Claim OwnershipThe Strong Towns Podcast
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The Strong Towns Podcast is a weekly conversation on the Strong Towns movement, hosted by Strong Towns Founder and President Charles Marohn and frequently featuring special guests. The podcast explores how we can financially strengthen our cities, towns, and neighborhoods and, in the process, make them better places to live. Join Chuck in examining how everything from urban design to economics to systems theory to psychology helps inform this core question.
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Strong cities know who they are. In today's episode, Chuck is joined by Ryan Short, founder of Civic Brand. They discuss how uncovering a shared identity guides smarter decisions, strengthens civic pride, and helps communities thrive.
Additional Show Notes
"The Civic Brand: The Power & Responsibility of Place" by Ryan Short
Civic Brand (site)
Ryan Short (LinkedIn)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Chuck breaks down the financial math behind urban decline in this live recording of a Wilmington event, with opening remarks from Delaware Governor Matt Meyer. Learn why growth is bankrupting your city — and how to reverse it.
(Note: Audio improves at 5:16 when Chuck takes over.)
Additional Show Notes
Check out some of the images Chuck references in the episode.
Bring Chuck to your own city!
Connect with Strong Towns Wilmington.
Get the Finance Decoder.
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
1Author Diane Alisa just wanted her kids to have what she didn't: freedom to roam, community, and a childhood that doesn't require a minivan. Somewhere along the way, she realized the suburban dream itself might be the problem. Today, she and Chuck dig into what the Suburban Experiment cost us — and what comes next.
Additional Show Notes
Want to hear more from Diane? Check out her episode on The Bottom-Up Revolution!
“Love Letter to Suburbia: How to Restore the American Village” by Diane Alisa
Diane Alisa (Instagram)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Chuck records from the road after speaking at a housing summit in Pennsylvania. He reflects on why the Strong Towns message resonates with local officials struggling to address the housing crisis, as well as the challenges facing the movement and plans for the future.
Additional Show Notes
Member Week is almost over! Join the movement today.
Strong Towns members are making their places stronger everywhere from the Bahamas to Mongolia. Chuck and Member Advocate Norm Van Eeden Petersman discuss how people in Colombia and Uganda can speak the same language about streets, and what that means for building better places everywhere.
Additional Show Notes
It's Member Week at Strong Towns! Join the movement today!
Can New Urbanists learn from suburbia's success? In this special episode, Chuck sits down with CNU founder Andres Duany, who shares big ideas he says the movement isn't ready to hear. They discuss how New Urbanism captured territory in the battle for cities, why its failing to hold that territory, and where Strong Towns fits into the fight.
Additional Show Notes
It's Member Week at Strong Towns! Join the movement today!
Chuck sits down with Carlee Alm-LaBar, Strong Towns' chief of staff, to talk about what it's like managing a growing movement that's focused on action. Learn how the organization is evolving to help thousands of members make real change in their communities.
Additional Show Notes
It's Member Week at Strong Towns! Join the movement by making a donation of any amount.
In this special Member Week episode, Chuck explores Strong Towns’ strategy, from its origin as a blog to its future in 2026 and beyond. He then answers audience questions about Strong Towns’ funding, his advice for elected officials, and more.
Additional Show Notes
It's Member Week at Strong Towns! Join the movement by making a donation of any amount.
You can also check out the video version of this podcast here: https://youtu.be/QG9mE3BtFac
Today, Chuck sits down with Laura Foote, executive director of YIMBY Action. They dive into America’s housing crisis, debate the future of zoning, and explore what it will take to fix broken incentives and build more homes.
Additional Show Notes
YIMBY Action's new implementation guide
Strong Towns' new housing toolkit
YIMBY Action (site)
Laura's email: laura@yimbyaction.org
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
Hey listener, you hear from us all the time, but today we want to hear from you. We want your feedback on this podcast and any other Strong Towns podcast you like to listen to. Please fill out this quick survey to share your thoughts: strongtowns.org/survey
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Chuck Marohn tackles 16 real questions from city officials wrestling with the messy reality of housing reform. From a lack of transit to competition from big developers, he explores the challenges of getting more housing on the ground.
Additional Show Notes
Want to fix your city's housing market? Download our new housing toolkit, "Who Will Build the Housing-Ready City?" to get started.
"Unleash the Swarm" by Daniel Herriges (e-book)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Since finishing the Interstate Highway System in the 1990s, the U.S. has added 75% more urban highway lanes — and we're on track to double it again. Erick Guerra, author of "Overbuilt" and professor of regional planning, joins Chuck to discuss why we can't stop building highways we don't need and how our transportation funding system creates cities that are more dangerous and less prosperous.
Additional Show Notes
"Overbuilt: The High Costs and Low Rewards of U.S. Highway Construction" by Erick Guerra
Erick Guerra (UPenn site)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Chuck is joined by Sam Quinones, author of “Dreamland” and “The Least of Us,” to talk about his newest book “The Perfect Tuba.” They discuss how a curiosity about tuba players turned into a deep exploration of hard work, community, and finding joy and purpose in difficult circumstances.
