The Strong Towns Podcast

Strong Towns is a nonpartisan organization that’s focused on starting change from the local level, not the federal one. However, Chuck was recently challenged to come up with five things that the next president, whoever they end up being, should do once they’re in office. In today’s episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, he shares that list and explains why each item is important to building a stronger America. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “5 Things For The Next President To Do” (article). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

On this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses street safety with Melany Alliston, a project manager and civil engineer with Toole Design. They cover the role of engineers in creating safe streets, Alliston’s work with Toole Design and her experience participating in a number of Crash Analysis Studio sessions. To hear more about street safety, join us on Tuesday, October 15 for a virtual press conference where we will release the report “Beyond Blame: How Cities Can Learn From Crashes To Create Safer Streets Today.” Representatives from Toole Design will also be speaking at the press conference. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Melany Alliston (Toole Design site). Register for the virtual press conference. Learn more about the Crash Analysis Studio method and the “Beyond Blame” report. Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck talks about V2X (vehicle-to-everything) technology and how it’s an example of a moonshot — a big, risky gamble that promises an equally big reward. He explains why these big gambles often fail when applied to complex problems like street safety and how the Strong Towns approach differs. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Register for the virtual press conference where we will release the report “Beyond Blame: How Cities Can Learn From Crashes To Create Safer Streets Today.” Sign up for email updates. Learn more about the Crash Analysis Studio method. Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

On this week’s episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck is joined by Beth Osborne, the director of Transportation for America, to discuss the Highway Trust Fund. They cover its history, how it affects federal and state transportation policies, and its potential future. Before joining Transportation for America, Osborne served as a deputy assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Transportation. She also worked in multiple congressional offices, served as the policy director for Smart Growth America, and served as the legislative director for environmental policy at the Southern Governors’ Association. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Beth Osborne (Twitter/X). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck addresses a question he frequently gets from young people: "What educational or career path should I take if I want to build strong towns?" ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

At the Table is a podcast that discusses how community-based ministries can contribute to the common good via mutual relationships, spiritual practice, simplicity and an awareness of God’s activity in communities. They recently invited Strong Towns President Charles Marohn to appear on an episode. It was a great conversation, so we’re sharing that audio with you here on the Strong Towns Podcast, too. Up for discussion today, the Suburban Experiment, the role of religious institutions in community development and what it means for those institutions to be good neighbors. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES To hear more about the role faith communities play in a strong town, check out this Local-Motive session on October 17: “How Faith Communities Can Use Their Location and Space to Transform Neighborhoods.” At the Table. Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

In this special episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck talks about fraud in the housing market. He discusses how it manifests, how it gradually saturates the market and how it’s connected to housing bubbles. He then explores how fraud plays a role in the current housing crisis and how federal and private organizations are trying to combat it. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "The Housing Market Is a Bubble Full of Fraud, and It’s Going To Pop.” Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses municipal finance with Michel Durand-Wood, a longtime Strong Towns contributor and local budget aficionado. They talk about the importance of the average person understanding municipal finance, the obstacles that can make such understanding difficult and how their approaches to discussing finance have changed over the years. If you want to hear more from Durand-Wood, he’ll be co-hosting a Local-Motive session with Chuck on September 19, titled “Parsing Through Your Local Budget to Find Some Real Answers.” ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Michel Durand-Wood (blog). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses the report “How To Improve Domestic High-Speed Rail Project Delivery” with one of the report’s authors, Eric Goldwyn. They discuss the advantages of high-speed rail over other transportation options, the challenges that building such a system in the U.S. would pose and five key recommendations for overcoming those challenges. Goldwyn is a leading urban scholar and program director at the Marron Institute of Urban Management, as well as a clinical assistant professor in the Transportation and Land-Use program at the NYU Marron Institute. To hear more from Goldwyn, check out this episode, where he discusses why U.S. transit is so expensive and how to fix it. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “How To Improve Domestic High-Speed Rail Project Delivery,” by Eric Goldwyn et al., Transit Costs Project. Transit Costs (website). Eric Goldwyn (Twitter/X). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck takes a look at a recent fatal car crash that took place in Ontario. Unfortunately, deadly car crashes occur all the time across North America, and this one might not have even stood out if not for a tweet released in response by local law enforcement, which held the promise of a team that intends to investigate the crash…but for all the wrong reasons. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "Why Traffic Enforcement Isn’t Enough To Save Lives.” Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses the feedback systems that created the housing affordability crisis. He explains why federal and state government policies can’t solve the problem and that local leaders are the real key to addressing it. He also lays out some of the concrete actions local leaders can take to address the housing crisis in their cities. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "Federal and State Programs Can’t Fix the Housing Crisis, but Local Action Can.” Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

