Podcast Episodes

Are Sponge Cities the Flood Control Fix We Need?

Episode 259

Join Abby and guest John Pattison as they dive into the benefits and drawbacks of "sponge cities," cities that incorporate natural features like wetlands into their stormwater management infrastructu…

Published on 8 hours ago

Why Data Center Electricity Use "Scares Me to the Bone"

Episode 258

Data centers power everything from cloud computing to artificial intelligence, and they use a massive amount of electricity, sometimes even rivaling major cities. Watchdogs claim that tech companies …

Published on 1 week ago

Why Colorado Is Facing a Senior Housing Crisis

Episode 257

Colorado's population is rapidly aging. Soon, one in five people in the state will be be over 65 years old. Limited housing stock means seniors are stuck in too-large homes that they can’t afford to …

Published on 2 weeks ago

Why LA Is Struggling To Rebuild 6 Months After Wildfires

Episode 256

In January 2025, wildfires swept across Los Angeles with record-breaking destruction. To encourage swift rebuilding, Governor Newsom suspended environmental regulations. But six months later, only a …

Published on 3 weeks ago

Want To Use This Rural Road? That’ll Be $50K

Episode 255

In Lincoln County, South Dakota, a growing agriculture company is being charged $50,000 annually for wear and tear on township roads caused by the company's trucks and machinery.

Abby and Edward disc…

Published on 4 weeks ago

Suburbs Broke the American Sunbelt. Now What?

Episode 254

Sunbelt cities like Phoenix, Dallas, and Atlanta have long prided themselves on having affordable and abundant housing. However, they’re now seeing stagnation in housing construction and rapidly risi…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

How To Stop Slumlords and Protect Urban Spaces

Episode 253

Today, Abby is joined by Bernice Radle, a small-scale developer and historic building preservationist from Buffalo, New York. They cover two developing stories: First, a new bill was proposed that wo…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

A Strong Towns View of the New SpaceX Company Town

Episode 252

Residents of Boca Chica, Texas, have voted to turn their community into a new official city called Starbase. This new municipality is tightly controlled by SpaceX leadership and most residents are Sp…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

California Universities Face a $17 Billion Growth Ponzi Scheme

Episode 251

As of the 2023-24 academic year, the University of California faces $9.1 billion in deferred maintenance, while California State University faces $8.3 billion. In today’s episode, Chuck and Abby expl…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Will Privatizing Mortgages Fix the Housing Market?

Episode 250

President Trump has proposed the privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, organizations that back the majority of mortgages in the U.S. and have been under a government conservatorship since the …

Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago