The Strong Towns Podcast

Jonathan Holth is a Strong Towns member from Grand Forks, ND. He's a restaurant owner, he's on the board of the downtown business association, he's an active citizen and he's a father of three girls. In this interview with Chuck Marohn, Jonathan discusses his work and vision for a better downtown Grand Forks, as well as his perspective as a small business owner and a parent, working to incrementally build a Strong Town. Jon and Chuck talk about local businesses, parking issues, housing and making change in polite, conservative Midwestern towns.

The Week Ahead podcast is back! After some technical issues over the last few weeks, we're in the swing of things again, talking about upcoming and past events, a recent #StrongSchools campaign, our ongoing #InfrastructureCrisis conversation and book recommendations too. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

• "Infrastructure Spending for Dummies" by Charles Marohn
• Knoxville event, September 22
• "Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior" from the Great Courses
• American Character by Colin Woodard

Steven Shultis is a long-time member of Strong Towns and a strong advocate for urban public education, having raised his own children in the inner city of Springfield, MA. In this follow-up to his 2015 podcast interview, he shares his perspective on raising a family in a walkable neighborhood and choosing to send his kids to an urban school, for Strong Towns' Schools Week. 

You can read more from Steven Shultis on life in a traditional urban neighborhood and urban education on his blog, Rational Urbanism, and catch his interviews and essays on Strong Towns too. From this week, here's Steven's guide to getting the most out of urban public schools. 

Chuck Marohn interviews Paul Stewart, the Executive Director of the Oswego Renaissance Association in Oswego, NY. It's a small town like so many others, that has lost population and jobs in the last several decades and is struggling to create lasting solutions to its economic challenges.

Stewart talks about his transition from being a citizen rehabbing his historic home—to an activist who started an organization to help revitalize Oswego neighborhoods and preserve homes all across the city. He discusses the ripple effects of these home improvements and his vision for his town.

In this belated interview from Suburban Poverty week, we had the chance to speak with Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and co-author of the book, Confronting Suburban Poverty in America. Her work primarily focuses on urban and suburban poverty, metropolitan demographics, and tax policies that support low-income workers and communities.

This conversation focuses on the causes of, impacts on and responses to suburban poverty in America. We dive into transportation struggles, challenges for the elderly, and the struggle to truly address this growing and hidden problem.

Chuck and Rachel discuss Chuck's recent vacation, favorite summer movies, Suburban Poverty week and Chuck's recent essay about the future of the US economy. They also touch on upcoming events in Rockford, IL and Minneapolis, MN.

Mentioned in this podcast:

• "Pain or Death? The View from the Balloon" by Chuck Marohn
• Movies: Jason Bourne, Hell or Highwater, Ben-Hur, and Ghostbusters
• Books: Jack Reacher novels, Between the World and Me, The New Jim Crow and Seeing Like a State
• Tomas Sedlacek and the Understanding Growth series
• Suburban Poverty Week

Rachel and special guest, Michelle Erfurt (Strong Towns' Pathfinder) discuss Suburban Poverty Week and dive into the event calendar for the rest of 2016.

Mentioned in this episode:

• 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

This week Chuck answers questions left over from an Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals web broadcast he participated in earlier this year. You will discover, if you didn't already know, that Chuck is not a fan of studies and technical reports (or the mindset that demands them).

Things have gone awry as Rachel takes a Monday off leaving Chuck and Strong Towns' Community Builder, Yuri Artibise, to talk about Iowa, the barbell strategy, the Canadian-based CitiesAlive podcast and the differing histories of the War of the Conquest (the French and Indian War).