Claim OwnershipThe Strong Towns Podcast
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A weekly conversation on the Strong Towns movement hosted by Charles Marohn. The podcast blends fiscal prudence with good urban design to highlight how America can financially strengthen its cities, towns and neighborhoods and, in the process, make them better places to live.
You can support the podcast and become a member of Strong Towns at www.StrongTowns.org.
You can support the podcast and become a member of Strong Towns at www.StrongTowns.org.
661 Episodes
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1Chuck 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.
No matter how easy we make it to build, the existing housing system is based on a financial model that cannot tolerate lower prices. If falling prices is the goal, then we need to build a system that can deliver on it. In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck explains how our current system prevents prices from falling and how we can build a better one.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Learn how to actually make housing affordable with the Housing-Ready Toolkit.
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.
In this special episode, Chuck is joined by Graham Campbell, director of Economics & Research for the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission. They discuss the true cost of infrastructure — and why both New Zealand and North America are facing the same financial and structural challenges.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
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, including member-exclusive perks.
In this episode, Chuck dives into the root causes of the housing crisis. Using clips from interviews with housing experts and reporters, he explores the popular theory that the housing crisis is caused by a lack of supply. He shows how this belief relates to the Strong Towns approach.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Learn how to unlock housing in your city: The Housing-Ready City: A Toolkit for Local Code Reform
Hear more from…
Cullum Clark
Conor Dougherty
Steve Nygren
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.
Chuck sits down with Ryan Johnson, the founder and visionary behind Culdesac Tempe, the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the U.S. They discuss the realities of living in and developing a community like Culdesac, from transportation costs to working with local government. Ryan explains how they maintain walkability in an Arizona desert, how they successfully nurture small businesses, and how they encourage people to embrace co-ownership of the community.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Learn more about Culdesac.
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.
Serenbe is a unique community just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. It’s based on the development pattern of traditional English villages, with walkable, mixed-use “hamlets” surrounded by nature. In today’s episode, Chuck sits down with Serenbe founder Steve Nygren to discuss the process of developing this kind of community, as well as Steve’s development philosophy of “radical common sense.”
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
“Start in Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where We Live With Radical Common Sense” by Steve Nygren
Learn more about Serenbe.
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.
A few weeks ago, the New York Times article "Why America Should Sprawl" went viral, sparking a national discussion about housing and development patterns.
In today’s episode, Chuck sits down with Conor Dougherty, the reporter behind the article, to discuss his perspective on housing in more depth.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Prefer to read or watch? We've got you covered. Click here for the transcript or here for the YouTube video.
Learn how to beat the housing crisis the right way. Download The Housing-Ready City: A Toolkit for Local Code Reform today!
Read more:
“America Should Sprawl” by Conor Dougherty
“Golden Gates” by Conor Dougherty
“America Should Sprawl? Not If We Want Strong Towns” by Charles Marohn
“Escaping the Housing Trap” by Charles Marohn and Daniel Herriges
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
Cullum Clark, director of the Economic Growth Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute, returns to the Strong Towns Podcast to discuss his recently published report on housing reform. Cullum highlights several reforms that have proven to be economically feasible, politically realistic, and impactful on a large scale.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
More from Cullum:
Read the report: Build Homes, Expand Opportunity: Lessons from America’s Fastest Growing Cities
George W. Bush Presidential Center (site)
“How Do You Build More Housing When No One Wants Neighborhood Change?” (Strong Towns Podcast)
Learn how to unlock housing in your city: The Housing-Ready City: A Toolkit for Local Code Reform
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
Today, Chuck is joined by Jeff Speck, a city planner, author, and principal of an urban design and consultancy firm. They discuss the ideas shared in Chuck’s book “Escaping the Housing Trap” and how those concepts play out in the real world, including examples from Jeff’s own work.
Their discussion covers a wide range of topics, including incremental zoning reform, the benefits and pitfalls of inclusive zoning, and how to finance small-scale housing.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Join Jeff and Chuck in Providence next month. Get your National Gathering tickets now!
