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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.

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  Click here for the transcript. (Lightly edited for readability.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Chuck Marohn 0:00

  Hey everybody, this is Chuck Marohn with Strong Towns. I am super excited to tell everybody about the Civic Leaders Summit. We have partnered with the Center for Civic Engagement out of Pensacola, Florida, to put together an outstanding Summit, September, 23 through 25 in Pensacola. I don't even know what you would call yourself in terms of the Center for Civic Engagement, Quint, but I have the founder, the president, the benefactor, the guy who is leading this vision, Quint Studer, with me. Quint, welcome to the Strong Towns Podcast.

  Quint Studer 0:43

  Good, and I think it'd probably be founder and benefactor. It certainly is not president. But thank you so much. Well, the Center for Civic Engagement exists because of you, Chuck. So we want to thank you for the impact you had on Pensacola, which changed our community, changed our lives, changed our direction. I was fortunate enough to read your books. I wrote a book called "Creating Vibrant Communities," and it's really like what you've taught us to do. You know, I was thinking about you Chuck, what you do. Your magic of Chuck Marohn is making things doable. And you know, I was a special ed teacher for 10 years, and the goal was to take hard things and break them into doable chunks. And I think, when I look at cities that struggle, it's not because they don't have enough binders, not because they don't have enough plans, it's because they don't have enough execution. And I think what we learned from you is how to play small ball, and small ball adds up to winning.

  Chuck Marohn 1:39

  I appreciate that. It was quite an opportunity for me to be able to come and kick off your speaker series years ago. You packed an auditorium full of people and gave a rousing introduction. I'm kind of looking forward to recapturing that vibe again, because Pensacola is such an exciting place. Before we talk about the Summit -- which, maybe let me give out the web address, because people should go and get tickets. I know we have a limited amount of space. The web is civicleadersummit.com. I'll give that out again here at the end, if you want to get your pens out and make sure you know how to get it. I feel like doing this in Pensacola is really a huge opportunity. Can you talk a little bit about the good things going on in Pensacola? And I know we've created in the agenda opportunities for people to go out and experience the city as part of this Summit. What are people who have not been there before going to be surprised by and run into that they can take back home with them?

  Quint Studer 2:41

  They're going to walk through and feel the energy and feel the vibrancy, and it's objectively measured now. We just got named the fourth safest city in the United States. 20 years ago, people would tell you, "Leave downtown at five o'clock." And if you don't have safety, you don't have anything. Then, they would see Palafox, which was named one of the 10 best downtown streets in the country. They would also be in a community that's the 17th best entrepreneurship place to start a business in the country, the 24th best place to live for quality of life. And Wall Street Journal, if they look it up about a year ago, if they search "Wall Street Journal," "Pensacola," "Quint Studer," he'll say, "When did Pensacola become the hippest city in the United States of America?" And they would also see lots of housing. They'd see lots of walkability, they'd see lots of biking. They'd see tons of young people, and they would basically see a lot of development, a lot of residential development of all types. And I say, Chuck, you really are the one who lit the fuse on almost all of this.

  Chuck Marohn 3:54

  Well that means a lot. I remember when I first came, things were moving in a great direction, and I feel like maybe I just kind of helped-

  Quint Studer 4:02

  Oh, I don't think so.

  Chuck Marohn 4:04

  They really were! I mean, we went around, and I was really impressed by the neighborhood development, the downtown development. Here's the thing, in the years since I've been there, you not only got named for safest place, but you won the 2019 Strongest Town Contest. For people who are familiar with your work and the things going on in Pensacola as part of that, I've been back a couple of times, things have only gotten better, more interesting. So I'm kind of excited for people to see the city as much as attend our Summit.

  Quint Studer 4:37

  I think too, in 2019 when we won that award, we have a photo of you with what looked like the whole town standing behind you.

  Chuck Marohn 4:45

  We did. It was so beautiful.

  Quint Studer 4:47

  Well, small and mid market cities, particularly, we get beat up. We have an inferiority complex. We export a lot, and the thing we export is talent. So I think you sort of lose your enthusiasm and lose your optimism and think ,"Well, we can't do this." And I think winning that honor with you in 2019 was important. Again, you want to get reinforcement in feeling good. Like when you and I talked in Plano, Texas, years ago. You know, "We're not here to beat you up. We're here to take what's good and and grow it and make it doable." And that's