Upzoned
212 episodes - English - Latest episode: 17 days ago - ★★★★★ - 136 ratingsJoin Abby Kinney, Chuck Marohn, and occasional surprise guests to talk in depth about just one big story from the week in the Strong Towns conversation, right when you want it: now.
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Episodes
“Redesigning” Cincinnati With the Connected Communities Plan
April 03, 2024 10:00 - 36 minutes - 50.6 MBCincinnati is currently undergoing a significant planning reformation effort, which involves unveiling what’s being called the Connected Communities plan. It includes a number of proposed land-use-related policy changes that are intended to help Cincinnati grow, with the goal of advancing zoning code changes, as well as supporting diversification and affordability of housing and bolstering business districts. Here on Upzoned this week to talk with host Abby Newsham about the proposal is John...
Our Financial System Favors Large-Scale Development…but at What Cost?
March 20, 2024 10:00 - 52 minutes - 72.4 MBOn this week’s episode of Upzoned, host Abby Newsham and co-host Chuck Marohn are joined by Coby Lefkowitz, who penned the article that’s up for discussion: “Why small developers are getting squeezed out of the housing market.” It focuses on how finance shapes our cities, why debt is used to develop cities in the first place, how lenders deal with risk, and why risk mitigation is critical to understanding why the world looks the way it does. And, most notably, it dives into America's housing...
Traffic Deaths Now Exceed the Number of Homicides in LA. This Initiative Aims To Change That.
March 13, 2024 10:00 - 35 minutes - 49 MBThis week on Upzoned, host Abby Newsham is joined by Michael Schneider, founder of Streets for All and the campaign manager for Healthy Streets Los Angeles. They discuss an article from The Los Angeles Times titled, “L.A. bus and bike lane measure will cost $3.1 billion, a new report says. Backers cry foul.” This piece was written in advance of the ballot proposal Measure HLA, which was recently approved by voters, and mandates the installation of hundreds of miles of transportation improvem...
$350 Million Mixed-Use Development Presents a "Huge Opportunity" for South Bend, IN
March 06, 2024 10:00 - 35 minutes - 49.8 MBThis week on Upzoned, host Abby Kinney is joined by Mike Keen, a retired professor and incremental developer in South Bend, Indiana, to discuss a recent article in WSBT, “Major mixed-use development could be largest in downtown South Bend history.” It highlights a $350 million project that has been proposed in downtown South Bend: a mixed-use district that would include hotels, apartments, and commercial uses, to be completed by 2028. The development, led by nearby Memorial Hospital, will ta...
Could this New Approach to Public Housing Actually Work?
February 21, 2024 10:02 - 46 minutes - 64 MBA suburb of Washington, DC is exploring a new approach to creating more affordable housing through public-private partnerships. And it’s seeing success! In this episode of Upzoned, Chuck and Abby discuss the history of public housing and government housing subsidies in the US, the good, the bad and the ugly. Then they consider whether this new model could be helpful or harmful to cities. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “What if public housing were for everyone?” by Rachel M. Cohen, Vox (February 202...
Parking Minimums Might Be on the Way Out in Dallas
February 14, 2024 10:00 - 43 minutes - 60.4 MBLocal officials in Dallas are considering eliminating minimum parking requirements in the city. The zoning ordinance advisory committee just voted to advance the measure to the city planning commission, and if approved there, it would then go on to the city council. Critics believe that this is a one-size-fits-all approach to parking reform and that it’s not an ideal solution to Dallas’s parking dilemma, whereas proponents say the change will cut down on unused parking spaces and accelerate...
Coming Back Down to Earth After a “Next-Level” Downtown Revitalization
February 07, 2024 10:00 - 43 minutes - 60.8 MBThis week’s Upzoned episode covers a story that sounded promising at the start: “The Town That Took Downtown Renewal to the Next Level”? Sounds great! Right? Alas, residents of Morristown, Tennessee, have discovered that the Skymark (i.e., an elevated sidewalk) they built in the 1960s was not the salvation for their downtown they’d hoped it would be. Join host Abby Newsham and co-host Chuck Marohn as they take a deep dive on how this huge investment, unfortunately, didn’t pan out as a long-t...
