Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchWhen Fixing Property Taxes Just Adds Another Tax
Episode 299
A New York condo sold for $238 million, but the city assessed it at just $15.5 million. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has framed his new pied-à-terre tax as a…
5 hours ago
What Happens When Malls Start Charging for Parking?
Episode 298
What happens when something people have always treated as free suddenly gets a price tag? A USA Today article, “Shopping Malls Are Charging for Prime…
1 week ago
This Tiny Backyard Home Cost $600,000
Episode 297
A Los Angeles couple set out to build a 400-square-foot backyard home for about $300,000, only to watch the final cost climb to $600,000 in a project…
2 weeks ago
When Did Letting Kids Play Outside Become a Crime?
Episode 296
A six-year-old rides his scooter to a playground a quarter mile from home. Two days later, Child Protective Services is at his family’s door. His cas…
3 weeks ago
L.A.’s 8-Mile Bike Path Is Now a $1 Billion Project
Episode 295
An eight-mile gap keeps Los Angeles from having a continuous river bike route through the heart of the city. Voters approved hundreds of millions of …
4 weeks ago
The Water Crisis That Left a Small Town Abandoned
Episode 294
Hartman, Colorado, reached a point where it could no longer function as a town. Its water system was unsafe, every member of the town board had resig…
1 month ago
What If NIMBYs Were Paid to Say Yes?
Episode 293
What if the easiest way to overcome opposition to new housing was simply to pay people to accept it? A recent article in The Atlantic argues that aft…
1 month, 1 week ago
When Boomers Don’t Downsize, What’s Left for Everyone Else?
Episode 292
What happens when one generation holds much of the country’s housing wealth and has little reason to give it up? Chuck Marohn talks with Strong Towns…
1 month, 2 weeks ago
The Retirement Plan Trapped Inside the Housing Crisis
Episode 291
Americans have been told that buying a home is one of the safest ways to secure their future. But when retirement depends on home values continuing t…
1 month, 3 weeks ago
Chicago’s $1.2 Billion Parking Meter Problem
Episode 290
In 2009, Chicago traded 75 years of parking meter revenue for a $1.2 billion payment that helped fill an immediate budget hole. Norm Van Eeden Peters…
2 months ago