The Strong Towns Podcast

Joyce Mandell is a mom, community organizer, sociologist, community development specialist, and urban studies professor who has lived in Worcester, Massachusetts for over twenty years. She blogs at Jane Jacobs in the Woo where she looks at her city through the eyes of the famous urban activist. Chuck Marohn interviews Joyce to discuss the energy and community growth happening in Worcester, the fight against the impending destruction of a historic church in Worcester, and how her daily morning walk helps connect her with her neighborhood.

Check out Joyce's blog and read her entry in last year's Strongest Infrastructure Project contest.

Chuck and Rachel discuss Chuck's travel woes amidst the Delta airlines disaster last week. (Spoiler: He did eventually make it home.) Chuck turns it into a broader lesson about fragility and efficiency. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

• "Lessons from the Delta Implosion" by Chuck Marohn
• "How Fire Chiefs and Traffic Engineers Make Places Less Safe" by Steve Mouzon
• Events in Mount Pleasant, MI this Thursday
• The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
• Thank you for your Service by David Finkel
• Hardcore History w/Dan Carlin - World War I episodes
• "To stop a road widening project, be persistent" by Rachel Quednau
• Two Former Mayors - 1 Republican and 1 Democrat - Find Common Ground in Conversation - from the podcast

In this podcast interview, recorded live at the Strong Towns Summit last week, Chuck Marohn speaks with Joey Durel—a Republican former mayor of Lafayette, LA—and Michael McGinn—a Democrat former mayor of Seattle, WA. They discuss what led them to run for office, the transportation issues they handled as mayors, and what lessons they learned during their time in leadership.

Chuck and Rachel discuss Chuck's packed event schedule including events in Eau Claire, WI and Omaha, NE last week, and one in Wabash, IN this week. They also talk about a legal case against dangerous road design.

Mentioned in this podcast: 

• Event in Wabash, IN
• "L.A. agrees to pay $9.5 million in wrongful death case" from the Los Angeles Times
• After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split by Lesley Hazleton
• The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
• Thank you for your Service by David Finkel
• Two perspectives on Amazon: "Why Urbanists Need to Talk about Amazon" by Kea Wilson and "Okay, let's talk about Amazon then" by Chuck Marohn. Join us this Friday at 11:30am CT for a Slackchat on this topic. (Sign up for Slack here.)

Chuck and Rachel debrief about the Strong Towns Summit and share the highlights of the event, including a smart, #DotheMath-related presentation by government staff from Fate, TX. Chuck and Rachel also discuss an upcoming event in Austin, TX (with a bonus public meet-up) and some recent favorite books.

Mentioned in this podcast:

• "A Fateful Summit" (reflections on Fate, TX's presentation at the Summit)
• April 6 event in Austin, TX
• Watch videos from the Strong Towns Summit
• The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, the Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest War in American History by Paul Andrew Hutton
• Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them by Joshua Greene

Chuck and Rachel discuss the Strong Towns Summit, which begins on Thursday (and a few tickets remain for purchase!), plus they announce the winner of the #StrongestTown Contest. Chuck also discusses a documentary film he's being featured in.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Strong Towns Summit
• Summit transportation document: "A Transportation Revolution"
• Strongest Town Contest
• The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• "Almost half of Americans have dogs. Do they also need cars?" by Gracen Johnson

Today we’re sharing the audio from a webcast we recorded earlier this week with representatives from the two final towns competing in our StrongestTown Contest—Traverse City, Michigan and Guelph, Ontario. You can view the webcast here if you prefer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjqrxgoiLuc Make sure to vote for the Strongest Town in this final match-up by 5pm CT on Friday, March 24. 

Cast your vote here: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/3/20/the-final-strongesttown-contest-showdown-a-live-webcast

Kea Wilson (Strong Towns' Director of Community Engagement) fills in for Chuck Marohn on this weekly podcast hosted by Rachel Quednau. They discuss Kea's recent writing and an upcoming article she's working on about time banking in St. Louis, MO. They also provide some behind the scenes info about the impending Strong Towns Summit in Tulsa, OK and an update on the Strongest Town Contest.

Mentioned in this podcast:

• The Cowry Collective in St. Louis, MO
• Nebraska Bike Walk Summit and Meet Up where Chuck Marohn is speaking later this week
• Strong Towns Summit in Tulsa, OK. Read about workshops here.
• Vital Little Plans by Jane Jacobs
• Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs
• The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to Be Complicated by Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack
• Strongest Town Contest

Welcome to our third round of the Strongest Town Competition. We invite you to listen to this interview that Rachel Quednau, Communications Director for Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest, then make sure to listen to their competitors' podcast (Lafayette, LA). Once you've finished listening to the episodes, please visit www.strongtowns.org/strongtesttown to vote for the strongest.

Mayor Cam Guthrie and resident Mike Watt share about their town's fantastic location and famous festivals, as well as how they're handling the challenge of new growth.

See photos of Guelph here and read the town's initial entry here.

Welcome to our third round of the Strongest Town Competition. We invite you to listen to this interview that Rachel Quednau, Communications Director for Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest, then make sure to listen to their competitors' podcast (Guelph, ON, Canada). Once you've finished listening to the episodes, please visit www.strongtowns.org/strongtesttown to vote for the strongest.

Carlee Alm-LaBar, Director of Planning, Zoning, and Development for the Lafayette Consolidated Government, discusses her town's unique culture, their strong connection with the local university and their take on planning for their financial future.

See photos of Lafayette here and read the town's initial entry here.