Today’s Generation of Families Are “Disillusioned” by Suburbia
January 31, 2024 10:00 - 30 minutes - 42.7 MBFive families from Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Pittsburg move to the suburbs in search of the American dream, drawn by promises of better schools and all the other amenities promised by suburban life…but instead, they’re experiencing the decline of the suburbs, rather than the benefits that were sold to them. On this week’s episode, host Abby Kinney and co-host Chuck Marohn discuss this story, told in “The Suburbs Have Become a Ponzi Scheme,” and based on the book, Disillusio...
Millennials Are Fleeing Cities in Favor of the Exurbs
January 24, 2024 10:00 - 40 minutes - 56 MBMillennials are officially getting old. They’re having children, buying houses, and getting replaced by Gen Z in urban areas. As one article from Business Insider puts it, “Millennials are getting priced out of cities,” and are starting to leave the urban neighborhoods that they’ve been building their lives in, up to this point. According to the author, since the cost and types of housing available in urban areas isn’t conducive to family life, millennials are having to instead flee to the o...
Ryan Johnson: Builder of the First Car-Free Neighborhood Made From Scratch in the U.S.
November 22, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 33.3 MBUpzoned has been on a bit of a hiatus for the past couple of months, but we wanted to have at least one final episode of 2023 (and rest assured that the podcast will be returning with weekly episodes in 2024). This episode is an exciting one, as host Abby Kinney is joined by a guest whose work she’s been following for several years: Ryan Johnson, the builder and resident of the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the U.S., called Culdesac Tempe. We hope you enjoy this special e...
Transportation Meltdown: Children on the School Bus Till 10 p.m.
August 23, 2023 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBKentucky’s largest school system recently had to cancel the second and third day of classes due to what they're calling a disastrous overhaul of the bus system. On day one, some children were still on their bus at 10 p.m. AP News reported this issue is partly the result of a bus driver shortage, which definitely plays a role in why Kentucky is having this transportation problem. But Kentucky isn’t the only place that’s struggled with getting children to and from school. There's more to the...
Is Affordable Housing Possible Under Current Zoning Laws?
August 16, 2023 14:40 - 43 minutes - 40.6 MBDurham, North Carolina, is experiencing a hot debate over changing its zoning code. The proposed “Simplifying Codes for Affordable Development” (or SCAD) presents tactical adjustments that focus on loosening the current rules so local people can make small-scale changes to their neighborhood. The changes would eliminate parking mandates, legalize smaller homes on smaller lots, and permit mixed-use development. In this Upzoned episode, host Abby Newsham talks to Aaron Lubeck, who’s been clo...
Arizona Pushes for Suburban and Rural Development, Despite Dwindling Water Supply
July 26, 2023 10:00 - 48 minutes - 44.5 MBState-level officials in Arizona are getting more serious about water scarcity issues, despite the still-booming growth pressures that exist there. Some listeners may remember from a story we covered in July 2022 that rural areas outside of Phoenix, like the Rio Verde foothills, have found it almost impossible to drill wells and are now facing challenges from having their water delivered by truck. Now, the state has determined that there is not enough water for already-approved housing proj...
Atlanta’s New Idea To Address Their Housing Crisis
July 19, 2023 10:00 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBThe United States is in the midst of a housing crisis. More and more cities are recognizing that part of the issue is due to restrictive zoning laws, which make building affordable homes a difficult feat. On this episode of Upzoned, host Abby Kinney talks with the principal of Krongberg Urbanists and Architects, Eric Kronberg, on Atlanta’s new approach to addressing their housing issue. They’ll introduce the “social housing model” Atlanta plans to adopt, talk about the mixed-income housing...
The Invisible Reason for High Housing Prices: Restrictive Land-Use Regulations
July 05, 2023 10:00 - 38 minutes - 35.9 MBIt is extremely difficult to build housing in Rhode Island. It’s also expensive to buy homes, with prices having increased by 34% since the summer of 2020. Why? Adam A. Millsap makes the case in Forbes that because Rhode Island zoning laws are overly restrictive, developers are unable to meet the current and past needs of housing. Millsap writes: “Places with fewer land-use regulations and more flexible zoning have lower housing prices and slower rent growth. Land-use regulations such as de...
Why Can’t We Have the “Perfect” Neighborhood?
