Episode notes
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…
The Strong Towns Podcast
by Strong Towns · English · News
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 p
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E720 · 21 Sep 2026 · 49 min
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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…
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E719 · 14 Sep 2026 · 54 min
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E718 · 7 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 5 min
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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…
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E717 · 31 Aug 2026 · 46 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…
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E716 · 24 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
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…
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E715 · 10 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
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…
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E714 · 3 Aug 2026 · 50 min
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E713 · 27 Jul 2026 · 52 min
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E712 · 20 Jul 2026 · 57 min
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Cities often spend years studying a street before making a change, only to discover that the public is reacting to plans no one has actually experienced. Krista Nightengale, executive director of Better Block, explains another approach: build a temporary version, invite people into it, gather data, and adjust what does not work. She and Chuck talk about winning over skeptical engineers, learning from residents, and making safer streets without waiting for a perfect plan. The goal is not to prove the first idea was correct, but to learn enough, quickly enough, to make the next decision…
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E711 · 13 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
The Transit Tradeoff No City Can Escape
Putting a route near every community sounds fair until the buses only arrive once an hour. Jarrett Walker, author of Human Transit and principal of the firm helping Des Moines rethink its bus network, explains why cities cannot maximize frequency, coverage, and affordability at the same time. In Des Moines, the tradeoff comes with a 10% service cut, long waits, indirect routes, and streets that make some bus stops difficult or dangerous to reach. To understand whether the system is useful enough for people to actually rely on it, Walker asks a more revealing question: how much of the city…
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