Livable City
25 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsA bi-weekly podcast with inspiring guest interviews and practical ideas on making your city, better. Practical advice to inspire you to take action for your place you call home. Join the movement.
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Episodes
A Bottom Up Revolution - Chuck Marohn
August 18, 2020 13:54 - 1 hour - 202 MBWhat do city budgets, wise infrastructure investments and mom and pop shops have to do with a livable city? Turns out, quite a lot. If our cities and our towns can’t make wise and measured investments in the right things, then it’s going to struggle to be a place that people can thrive in. How about progressive change, what does that have to do with livability? Also, quite a lot. Humans can only build, change and adapt to so many things in a short period of time. Building o...
Ecodesign for Cities & Suburbs (Part II) - Larry Beasley & Jonathan Barnett
August 04, 2020 01:00 - 53 minutes - 123 MBPart II of the conversation with Larry Beasley and Jonathan Barnett. Why do we even live in cities? There's been a lot of criticism about them during the pandemic which makes this the perfect time to reflect on this very question. Larry and Jonathan discuss this and much more in this second half of the conversation, the first half from two weeks ago. My two guests today for the part of this series did not have the luxury of doing this in theory. Larry Beasley, former Co-Director of Plan...
Ecodesign for Cities & Suburbs (Part I) - Larry Beasley & Jonathan Barnett
July 22, 2020 02:49 - 56 minutes - 129 MBIf you were in a position to lead a plan to make your city more livable, how would you do it, what would you do? How would you go about instilling your vision for greater livability but in close collaboration with your fellow city residents, how would you do that? My two guests today for part one of a two part series did not have the luxury of doing this in theory. Larry Beasley, former Co-Director of Planning for Vancouver, BC helped bring about a Vancouver that began as a fairly unremark...
Reimagine Your Neighborhood - Jeffery Tompkins
July 06, 2020 22:00 - 1 hour - 166 MBAs they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. And when something in your neighborhood or your city has been a certain way for decades or even hundreds of years, it’s easy to forget that a physical place or the places where neighbors come together to know one another can, in fact, change for the better. But this is exactly the power of reimagining what a place could be like using basic and more advanced imagery and renderings. Also, it turns out places shape us as people either positively or...
Expand the Conversation - Kea Wilson
June 23, 2020 00:54 - 58 minutes - 135 MBHow do we know if our cities are livable? There are many cities that you’ve visited that have felt much more or much less livable to you compared to the one you call home. And this is no different than how livable other peoples’ homes feel to you compared to your own home. But the difference with cities is that thousands or millions of people call it home, and that makes it more challenging to steer them in a certain direction without creating significant injustices. So how do we still...
Transit is an Essential Service - Steven Higashide
June 08, 2020 20:00 - 1 hour - 138 MBWhat’s the role of transportation in the livability foundation of a city? Even more specifically, what’s the role of public transit in making a city more livable? In places where transit has long been neglected, many might even think that public transit might diminish the livability of a place because it becomes correlated with increases in local crime. But is it transit that diminishes the livability of our cities or might it be much deeper than this? How can not having to own a car t...
More Human Places - Andre Vasquez
May 25, 2020 17:36 - 1 hour - 161 MBIn the midst of the unpredictability that has come with the COVID-19 pandemic, at least one thing has become quite true: many of the world’s cities desperately need more space. What kind of space are we talking about? Not necessarily private space, like a backyard, but a repurposing of existing public space away from only movement through a place and into being in place, safely outdoors. We have a serious deficit of quality, inspiring, safe public space and this has become a huge liabi...
Streets are for Living First! - Mike Lydon
May 11, 2020 15:37 - 1 hour - 154 MBOne of the most powerful and unpredicted outcomes so far from the Coronavirus pandemic has been the immediate change in how the world’s city streets are used. Pre-pandemic, many cities’ streets were mostly dedicated to moving motor vehicles back and forth in a monotonous rhythm of the daily commute. No longer the case, streets lay mostly empty from traffic replaced mostly by humans walking or cycling or sometimes even sunbathing. For the first time we’re using our streets for living first ...