June 28, 2023 10:00 - 44 minutes - 41.3 MB“Who Can Afford America’s Perfect Neighborhood?” asks The Guardian. Longmont, Colorado, holds many elements of the American dream: tree-lined streets, neighbors walking to fulfill errands, children racing about, cafes, beautiful parks, gyms, and community events. To many, it sounds like a place of paradise. But housing prices have skyrocketed, and it’s not uncommon for a million-dollar home to sell in less than a week. In this Upzoned podcast, host Abby Kinney and co-host Chuck Marohn talk a...
Behind the Scenes at the Strong Towns National Gathering
June 22, 2023 15:46 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBAt the end of May, Strong Towns hosted its inaugural National Gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was a two-day event packed with different speakers and sessions, where we heard from Strong Towns members about how they’re making incremental housing possible in their communities, how highways are destructive and how people are fighting expansions, how the property tax system is broken and what we can do about it, and so much more. In this Upzoned episode, host Abby Kinney goes behind t...
Live From the National Gathering
June 14, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 88.1 MBA few weeks ago, the first Strong Towns National Gathering took place in Charlotte, NC. While people buzzed back and forth between sessions, Upzoned host Abby Kinney sat at a table and invited those walking by to join her on the podcast. This week, you’ll hear Strong Towns members from all over talking about who they are, what they’ve seen in their communities, and what they’re doing. Also, it’s Member Week at Strong Towns, and podcasts like Upzoned wouldn’t be possible without our members...
Parking Regulations Threaten to Demolish Coffee Shop
May 17, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 60 MBIn Kansas City, Kansas, parking regulations have threatened to demolish a local coffee shop for a parking lot. An out-of-state developer is trying to meet the city’s strict parking requirements for a new apartment complex across the intersection, and the coffee shop owner, T.J. Roberts, is trying to save what’s become a special community hub. On this Upzoned episode, host Abby Kinney talks with Roberts about his inspiration for building community, and his struggle to keep his coffee shop, ...
An Abandoned Downtown Equals a Pot of Gold?
May 03, 2023 10:00 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MBNot everyone who left the office for remote work returned after the pandemic lockdown ended. Many employees stayed remote, and, in doing so, they left behind a swath of empty office buildings in downtowns across North America. Developers see these abandoned places as easy cash, that is, if you can find the right sort of abandoned office space. On this episode of Upzoned, urban developer Andrew Ganahl talks with host Abby Kinney about the challenges of this pattern of growth, but also the goo...
One Reason American Architecture Is Considered Boring: Stairs
April 12, 2023 10:00 - 33 minutes - 31.4 MBHave you ever wondered why multifamily housing has the same, copied look in most places? Part of the reason is due to the way regulations require architects to build stairs. On this Upzoned podcast, host Abby Kinney talks with special guest and architect Kevin Klinkenberg about how building codes and zoning laws can be helpful, yet at the same time limit building possibilities. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Why Does American Multifamily Architecture Look so Banal? Here’s One Reason,” by Michael E...
Cowboy Hotels for Housing Shortages
April 05, 2023 10:00 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBLike all major cities in America, Seattle is facing a housing shortage. And 100 years ago, Seattle faced a housing shortage bigger than the one it has now. The initial response to the historic shortage was to build small, boxy, apartment buildings holding four to six apartments (called Cowboy Hotels) that blended in with the houses already established in the neighborhood. In this Upzoned episode, host Abby Kinney and co-host Chuck Marohn talk about Cowboy Hotels and their financial possibili...
Homelessness in Rural America
March 29, 2023 10:00 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MBHomelessness in rural areas can look different than in bigger cities: as noted in a recent article by The Daily Yonder, rural homelessness is more “hidden,” and is expressed through couch surfing, roommate arrangements, and housing insecurity versus seeing people without homes on the street. What can we do to address the housing crisis in rural communities? Join host Abby Kinney and co-host Chuck Marohn on the Upzoned podcast as they talk about this growing problem and possible solutions. ...
High-Income Earners Are Renting Instead of Buying Homes
March 22, 2023 10:00 - 33 minutes - 31.4 MBHigh-earning Americans are renting instead of buying homes. Some even say they plan to rent indefinitely. Why is that? In this week’s Upzoned episode, join host Abby Kinney and guest Norm Van Eeden Petersman as they talk about this trend. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Three Million U.S. Households Making Over $150,000 Are Still Renters,” by Will Parker, The Wall Street Journal (March 2023). Abby Kinney (Twitter). Norm Van Eeden Petersman (Twitter).
When a Building Is Demolished, What Should Happen to the Materials?
