the values of the engineer.

See the text of the article here.

Across the country, a movement of local doers is taking hold — one where problem solving happens from the bottom up instead of the top down. We're seeing this in everything from the way we educate ourselves to the tools we use to get places. The energy is coming not just from governments but also business leaders, teachers and scientists, and the solutions are interdisciplinary, too. This is what Bruce Katz, Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution, argues in new book, co-authored with Jeremy Nowak, The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism.

In this episode, Chuck interviews Bruce Katz about his book, this new localism movement and how it could shape a better future for all Americans.

In this episode, Rachel has Chuck Marohn on as her guest to discuss a special Strong Towns focus on the need to build safer, slower streets. They also talk about some upcoming webcasts, with a side of football.

MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST

• Slow the Cars by Chuck Marohn
• Design Speed is a Value Statement by Chuck Marohn
• Gross Negligence Webcast - February 1 at 12pm CT
• Curbside Chat in Indianapolis - January 25
• A Webcast Conversation with Jeff Speck - February 15 at 12pm CT
• Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths by Bruce Feiler

If you're from any part of America besides Los Angeles, you've probably dissed the California city at one point or another. It's full of smog, traffic and vain movie stars, right? But that narrative misses out on so much of what L.A. has to offer. Not only is the city an exciting and rewarding place to live for many people, it's also, surprisingly, a great place to raise a family and — believe it or not — a good place to walk and bike.

Alissa Walker is living proof of this. She's the Urbanism Editor for Curbed and a long-time resident of Los Angeles. She's made the city work for her and actually says that walking or biking is often easier than driving in her neighborhood. When she realized this a few years back, she ditched her car and has been enjoying bus rides, bike rides and walks with her family ever since. She's also watched the city around her change as investments in public space, walking, biking and transit grow. Alissa's hopeful that cities like hers will continue to figure out ways to welcome and accommodate families. 

This thoughtful and fun conversation with Alissa Walker will challenge your Los Angeles stereotypes and help you think about what it means to build a family- and woman-friendly city.

Rachel hosts Strong Towns member and guest writer Tim Wright as her featured guest on this Week Ahead podcast. Tim discusses an incremental park improvement project he's been leading in his town of Shreveport, Louisiana, plus a favorite new book that had surprising relevance with Strong Towns issues. (We encountered a couple sound quality issues in this recording so we apologize for that.)

Mentioned in this podcast:

• Inspired Park Project Takes Root in Shreveport by Tim Wright
• Visit the Local Conversations page to find Strong Towns members taking action in your region.
• Learn more about the inner-city highway project that residents are fighting against in Shreveport.
• The Cost of Living by Arundhati Roy
• Fauda (TV show on Netflix)