The Strong Towns Podcast

Welcome to our Final Four round of the Strongest Town Competition. We invite you to listen to the following interview that Charles Marohn, president of Strong Towns, conducted with representatives from a town in our contest. Once you've finished listening to it, along with its competitor, Hoboken, NJ (they'll be released at the same time), please visit strongtowns.org/strongesttown to vote. Ryan Whaley (local business owner) and Eric Wobser (City Manager) discuss Sandusky's supportive community, the amenities that their waterfront location offers, the historic architecture, and the walkable neighborhoods. They also share their community's challenges with connectivity and creating a welcoming atmosphere for diverse residents.

Welcome to our Final Four round of the Strongest Town Competition. We invite you to listen to the following interview that Charles Marohn, president of Strong Towns, conducted with a representative from a town in our contest. Once you've finished listening to it, along with its competitor, Sandusky, OH (they'll be released at the same time), please visit strongtowns.org/strongesttown to vote. Phil Jonat, a lifelong New Jersey resident, talks about how Hoboken is a place where people can raise kids and grow old, plus the amazing Italian food, gorgeous riverfront, diverse businesses, and vibrant downtown. He also opens up about the challenges of affordability in this desirable city.

Chuck and Rachel discuss a recent trip to South Carolina, a week of open SlackChats and the March Madness competition. Plus, Chuck shares insights on economist, Tomas Sedlacek.

Strong Towns staff, Rachel Quednau, Jason Schaefer and Yuri Artisbise discuss the Strongest Town contest and share their personal predictions for the winners. Jason provides an update on the current standings. Learn more at strongtowns.org/strongesttown. CityLab has dubbed it "perhaps the most adorable bracket-style competition around."

Chuck is back from vacation. He and Rachel discuss pedestrian crossing and safety issues, along with the Strongest Town march madness competition, plus an upcoming live broadcast from the staff.

Chuck Marohn steps back to look at the Growth Ponzi Scheme and where it has taken us today. How do we currently deal with slow-downs in growth? How do anti-fragile, resilient, and fragile communities handle challenges differently? Chuck pulls from economists and scientists like Tomas Sedlacek and Jared Diamond to consider what the end of the Growth Ponzi Scheme might look like. It ain't pretty.

Juan Mullerat and Steve Wright run an urban design firm called PlusUrbia. In this interview hosted by Rachel Quednau, they discuss their newest project, helping to transform an urban highway --Calle Ocho in Little Havana, Miami-- back into a walkable boulevard. Learn more about the project and get involved at myCalle8.org.

Jason Schaefer makes a guest appearance along with Rachel Quednau while Chuck is out on vacation. They discuss a recent trip to Puerto Rico, the upcoming Strongest Town March Madness competition, membership and Tina Fey's book, Bossypants.

On this Leap Day, Chuck and Rachel discuss housing finance policy (last week's theme), a recent staff retreat to Disneyland, and a new membership page, plus behavioral economics.

Daniel Kay Hertz is a Senior Fellow at City Observatory and a graduate of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He joins the Strong Towns Podcast this week to talk about housing finance and how it impacts disadvantaged neighborhoods.