The Strong Towns Podcast

Chuck Marohn interviews Emily Hamilton about a recent article she published at the Foundation for Economic Education website entitled, "The Hidden War on Affordable Housing." Emily is a Research Associate at George Mason University's Mercatus Center and she holds a Masters in economics from GMU as well. In this conversation, Chuck and Emily discuss the present lack of single-room occupancy and small-scale housing that used to be so prevalent in the United States and how we might resurrect these forms of affordable housing. They also discuss broader issues of housing affordability across the US and how to adjust government policies to allow for the creation of more affordable housing options.

Emily and Chuck are both speaking at the upcoming FEEcon, "2017's premier gathering of freedom lovers from all walks of life" hosted by the Foundation for Economic Education in Atlanta, GA, June 15-17. Get more information here.

Right now, FEEcon is offering a special discount to Strong Towns members, readers and listeners. Use the code "MU40off" to get  40% off the ticket price.

In this weekly podcast with Chuck Marohn and Rachel Quednau, Chuck relates his misadventures in Oklahoma, and how some Strong Towns members and event hosts stepped up to help remedy the situation. Chuck also discusses his "Open Letter to the City of Springfield" about a dangerous street that the city recognizes but refuses to redesign for safer crossings.

Mentioned in this Podcast:

• "An Open Letter to the City of Springfield"
• Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

Chuck Marohn interviews Vince Graham, the former chair of the South Carolina Infrastructure Bank and current president of I'On Group. In this conversation, they discuss Graham's real estate development work and the uphill battle his company has faced in trying to do new urbanist development in a place where suburban-style development is the norm. Graham also talks about his time at the South Carolina Infrastructure Bank—a funding unique model for infrastructure investments—and offers a critical assessment of the organization.

Chuck and Rachel debrief on a recent trip to Asheville, NC with the team at Urban3, as well as an event in Ottawa County, MI. They also discuss an upcoming trip to McAlester, OK and recent content on the Strong Towns website. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

• Upcoming event in McAlester, OK
• "Plan Everything but how to Pay for it all" by Chuck Marohn
• Catastrophic Care: How American Health Care Killed My Father--and How We Can Fix It by David Goldhill
• Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes
• Public Art Week
• "When the Need to Develop Trumps Public Art" by Jason Schaefer

Northern Spark is a free all-night art festival that has taken place in Minneapolis and St. Paul for the past several years. It's a one-night event but since 2011, it has more than included 535 artist projects in 120 venues, and attracted 222,000 attendees. 

In this interview, Rachel Quednau chats with Sarah Peters, the Associate Director of the Northern Spark Festival, to find out how the event got started, how it has engaged the Twin Cities community, and how other cities can replicate this amazing program.

The 2017 Northern Spark takes place 8:59pm, June 10 until 5:26am on June 11 along the Green Line light rail route in the Twin Cities. Find more info here.

See photos of the event on Flickr.

Richard Florida is a University Professor and Director of Cities at the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto, he's a writer and journalist, and he serves as senior editor for The Atlantic, where he co-founded and serves as Editor-at-Large for CityLab. He's also the author of a new book, The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class-and What We Can Do About It.

In this interview with Chuck Marohn, Florida discusses the backlash to one of his most famous books, The Rise of the Creative Class, and the growth in inequality and economic segregation in American cities, which he cites as a much bigger problem than gentrification. Florida also shares his reaction to the presidential election and his thoughts about the future of the suburbs.

Chuck and Rachel discuss upcoming events in Brainerd, MN and Asheville, NC, and recap the recent CNU25 in Seattle.

Mentioned in this podcast:

• Event in Brainerd, MN
• Event in Asheville, NC
• The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire by Stephen Kinzer
• "Poverty, Partisanship and the Land Tax" (3 videos)
• This week's open slackchat with Chuck will be at 1pm CT on Wednesday (May 10). More info here.

Jarrett Walker is a transit planning consultant and the author of a book, Human Transit: How clearer thinking about public transit can enrich our communities and our lives. He also writes a blog called Human Transit. In this conversation with Chuck Marohn, Walker considers, "What is the problem for which transit is the solution?" and "What does it mean for transit to work well?"

Mentioned in this podcast:

• Human Transit: How clearer thinking about public transit can enrich our communities and our lives by Jarrett Walker
• The Human Transit Blog
• "The Transit Ridership Recipe" by Jarrett Walker