Maumee, Ohio, winner of the 2024 Strongest Town Contest, is facing a big sewer infrastructure challenge. It needs to update its sewer system to comply with EPA regulations — an extremely large, expensive project. To handle this problem, the city is requiring residents who want to sell their homes to pay for the needed updates to their sewage systems, which is generating backlash from residents. In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck explains the history of sewer infrastructure, how the Clean Water Act affects cities and the very limited options that cities have to handle this kind of challenge. He also points out that the Strongest Town Contest is about celebrating cities that are working hard to improve, rather than finding cities that are perfect. Just because Maumee is facing this challenge does not mean that it’s a failure — and it’s not alone in this struggle, either. All cities are either facing this challenge, too, or will be facing it in the near future. That’s the consequence of decades o

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck responds to a recent Substack column that criticized the Strong Towns stance on the Suburban Experiment and infrastructure spending. He corrects some misconceptions from the column and discusses the ways that cities handle (or fail to handle) their finances and how that can lead to financial insolvency. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Contra Strong Towns” (Substack). “What Strong Towns Really Says About Infrastructure Spending.” Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

Can your city escape the housing trap simply through blanket rezoning? Is completely eliminating zoning compatible with an incremental approach? How should your city handle historic designations that are blocking housing development? Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn answers all these questions and more in this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast. This Q&A session comes on the heels of a member-exclusive event where Chuck discussed his and Daniel Herriges’ new book “Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis.” If you’re interested in gaining access to this kind of event, become a member today. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Click here to order your copy of “Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis.” Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

This is the final episode in the Strong Towns Podcast's special Member Drive series. Every day, Chuck has read one of his best articles that you might’ve missed. Today, he’s reading one of Strong Towns’ most popular articles, “Most Public Engagement Is Worthless.” This article explores the typical methods used by city planners when collecting feedback from the public and why they often fail. Instead of focusing on what people think they want — since most of the time they don’t know themselves — planners should focus on people’s actions and then adjust their policies to compliment the way real people actually live. If you enjoy this podcast, or any of the other work Strong Towns does, become a member today. Be the change your city needs. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Become a member today! Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

This is the fourth episode in the Strong Towns Podcast's special Member Drive series. Every day, Chuck is reading one of his best articles that you might’ve missed. Today, he’s reading “If We Made Shoes Like We Make Housing, People Would Go Barefoot.” This article is an excerpt from Chuck’s most recent book “Escaping the Housing Trap,” coauthored with Daniel Herriges. It discusses how restrictions on types of housing have caused massive price spikes, wiped out starter homes and made any housing incredibly difficult to acquire. Make sure to check back in tomorrow to catch the final installment of this special series. If you enjoy this podcast, or any of the other work Strong Towns does, become a member today. Be the change your city needs. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Become a member today! Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

This is the third episode in the Strong Towns Podcast's special Member Drive series. Every day, Chuck is reading one of his best articles that you might’ve missed. Today, he’s reading “How Fannie Mae Puts a Chokehold on Local Home Financing Solutions.” This article explains how mortgage financiers rose to dominance through an “orgy of debt and price appreciation” and how they continue to twist the conversation around housing to further increase prices and debt. Make sure to check back in tomorrow to catch the next installment of this special series. If you enjoy this podcast, or any of the other work Strong Towns does, become a member today. Be the change your city needs. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Become a member today! Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

This is the second episode in the Strong Towns Podcast's special Member Drive series. Every day, Chuck is reading one of his best articles that you might’ve missed. Today, he’s reading “One Billion Bollards,” which discusses the current engineering norm of prioritizing drivers’ safety over that of pedestrians — and how this blatant disregard for people’s lives is “nothing less than institutionalized mass murder.” Make sure to check back in tomorrow to catch the next installment of this special series. If you enjoy this podcast, or any of the other work Strong Towns does, become a member today. Be the change your city needs. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Become a member today! Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

In honor of Member Drive, the Strong Towns Podcast is publishing five episodes this week. Every day, Chuck will read one of his best articles that you might’ve missed. Today, he’s reading “The Cost of an Extra Foot,” which explains why engineers love overdesign and what that means for cities’ finances. Make sure to check back in tomorrow to catch the next installment of this special series. If you enjoy this podcast, or any of the other work Strong Towns does, become a member today. Be the change your city needs. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Become a member today! Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

Megan Kimble is an Austin-based journalist and author who’s spent the last four years writing about urban highways and highway expansion in Texas. Today, she’s joining us to discuss her new book “City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways,” where she explores three highway projects in Austin, Dallas and Houston, and the different groups fighting to stop them. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Megan Kimble (Website). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X). Join our email list to get all of our content on highway expansion!