March 15, 2023 10:00 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MB“What happens when old buildings have reached the end of their life, either their useful life in terms of safety or their desirable life in terms of modern living?” a Next City article asks. The piece goes on to say that when buildings throughout the U.S. get demolished, the once useful construction materials often end up in landfills. But there’s a growing movement to try and disassemble buildings carefully, and rescue building materials to be used in other projects. In today’s Upzoned epis...
The 15 Minute City - A Good Life or an Infringement on Freedoms?
March 08, 2023 20:39 - 26 minutes - 25 MBThe 15 Minute City: a term to describe mixed use neighborhoods, has become a political concept where critics believe the idea could result in an infringement on personal freedoms. On this Upzoned podcast, host Abby Kinney and special guest Kevin Klinkenberg, talk about this contentious topic of the 15 Minute City and answer the question: Are the concerns people have (about 15 minute cities) warranted, or is this something that we should all be rolling our eyes at and moving on from? ADDI...
Whose Responsibility Is It To Ensure That Buildings Interact With the Public Realm in a Delightful Way?
March 01, 2023 10:00 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBIt’s important to build safe and productive streets, but how do we ensure those streets are a place people want to be and live in? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that buildings interact with the public realm in a delightful way? Design is hugely impactful in our daily lives: it can determine if a place is somewhere for people, or if it’s unlivable and unusable. And design isn’t wholly up to the “eye of the beholder.” It’s possible to quantify beauty. Today on the Upzoned podcast, join...
We’re Getting Worse at Construction Despite Technology Advances
February 15, 2023 10:00 - 39 minutes - 36.7 MBDespite global advantages and new technologies, we are getting worse at construction. At least, that’s the case that Ezra Klein makes in his New York Times article, “The Story Construction Tells About America’s Economy Is Disturbing.” Today on Upzoned, join host Abby Kinney and co-host Chuck Marohn as they talk about this idea and add on to the conversation with an explanation on the difference between “complicated” and “complex.” ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “The Story Construction Tells About...
Portland’s Cully Neighborhood To Use “The One Ring” for Good
February 01, 2023 10:00 - 42 minutes - 39.4 MBPortland’s Cully neighborhood is about to embark on a big urban renewal experiment with the intention of maintaining that area's current affordability. Yes, you heard that right. In the past, the term “urban renewal” was mainly associated with mid-20th century schemes that displaced residents by seizing and demolishing large swaths of neighborhoods in order to modernize them with highways, roads, and other infrastructure elements. Now, Cully hopes to use similar tools for the better. Unde...
The Governor of Missouri Wants to Spend $859 Million on Highway Expansion
January 25, 2023 10:00 - 43 minutes - 40.6 MBThe state of Missouri has a $6 billion budget surplus due to an increase in tax revenue and unspent federal aid. Governor Parson wants to use $859 million of it to expand I-70, the major transport route which connects Kansas City and St. Louis. This expansion would bulldoze through key areas in downtown St. Louis, areas west of downtown, and even the suburban areas of Columbia (which sits right near the middle of the interstate). Lots of people, even those unfamiliar with the Strong Towns pe...
The U.S. Is Running Out of Skilled Labor. Is It Gen-Z’s Fault?
January 18, 2023 10:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBThe U.S. is crying out, saying we NEED more carpenters, plumbers, and other people in skilled trades and technical industries—but the generation about to take over the workforce, Gen Z, doesn’t seem interested. As time presses forward, we’re continuing to see more open positions, and not enough people to fill them. This could impact not only agriculture, infrastructure, housing, and transportation, but everyone’s daily lives, in general. The “shortage of workers” discourse tends to point a ...
People Move to Places with Zoning Laws, Ergo Zoning Is Good?
January 11, 2023 10:00 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBIn a recent Planetizen article titled, “Is Exclusionary Zoning a Good Thing?” author Michael Lewyn examines a theoretical argument presented by Judge Glock in the American Affairs Journal: that because people move to places that have zoning laws, zoning must be good. In this Upzoned episode, host Abby Kinney and co-host Chuck Marohn unpack the zoning debate between these two authors and how zoning is truly impacting cities. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Is Exclusionary Zoning a Good Thing?” by Mi...
