The Strong Towns Podcast

Recording live at CNU24 in Detroit Chuck Marohn interviews Hazel Borys, Principal at Placemakers, along with some Placemakers clients: Joe Cosentini, Town Administrator of Thompson's Station, TN, and Andrew Blake, City Manager of Ranson, WV. Hazel, Joe and Andrew discuss the work Placemakers did in these small towns, developing form-based codes, improving walkability and building better places. They also talk about the challenges of making change in small towns.

Reporting live from CNU24 in Detroit, Chuck Marohn interviews Michelle Erfurt, the Strong Towns Pathfinder, who coordinates Strong Towns events. She talks about what it's like to communicate with people all over the country interested in Strong Towns, as well as the process for putting together an event. Chuck also reflects on the highs and lows of past events.

Chuck and Rachel offer a preview of events and upcoming podcast recordings at CNU. 

Mentioned in this podcast: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, and Embedded podcast from NPR.

Andres Duany is an American architect and urban planner working at the firm DPZ, a co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and the author of several books including Suburban Nation. He's also an inspiration for Strong Towns thinking.

In this interview, Chuck Marohn and Andres Duany discuss the founding and growth of the new urbanist movement, gentrification, and the future of the suburbs.

Toby is a Strong Towns pioneer, making the city of Hays, KS better through his role as City Manager. He's been on the podcast before and we invited him back for an update on the progress of Strong Towns ideas in his community.

Rachel and Chuck recap a week on the Iron Range and discuss other Minnesota towns including Duluth and Grand Marais. Chuck also offers an update on the Antifragile book club and some commentary on his recent article, "Engineers Should not Design Streets."

This week we're hosting a series of on the ground events in the Iron Range region of Minnesota. We're also sharing stories from the region and offering examples of how Strong Towns ideas can apply there. 

Aaron J. Brown is a writer, radio producer and college instructor living and working on the Iron Range. He writes a blog, Minnesota Brown and is a lifelong resident of the Range. He's also a good friend of Chuck Marohn's. In this interview (where Minnesota accents abound), Aaron discusses changes on the Iron Range over the last few decades, the current mining situation, and the role of education in the community.

This week we're hosting a series of on the ground events in the Iron Range region of Minnesota. We're also sharing stories from the region and offering examples of how Strong Towns ideas can apply there. 

Andrew Hanegmon is the founder of Iron Range Makerspace, a new venture that will connect residents with space, tools and community to build new businesses and create a better economic future for the region. In this in-person interview, Chuck Marohn talks with Andrew about how the organization got started and where it's headed now.

This week we're hosting a series of on the ground events in the Iron Range region of Minnesota. We're also sharing stories from the region and offering examples of how Strong Towns ideas can apply there. 

Scott Hall is a long-time resident of the Iron Range and the Community Asset Coordinator for KAXE Northern Community Radio. In this podcast, he talks about the history of the region and the changes in the Iron Range over the last several decades, through the lens of his own life there.

Chuck Marohn also jumps in with some of his own musings on life in northern Minnesota.

In a solo podcast, Chuck talks about the articles he wrote on Smart Growth and sprawl (first and second) and why he doesn't use either term in describing himself or the Strong Towns movement.