Should I become a professional urban planner? - Austin Gibble
April 28, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 145 MBDo you need to become an urban planning professional in order to make more livable cities? Do you need to study civil engineering in order to help design safer neighborhood streets? The answer is, yes sometimes, but not always. The story behind today’s guest, Austin Gibble, will help give you a good example of being both a professional and non-professional. Austin is both an urban professional by day and a non-professional advocate by night, pushing for stronger, more livable urban Indiana...
Is Density Making us Sick? - Yonah Freemark
April 13, 2020 10:00 - 55 minutes - 126 MBThe debate is not a new one and yet it feels like the world wonders for the first time, do dense cities inherently make us more prone to becoming infected with something like a Coronavirus? It turns out, the answer isn’t as simple as it might at first seem to be. I debate this with special guest Yonah Freemark. But the conversation still focuses almost solely on the inherent dangers of living in dense places. The conversation needs to evolve and mature. Livable City seeks to call us towa...
The War on Cars? Part II - Doug Gordon
April 06, 2020 11:00 - 36 minutes - 85.2 MBPart II of my conversation with Doug Gordon, host of The War on Cars podcast and local better streets advocate in Brooklyn, NY. In this part we get even deeper on the way cars have impacted our cities and Doug has some very good advice on how you can begin to push back on cars where you live. You can find Part I before this episode released on March 23. Follow the work of Doug on Twitter and definitely check out his work with The War on Cars podcast. Brought to you by SquadCast and pos...
The War on Cars? Part I - Doug Gordon
March 24, 2020 02:40 - 35 minutes - 82.8 MBAre we talking about a literal war on cars here...not quite. Cars do have their legitimate place in our cities. But in many cities they’ve become the only real and viable way of getting around for millions of people and that comes with many, many problems unleashed on society at large. So where do cars belong in our cities then? My guest today is podcast host and Brooklyn New York better streets activist Doug Gordon with the very fun and popular podcast called The War on Cars. In this epi...
Transit Increases Livability - Jeff Wood
March 09, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 159 MBHow does transit affect the livability of a place? Turns out, quite a bit. My guest today, Jeff Wood of the Talking Headways podcast, talks about how important it is to be able to experience your city through as many different transportation options as possible. A commonly held belief, particularly in North America, is that cars bring true personal freedom, but Jeff talks about why reality is actually quite the opposite. A place designed around the car is one that inherently makes it dif...
Calmer, More Enjoyable Cities - Chris & Melissa Bruntlett
February 24, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 149 MBHow calm and enjoyable is your neighborhood, your town, your city? I’m not talking about a sleepy place where very little is going on, but a vibrant place that is still, even while bustling, calm and enjoyable for the vast majority of people who live there or move through it. If not your town or city, then have you visited one where you really noticed and enjoyed this aspect about that place? When people go and visit a place like the cities of the Netherlands where they are described as be...
Think AND Do - Gary Reiter
February 10, 2020 17:00 - 51 minutes - 118 MBWhat does it take to lead change? Ultimately, it means taking action and not just getting stuck thinking about taking action. For my guest today, Gary Reiter, this was a conscious decision that he wrestled with and ultimately decided on if he was to help make a difference in his neighborhood in Indianapolis. Gary is a dynamic guy with a ton of energy. He’s going to inspire you to get out of your home and see what kind of change is truly possible that you can lead. He mentions the idea of...
Bike Lane Uprising! - Christina Whitehouse
January 27, 2020 17:00 - 35 minutes - 80.5 MBBike lanes are sometimes controversial in communities because they’re seen as something encroaching on the space, efficiency and our limited time in getting somewhere by car. Love cars or hate them, for many places in the world they’re the primary and many times only current way of getting somewhere. And we’re not here to solve this debate once and for all. But my guest today believes that one should be able to choose to use their bike, particularly in dense towns or cities, to get somewhere...
Art + empathy heal neighborhoods - Joanna Taft
January 13, 2020 17:00 - 49 minutes - 68.2 MBGentrification, cultural shifts, crime, unsafe streets, poverty and disconnection. They all sound pretty bleak especially when considered together. But my guest, Joanna Taft, has been experimenting along with her neighbors in the Herron Morton neighborhood in Indianapolis and have found some remarkably sensitive and effective ways to begin to reverse these trends. She has discovered the healing and effective power of art, empathy, personal connection and refraining from making sweeping judg...