Thanks for a Great Year
December 19, 2022 10:00 - 8 minutes - 10.6 MBIt's been a great year here on Upzoned; thanks for listening. We wanted to close out 2022 with one last message, and to wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
Homeowners Struggling to Get Insurance in Wildfire-Prone Colorado
December 07, 2022 10:00 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MBAn increasing risk of wildfires has made insurance carriers wary of certain areas in Colorado—according to a recent Denver Post article—raising their premiums and, in some cases, opting to not cover them, at all. In just the past few years, heavily forested areas of the state have been hit hard by wildfires. The Marshall Fire of December 2021, for instance, caused $2 billion in damages and has turned out to be the most expensive wildfire in the state's history. Quite often, homeowners disco...
These 3 Cities Are Eliminating Parking Minimums. Are They Going About It the Right Way?
November 23, 2022 10:00 - 44 minutes - 41.6 MBIt's #BlackFridayParking week at Strong Towns, which means we've got a special parking-related episode of the Upzoned podcast today. Host Abby Kinney, co-host Chuck Marohn, and special guest Edward Erfurt (director of community action at Strong Towns) come together to discuss three stories from three different cities—Burlington, Vermont; Nashville, Tennessee; and Cambridge, Massachusetts—all of which are taking big steps to eliminate parking minimums. And in some cases, the cities are even l...
Why Is It So Expensive To Build Public Transit in the U.S.?
November 16, 2022 10:00 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBA recent VICE article shares the conclusions of a report published by an NYU research group. The research, led by Alon Levy, spans some 15 years and demonstrates the extent to which transit projects in the U.S. are inflated compared to other countries around the world—and what we can do about it. For instance, the cost of constructing a subway in New York is double what it costs in Tokyo and 10 times what it costs in Paris. The research found New York to be the most expensive place to build...
This Man Overcame Homelessness by Building His Own Tiny Home…on Hollywood Boulevard!
November 09, 2022 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBAn army veteran who was homeless in Los Angeles got tired of having his tent cleared out by the city's sanitation teams...so he decided to build his own house. By working with the community, the man, who goes by "Q," gathered the materials necessary to build a tiny home, complete with a generator and potted plants. Q earns money fixing electric scooters and wants to start his own business, stating that he hopes to be an example for others in his situation. Given that, what can we learn from...
What Does the ”Airbnbust” Mean for the Housing Market?
November 02, 2022 10:00 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBThere's been much speculation on the internet lately—to the point of almost becoming a meme—about whether we are witnessing the great "Airbnbust." In other words, people are saying that short-term rentals are a bubble that is popping right before our eyes. As reported in Market Watch, many short-term rental owners are voicing concerns on forums like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook about their bookings plummeting over the past three to four months. In some cases, hosts say they were at 80% occ...
This Seattle Highway Is Facing a $29 Million Financial Crisis
October 27, 2022 10:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBDuring the winter of 2019, a tunnel for State Route 99 (SR 99) opened, running beneath downtown Seattle, Washington. It was a long-anticipated project with a price tag of $3.3 billion—with an accompanying tolling program to cover $20 million in construction debt and operating costs. The tunnel was toll-free for the first nine months after opening, so that drivers would be enticed to change their routes. However, only a couple of months after the tolling began, so did the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
We Need More Housing—But Also More People Who Can Build More Housing
October 19, 2022 10:00 - 35 minutes - 33.3 MBAre there enough construction workers to build the housing we need in the U.S. and Canada? According to The Globe and Mail, the Ontario government has stated that the province will need 100,000 new construction workers and 1.5 million homes over the next decade. However, a current shortage in skilled trades and labor means that the process of building homes now takes longer than before, and the situation has only been exacerbated since 2020, as many construction workers retired during the p...
Yes, Getting Rid of Parking Minimums Is Good for the Climate—But That’s Just the Tip of the Iceberg
October 12, 2022 10:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MBAccording to a recent article from TIME, a new law mandates that cities in California will no longer be able to impose parking minimums for housing, retail, or commercial development that sit within half a mile of major public transit stops. While this isn't a blanket elimination of parking minimums, is it at least a step in the right direction? And was it helpful or not for the law to be framed around climate concerns? Today on Upzoned, Chuck Marohn is stepping in as host for Abby Kinney a...
We Have Plenty of Land in the United States. But Can All of It Support Housing?
