Incremental change in cities, the kind that used to be by-right, has become progressively more difficult since the creation of zoning and the reforms of the 20th century. How do people who value messy cities and incremental change begin to make change in this environment? How is the context for cities in the middle of the country unique?

Dennis Strait and Abby Kinney join the podcast to discuss their work with incremental change, small-scale development and facilitating civic conversations in Kansas City and elsewhere.

Dennis an Abby work in the Planning Studio for multistudio. He has presented extensively in KC on “We’ve Built a City We can’t Afford.” That recording is available on the KC Library website here.

Abby hosts the Upzoned podcast on the Strong Towns network. Sign up and listen!

Find more content on The Messy City on Kevin’s Substack page.

Music notes: all songs by low standards, ca. 2010. Videos here.

Intro: “Why Be Friends”

Outro: “Fairweather Friend”