Additional Show Notes
"The Perfect Tuba: Forging Fulfillment from the Bass Horn, Band, and Hard Work" by Sam Quinones
Connect with Sam Quinones:
Website
Twitter/X
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Chuck is joined by Joe Minicozzi, founder of the geoaccounting organization Urban3. They talk about the impact of AirBNBs and other short-term rentals on housing affordability, how our tax systems benefit rentals while hurting families, and how our cities can get the system back on track.
Additional Show Notes
Want to fix your city's housing market? Download our new housing toolkit, "Who Will Build the Housing-Ready City?" to get started.
Joe Minicozzi
Urban3 (site)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Michigan is on the forefront of housing innovation, with many cities throughout the state experiencing a resurgence in population and housing options. Today, Chuck talks with Dan Gilmartin, the executive director and CEO of the Michigan Municipal League, which was instrumental in this revival.
Additional Show Notes
Want to bring more housing to your community? Download our brand-new housing toolkit, "Who Will Build the Housing-Ready City?" for free!
Michigan Municipal League (site)
Dan Gilmartin (Twitter/X)
Chuck Marohn (Substack
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Chuck is joined by Joe Minicozzi, founder of the geoaccounting organization Urban3. They compare notes on the highway projects each of their cities is facing and discuss whether these projects bring value. They also talk about how Airbnbs affect the housing market and whether they should be taxed as houses or hotels.
Additional Show Notes
The book Joe and Chuck refer to at the end of the episode is "Overbuilt: The High Costs and Low Rewards of U.S. Highway Construction" by Erick Guerra.
Click here to watch the video version of this conversation on YouTube.
Joe Minicozzi
Urban3 (site)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
How do you make streets safer without gentrifying an area? Will self-driving cars change the way we build cities? Are engineers tracking congestion the right way?
Chuck discusses these questions and more with Vignesh Swaminathan, a civil engineer and project manager at Kimley-Horn. Also known as Mr. Barricade, Vignesh has built a massive online following by making street design understandable and fun. As Chuck says in the episode, “This is not your grandpa's engineer.”
Additional Show Notes
Connect with Mr. Barricade:
TikTok
Instagram
Email: vignesh.swaminathan@kimley-horn.com
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
How did we go from building strong, prosperous cities to weak, debt-ridden ones? In this episode, Chuck tracks the cultural and economic impacts of World War II on our development pattern. He explains what must change if we want to build strong cities again.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
This episode is a recording of a presentation Chuck gave in Denver. Click here to see some of the images Chuck references.
Get the Finance Decoder.
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Why are America’s streets so dangerous — and what can we do about it? In this episode, Chuck talks with Wes Marshall, author of “Killed by a Traffic Engineer” and professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado Denver. From the history of traffic engineering to the failures of Vision Zero, they explore how design decisions shape safety — and what it will take to build streets that protect everyone.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Look Both Ways with David & Wes (Podbean)
Wes Marshall (site)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Chuck is joined by James Anderson, head of the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. Under his leadership, the program has helped thousands of cities worldwide embrace an innovative, people-based approach to local governance.
Today, Chuck and James discuss why local governments matter now more than ever. Then they explore ways that residents, advocates, and organizations can encourage city leaders to embrace innovation.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Bloomberg Philanthropies (site)
Bloomberg Cities Network (site)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Chuck is joined by Quint Studer, the founder of the Center for Civic Engagement in Pensacola, Florida. They discuss Strong Towns’ involvement in Pensacola’s renewal and the Civic Leader Summit that will be held there in September.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Civic Leader Summit
Quint Studer (site)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
Want to bring the conversation to your city? Book Chuck Marohn as a speaker.
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
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At risk of, again, sounding like a NE Corridor Progressive snob, I have NO IDEA what the point of this conversation was other than to hear himself speak, which I guess plays well in Flyover Country where he sounds "brilliant." MTA is a STATE agency--it's "massive failings," NONE of which he bothered to mention, have NOTHING to do with the usual mantra of Suburban Growth Ponzi Scheme or even intra-urban housing development. The threats to cancel Congestion Pricing are 1000% political pandering.
Just one more lane bro. Just one more lane i swear im gonna fix traffic forever. I just need one more lane bro.
Imagine being put on a design team by Chuck and wondering if it's because it's a crappy project and he thinks you're unskilled to handle something more intricate.
This episode feels like "Big-city Regional Rail for Dummies." How does anybody outside of the Midwest take Chuck seriously?!
55 minutes into the video and, as usual, you attempt to play the "both sides" game and magically miss the mark understanding either. On the NIMBY side, you, as usual, gloss over any racial and socioeconomic components, including redlining and sundown town policies. On the YIMBY side, so-called "backyard cottages" are ABSOLUTELY a tenet of YIMBYism! I don't know where you get off thinking YIMBYism is soley couched in building 5-over-1s anywhere as opposed to a VARIED tool bag of densification.
