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by Strong Towns
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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- Yesterday58 min
Chuck on 'Bike Messiahs', State Highways and Housing
From the fight for safer bike routes to the strange economics of city development, members have plenty to ask Chuck in this special Q&A in honor of Member Week. How do you convince a state DOT to respect your town? Why would a city council approve a project despite knowing it will lose money? Is there a better way to explain Strong Towns to someone encountering these ideas for the first time? Chuck answers questions about making progress when change feels painfully slow, with updates on the Housing Toolkit and the financial tools Strong Towns is developing. During Member Week, consider supporting Strong Towns directly by becoming a member here. Additional Show Notes The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization by Peter Zeihan (Book) How Do We Design for Drivers? (Link to Episode) Strong Towns Finance Decoder (Site) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Oct 5, 202655 min
How Do We Design for Drivers?
Drivers are usually treated as the obstacle when cities try to build better places for walking, biking and transit. Houssam Elokda of Happy Cities and Nick Falbo of Mobycon argue that this framing misses something important: people-centered places still have to work for the people arriving by car. Their framework starts with a counterintuitive idea borrowed from Dutch design, that going slower can be faster, because what drivers often value most is a trip that feels steady and predictable rather than one that moves quickly in short bursts. This is a different way of thinking about street design, one that moves past speed as the main measure and asks how the whole trip works for people. Additional Show Notes Houssam Elokda (LinkedIn) Nick Falbo (LinkedIn) How to Design for Cars in People-Centered Places (Site) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Sep 21, 202649 min
Massachusetts Is Putting Starter Homes on the Ballot
Massachusetts voters are being asked a surprisingly simple housing question: Should a single-family home be legal on a 5,000-square-foot lot with public sewer and water? Chuck talks with Andrew Mikula, a Boston policy researcher who spearheaded the volunteer effort behind Question 7, the ballot measure that would make that standard legal statewide. Andrew explains why the coalition chose such a modest baseline, how much control cities would still keep, and what infrastructure and affordability have to do with a seemingly small change in lot size. The ballot question sets the baseline, but the next fight is much more local: turning that rule into something that actually works in existing neighborhoods. Additional Show Notes Andrew Mikula (LinkedIn) Yes on 7 (Site, Instagram, Facebook) State Preemption Should Help Cities Become Better Cities (Article) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Sep 14, 202654 min
What Comes After Cities Kill Parking Mandates?
Parking reform used to feel like a niche fight. Now North Carolina has eliminated most parking mandates statewide, cities are following one another’s lead, and Tony Jordan says he sometimes finds out about reforms only after they happen. The Parking Reform Network co-founder explains what comes next once cities stop requiring businesses and homes to build parking by formula. That means dealing with crowded curbs, empty downtown lots, pricing, and the fear that removing parking will make access worse. Getting rid of the mandate may be the easy part, but once the mandates disappear, cities still have to answer the question those rules were trying to avoid: when parking really is scarce, who gets the space? Additional Show Notes Tony Jordan (LinkedIn) Parking Reform Network (Site) North Carolina eliminates minimum parking requirements for new developments (Article) Parking Reform Policy Cookbook (Site) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Sep 7, 20261h 4m
Is Homeownership Still Part of the American Dream?
If housing feels impossibly expensive, one answer is that a smaller home, a less in-demand place, or a slower climb may simply be part of starting out and working your way up. But what if getting the house that has long stood at the center of the American Dream also pulls you farther from the jobs, family, community, or daily life you actually value? Continuing the conversation from Kevin Klinkenberg’s Messy City Podcast episode, “Is the Housing ‘Crisis’ Real?”, Chuck Marohn sits down with Kevin, urban designer Camille Cortes, and architectural designer Sheinya Joseph to ask whether younger adults can still follow the path his parents took toward the American Dream. If homeownership is still possible, what are people actually willing to trade to get it? Additional Show Notes Is the Housing "Crisis" Real? (Podcast Episode) Kevin Klinkenberg (LinkedIn) Camille Cortes (LinkedIn) Sheinya Joseph (LinkedIn) Homebuyers and the house price squeeze (Substack) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Aug 31, 202645 min
Chuck’s Engineering Lawsuit Finally Has a Ruling
After six years of legal fights, we finally have a federal court ruling in Chuck’s dispute with Minnesota’s engineering licensing board. Chuck and Strong Towns executive director John Reuter go back to the complaint that started the case, why Chuck’s temporarily lapsed license became the opening for the board’s action, and how a dispute over his public advocacy turned into years of hearings and litigation. Chuck also reflects on reaching the end of a fight that has followed him for years and what the decision could mean for other engineers who have held back from speaking publicly about their profession. Additional Show Notes Confessions of a Recovering Engineer (Site) Can an Engineer Speak Out for Reform? (Article) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Aug 24, 20261h 2m
Chuck on Data Centers, YIMBYs and E-Bikes
Strong Towns members filled the Commons with questions, and Chuck sat down to answer as many as he could. Should cities require data centers to pay for their own eventual cleanup? Has Strong Towns been too wary of the YIMBY movement? Are e-bikes headed toward a backlash before cities have figured out what they’re good for? He also gets into tiny homes, land value taxes, coworking spaces, dream podcast guests, and whether Strong Towns ideas are actually becoming mainstream. Members can join the Commons to submit future questions, read Chuck’s columns before publication, and take part in the discussions that follow. Additional Show Notes Friday News Digest (Site) A Mayor Willing to Tell His City the Truth (Article) Local Conversations (Site) The Commons (Site) Strong Towns Membership (Site) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Aug 10, 20261h 5m
The $1 Trillion Infrastructure Backlog Cities Aren’t Counting
A strong bond rating can tell investors that a city is likely to repay its debt. It says much less about whether that city can afford to replace the roads, pipes, and other infrastructure its residents depend on. Richard Ciccarone, president emeritus of Merit Research Services, developed a new metric using financial statements from nearly 2,000 cities to estimate that burden. When he compared the infrastructure burden with government bond ratings, the correlation was surprisingly weak. Cities can remain attractive to creditors while aging assets accumulate replacement costs that no bondholder can force them to address. Additional Show Notes Richard Ciccarone (LinkedIn) Infrastructure & Capital Assets Commitment Burden: Quantifying the Hidden Fiscal Risk (PDF) 'We Built the Best Interstate System. Now It’s Falling Apart.' (Video) Mission Accomplished Report (Site) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
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About The Strong Towns Podcast
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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