October 05, 2022 10:00 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBA recent article from The Wall Street Journal posits that “The U.S. Is Running Short of Land for Housing.” Land values in favorable locations are booming right now, and land owners across the country are, in some cases, making extremely high returns on their long-term holdings—so long as conditions enable their land to support development. Such opportunities are, according to the article, very limited. The U.S. is filled with a lot of open space, and one might think that means we have plent...
The Paris of the Plains Can’t Afford Its Fountains Anymore
September 28, 2022 10:00 - 33 minutes - 30.9 MBIf you’ve ever been to Kansas City or have any awareness about Kansas City, you may have heard it called the Paris of the Plains or the City of Fountains. A lot of people associate the city with its fountains, and it’s a big source of civic pride. However, recently the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department was forced to shut down its 48 fountains, citing unmanageable operating costs. This has left residents up in arms, claiming that the out-of-operation fountains are attracting vandal...
E-Bikes: The Frankenstein’s Monster of Transportation?
September 14, 2022 10:00 - 41 minutes - 38 MBHow cool are e-bikes? How revolutionary will they be? During 2020 and 2021, e-bike sales surged 2.4 times over previous periods and essentially transitioned from a fringe product to an almost mainstream purchase in North America. E-bike sales could be considered a huge win for micromobility and alternative transportation advocates, but don’t tell that to Ian Bogost, whose recent Atlantic piece paints e-bikes in a humor-laced take as an awkward, doomed-to-fail Frankenstein of the motorcycle ...
Professional Engineers: Speak Up. The Stakes Are Life and Death.
August 31, 2022 16:07 - 34 minutes - 32 MBMore than 40,000 people walking and biking are killed on America’s roadway each year by system designs that value speed and throughput more than safety and cost. Charles “Chuck” Marohn, Strong Towns founder and president, made the decision a decade ago to step outside the cloistered halls of the engineering profession to advocate for change in the way North American cities and infrastructure are designed. For those following a recent decision by the Minnesota licensing board to censure Chu...
New York’s New Experiment in Fighting Gridlock
August 24, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 27.7 MBAmerica’s first experiment with charging a toll to enter a congested urban area is going to begin in New York City next year. All next week, a public hearing battle over the details will rage between advocates for and against congestion pricing, which might cost as much as $23 per trip for a passenger vehicle and more than $100 per trip for a commercial vehicle. New Yorkers enjoy the most well-used transit system in America, but it’s in need of billions of dollars’ worth of maintenance. Co...
The ”Other Story” of Buffalo
August 10, 2022 10:30 - 40 minutes - 37.8 MBSeveral months ago, a tragic shooting took place in Buffalo, New York, that drew the nation’s attention. In the wake of that tragedy, C.J. Hughes has written an article in The New York Times about the city’s identity and its history and where it’s moving, going forward. Buffalo has experienced de-industrialization and suburbanization—both causing the city decades of decline. And now, for the first time in 70 years, Buffalo is seeing a population increase and signs of economic recovery after...
Water Wars in the Modern Wild West
July 13, 2022 19:12 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBIn the mid-1990s, another oil boom was on in Calgary, Alberta, and it was literally possible to stand in the prairie and watch suburban development coming at you: bulldozers pushing out new roads, linemen installing power cable, and flatbeds full of stick lumber roiling the dust. There’s no oil boom in the outlying desert of the Phoenix, Arizona, metro region, but there is a continuous growth push onto the fringes there, fueled by attractive winter weather, favorable tax rates for business...
TxDOT Proposes to Dig a $1 Billion Infrastructure Grave in Downtown Dallas
July 06, 2022 19:24 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBThis week on Upzoned with Abby Kinney, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) makes her co-host, Strong Towns President Charles Marohn, almost want to start swearing. For many years now, TxDOT has studied the feasibility of removing Interstate 345, which is a 1.7-mile segment of elevated highway that dissects downtown Dallas in Deep Ellum. Proposals to make the downtown stronger and more productive by creating a boulevard have been in the works for almost a decade, supported by prom...
State Preemption: A Means To Reform Zoning, or a Threat to Localism?
June 29, 2022 10:00 - 41 minutes - 38.7 MBA recent Governing article, “The Bad Things That Happen When States Tell Cities What to Do,” features an interview with University of Virginia law professor Richard Schragger on his book, City Power: Urban Governance in a Global Age. One of the major things Schragger’s book argues against is state preemption—ad in general, Schragger is interested in re-articulating the appropriate constitutional relationship between cities and states. He’s also expressed skepticism about regionalism as a vi...