See more from Jeff:
The Planner’s Pledge (site)
“Walkable City” by Jeff Speck, updated edition
“Walkable City Rules” by Jeff Speck
See more from Strong Towns:
“Escaping the Housing Trap” by Chuck Marohn and Daniel Herriges
The Housing-Ready City: A Toolkit for Local Code Reform
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
On the surface, sprawl seems like an easy answer to the housing crisis. It fits with the mechanisms we have in place today, and it aligns with the lived experiences and political will of most Americans. But the reality of our housing crisis is more nuanced, and it's bigger than sprawl: The problem is the current way we develop, whether that's inside cities or on the fringes. Chuck explains why in this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Learn how to beat the housing crisis the right way. Download The Housing-Ready City: A Toolkit for Local Code Reform today!
Read more:
“Escaping the Housing Trap” by Charles Marohn and Daniel Herriges
“America Should Sprawl? Not If We Want Strong Towns” by Charles Marohn
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
ZacTax is a financial analysis firm that helps city officials understand their revenue streams and make smarter financial choices. Today, Chuck is joined by its founders, Chad Janicek and Patrick Lawler. They explain how they work effectively with local governments and how their work is helping drive a cultural shift toward stronger and more productive cities.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Learn more about ZacTax:
Website
LinkedIn
Connect with Chad and Patrick:
Email: chad@zactax.com || patrick@zactax.com
LinkedIn: Patrick Lawler
Learn more about the Strong Towns approach to finance.
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
Chuck reflects on the current state of the world. He explains that, when you recognize things are broken, you have two options. You can wait helplessly for someone else to fix them, or you can start rebuilding the systems closest to you.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
It's Member Week! Join the movement that's building stronger towns across North America.
Join us for a four-hour livestream tour of North America on Wednesday, April 30, from 1-5 p.m. CDT. Chat with Chuck and meet some of the Strong Towns members actively making their communities stronger.
In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck is joined by Carlee Alm-LaBar and Kevin Blanchard, former city staff members in Lafayette, Louisiana. Carlee is now Strong Towns’ chief of staff, while Kevin is CEO of the nonprofit Downtown Lafayette, which promotes infrastructure development and business revitalization.
Carlee and Kevin discuss the challenges of balancing competing demands and priorities when working in local government, particularly when trying to make smarter financial decisions. They also share recommendations for how local governments and residents can work together constructively.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Download the Strong Towns Finance Decoder to get to the bottom of your city’s finances.
Kevin Blanchard (LinkedIn)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
In this episode, Chuck explains why our current situation, though tense, actually presents a great opportunity for advocates of street safety, walkability, and bikeability. He then lays out a number of common misconceptions and errors that advocates will have to avoid if they want to take advantage of this opportunity.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses how the design of an environment affects people psychologically. He explores how cities can use that knowledge to make streets safer, using a crash in Hyattsville, Maryland, as an example.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Get the full crash report from Hyattsville, Maryland.
Learn more about the Crash Analysis model.
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck is joined by Mark Moses, author of “The Municipal Financial Crisis: A Framework for Understanding and Fixing Government Budgeting.” Up for discussion today:
The dangers of relying on “balanced budgets."
The difference between city and business finances.
The issues with privatization and regionalization.
And more!
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Download the Strong Towns Finance Decoder to uncover the truth about your city’s finances.
Connect with Mark Moses:
X/Twitter
Website
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck shares a keynote speech he gave at a statewide transportation conference in Kansas. He discusses the limitations of traditional traffic safety techniques and the consequences of designing high-speed roads through cities and towns, both in terms of safety and finance.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
Rick Cole is the chief deputy controller of Los Angeles and a councilmember in Pasadena, California. He’s known for tackling challenging city budgets and has been honored for his work as a public official several times, including with a Excellence in Management Award.
Cole joins Chuck Marohn on this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast to discuss city finances and how they can be improved. Their conversation includes the following topics:
What does it mean for budgets to be value statements?
How do you direct city finances in a truly effective way?
What role should the public play in a city’s financial decisions, and how can city staff and officials enable their productive participation?
And more!
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Learn more about the Strong Towns approach to finance.
Rick Cole (LinkedIn)
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
This week, Chuck is joined by Shayne Kavanagh, senior manager of research for the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The GFOA provides training and resources to city finance officers. In his role, Kavanagh develops new approaches to budgeting, financial reporting and revenue that can better address the problems local governments are trying to solve.
Chuck and Kavanagh discuss the role of finance officers as “decision architects.” Kavanagh gives a closer look at the world of local government finance and shares some tactics that finance officers can use to improve their processes.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Connect with Shayne Kavanagh:
GFOA site
LinkedIn
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States
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.