The Strong Towns Podcast

In this podcast, Chuck Marohn interviews Tony Dutzik, Senior Policy Analyst for Frontier Group and Strong Towns member about his recent article, "What Comes After the Auto Bubble?" Chuck and Tony discuss the relationship between easy access to lending and car ownership increases, and its overlaps with the housing bubble and crash. They also discuss the impact of car-reliance on poor families and our economy as a whole.

Chuck and Rachel discuss several recent events in Traverse City and Chicago, as well as upcoming events in Brainerd, MN, Atlanta, GA and Calgary, AB. They also discuss Chuck's new series on incremental growth, which kicked off today on our website.

Mentioned in this podcast:

• 2017 Strongest Town Contest
• Strong Towns Strength Test #1: How's your main street doing?
• Info about upcoming Q&A webcasts
• Brainerd History Week event
• FEEcon in Atlanta, plus info about an Atlanta member meetup
• Conference in Calgary, AB
• "The power of growing incrementally" by Chuck Marohn
• Spiders on Drugs video
• Portland Housing series

Chuck Marohn interviews Grace Potts of Ypsilanti, MI and Elias Crim of Valparaiso, IN, writers and editors for Solidarity Hall, a group blog, "a hospitable old hostelry, a mental oasis in the deserted landscapes that surround us." Solidarity Hall reflects on great thinkers like Jane Jacobs, Wendell Berry, and Dorothy Day to discuss issues of community, religion and social progress.

In this interview, Grace and Elias discuss the concept of communitarianism and cooperatives, as well as the problem with centralized systems and our partisan political structure. In this wide-reaching dialogue, Grace, Elias and Chuck contemplate how to build truly resilient communities where power rests in the hands of neighbors, and where economic prosperity is not the realm of the few, but shared by all.

Rachel and Chuck discuss a recent webcast, upcoming events in Michigan and Illinois (including a member meetup with Strong Towns staff), and why our approaches to health care and infrastructure spending are remarkably similar and similarly messed up.

Mentioned in this Podcast:

• Strong Talk: A Dangerous Street That Can't be Ignored (Video)
• An Open Letter to the City of Springfield by Chuck Marohn
• Curbside Chat in Traverse City, MI (June 7)
• Keynote presentation in Chicago, IL (June 9) and you're also invited to a Strong Towns member meetup on June 8 (more info here)
• "This is why infrastructure is so expensive" by Chuck Marohn
• More on Infrastructure from Strong Towns
• Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

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.