Love for all things local - Jacob Moses
December 30, 2019 17:00 - 56 minutes - 130 MBA tough but real pair of questions: do you know anyone, are you good friends with anyone within a short walk of your home? And how much of your life can you live everyday without needed to leave it to buy something? In this episode, I interview Jacob Moses where he talks about these kinds of things for the neighborhood that he lives in Denton, Texas. Jacob shakes up the status quo for how we normally treat strangers by setting an amazing example for how to befriend people in your neigh...
Trains > Cars, All Aboard! - Mike Christensen
December 16, 2019 17:00 - 56 minutes - 129 MBThat's right, trains are greater than cars if you care about livable places. There, I said it - now for some background... Have you ever experienced something so transformational that it caused you to make a major shift in how you do something? My guest for this episode, Mike Christensen, had a large shift that completely changed the direction of his life. This came from an experience with the humble train on a trip to Europe with his father which impacted him deeply - so much so that y...
Listen and Ask Questions to Lead Change - Michael Schneider
December 02, 2019 11:00 - 52 minutes - 120 MBHow do we make change of such massively complex ways of doing things for our cities and towns? My guest today has many thoughts about this and much practical advice to share. In this sixth episode, I interview Michael Schneider where we talk about the gridlocked streets of Los Angeles and how he started the non-profit and coalition to change this, Streets For All. Michael has a ton of practical advice on how to channel your frustrations about your neighborhood into getting started making c...
My Bicycle Was a Gateway Drug - Lauren Crabtree
November 18, 2019 11:00 - 43 minutes - 100 MBWhat happens when you start using your bike to get to places? Turns out, a lot of unexpected things. In this fifth episode, I interview Lauren Crabtree where we talk about her “gateway drug,” the humble bicycle and how that got her to noticing how neighborhoods, towns and cities are built for or against people. Lauren is fascinating to talk to since she’s got a wealth of real world experience advocating for more walkable and bikeable places through her day jobs with Active Transportation A...
Just Start Doing Something Where you Live! - Dawn Olsen
November 04, 2019 10:00 - 41 minutes - 94 MBHow do you begin to get involved where you live? Our guest today, Dawn Olsen, just can't keep quiet about the details of where she lives. She just can't help but notice many things that could be better about her neighborhood in Indy and that has meant she has become a trusted voice as the neighborhood president. Dawn will inspire you with practical advice on how to do the same where you live by beginning to notice what matters to you and then get busy doing! Dawn works as the director of c...
How to Advocate for Your City - Laura Giffel
October 23, 2019 04:25 - 46 minutes - 31.7 MBLaura Giffel, licensed clinical therapist, Bates Hendricks neighborhood president and advocate, and candidate for Indianapolis city council seat of the 16th district. Laura shares with us about her advocacy work in her neighborhood and will inspire you with practical advice on how to do the same where you live. Find Laura on Twitter @giffel4council Questions should go into our Facebook Group or DM me on Twitter @livable_city. Also join our Facebook Group to participate in group discussio...
Guest Allan LeSage Interviews Jim Hodapp
September 30, 2019 09:00 - 44 minutes - 32.2 MBIn this first full length episode of Livable City, my friend and first guest Allan LeSage interviews me, Jim Hodapp. In this episode you'll hear from Allan on his views for what makes Chicago livable to him and what he feels is pretty special about this city. Then you'll hear some of the highlights of my story, how I got to caring about cities and how they're made. Finally, how on earth did I come to starting a podcast - I tell that story too. It's a great episode and you won't want to m...
Introducing Livable City
August 27, 2019 03:01 - 8 minutes - 11 MBIntroducing the Livable City podcast! Love your city or your town? Want to learn how to make it even better? A brand new bi-weekly podcast that seeks to explore this question deeply and get highly practical. Episode length will be between 30 and 60 minutes. New full-length episodes coming soon that include in-depth interviews from people just like you and me trying to lead their city or town into more livable versions of themselves. Join our Facebook group for a community that you can ...