Just happy to see Conservative Chuck FINALLY acknowledge the MASSIVE Racism and Classism components to suburban sprawl and urban freeway expansions.
The Big Dig was a "success" if you count running 4x over budget; adding 60k more vehicles through the CBD each day; and worsening air and noise pollution in the Boston neighborhoods where I-93 WASN'T buried, including Charlestown, Chinatown, the West End, South Boston and Dorchester.
No shocker at Medford. At the end of the day, engineers and planners in the US will kiss Boomer NIMBY a$$ because that's what pays the bills.
Overall decent commentary. As I've said previously, episodes are better when Chuck is interviewing other people versus going on his diatribes about walking & cycling Progressives. But don't get it twisted, Chuck: when cycling advocates say "give us the bike lane" on a 40 mph section of stroad, they're not saying "and nothing else." They're saying "give us SOMETHING after decades of giving us NOTHING & let that be a STEPPING STONE towards grade-separated infrastructure, like cycle tracks."
"Robert Moses is somebody we can all relate to." No, Chuck, he's somebody YOU can relate to! Ramming highways through black, brown and poor neighborhoods that DIDN'T have a Jane Jacobs to stand up for them. Intentionally building parkways so as to EXCLUDE buses, which black, brown and poor people were more likely to use. Lobbying to de-fund public transit projects and shift, pun intended, funding to roadway projects. "But he also built nice parks and beaches." Yeah, but for WHO?!
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I'm literally cutting this garbage podcast episode at your rant about 85th Percentile principals. Your previous rant mentioned lowering city speed limits as one effective measure and then, with the 85th Percentile rant, you shift, pun intended, into worrying more about free-flowing freeway traffic! WE'RE TALKING ABOUT REDUCING/ELIMINATING CITY TRAFFIC INJURIES & FATALITIES! The whole point of speed cameras is to be the invisible hand that REDUCES the 85th Percentile to safer speeds! Try again!
You're hurting my brain, Chuck! "People are slowing down for the camera(s)." -That's LITERALLY what the speed cameras are designed to do! "Advocates think that speed cameras are a good 'Band-Aid' until decades-long street redesigns can funded and implemented... advocates 'don't understand' that street redesign is more effective than more speed cameras." -People pay you for this "profound logic"??!!
"I don't have a counter-argument to that." Probably the truest thing you've said in your life! The idea is to slow city traffic EVEN MORE, not compare it to super-speeders going 100 vs 110 mph.
Chuck, with all due respect, NOBODY is being 400 sf SFHs in Boston or NYC or San Francisco! The "cities" you rattled off are TOWNS the size of a postage stamp! Your "method" works THERE--we need medium density, and we need it yesterday in the BIG cities and their satellite suburbs.
Haha, Conservative Chuck is butt hurt that some reporter mislabeled him as a "Progressive"! He's like, "No, no, really I fluff Moderate NIMBYs!!"
This 1000%! More guest engineers, planners and green infrastructure advocates--less Conservative Chuck rambling.
HUGE shocker! Chuck The Conservative whitewashing SVB's misdeeds! SVB wasn't some poor mom & pop local bank--they were a MAJOR player, largely in the tech sector, that LOBBIED to have mid-sized banks not have to have a X amount of cash-on-hand, proportional to the big dogs (Chase, BofA, WF, etc.). And, what do you know? They didn't have X amount of cash on hand; investors freaked a bit; depositors freaked more and created a run on the bank; and it's Good Night SVB! Karma's a Whaaaaaat?! Here's a thought: if you're going to change regulations to suit your risky habits... make sure you MINIMIZE that risk! There, just did your whole podcast segment! Though I will say, more interesting than "why I think '15-min cities' is a dumb concept but you should believe in it anyway."
Yes, Chuck, we get it: you hate Progressives, Liberals and POC, usually in that order. unfortunately as a Center-Right pundit that puts you in a bit of a conundrum as, much like the other commenter here, you find yourself left behind by a Party that has shifted further and further to the Right, eschewing once proud, but still half-baked, principles of "Fiscal Conservatism" for parading Confederate flags and chanting to hang the sitting Vice President because he won't do "their" bidding. Meanwhile, you are chagrined at the Liberals and Progressives who follow you, whose principles of reducing car dependency and increasing bike-ability and walkability you espouse.
Wow, wow, wow! I very much appreciated the balanced insights in this episode. I am a person who feels party-less these days, with some strongly held beliefs that lean liberal and others that are labeled conservative. 15 minute cities make a lot of sense to me for all sorts of reasons. But I want that as an option, not a requirement. And I want to still be free to visit my kids who live elsewhere if I wish. So much discussion these days lacks nuance, and is incredibly divisive. I so much appreciate the time you took to really investigate and explain the reasons that people believe what they do. I sincerely wish that we all as citizens of the world could manage this type of civil, logical discourse on more of the hotly debated topics in our world.