Podcast Episodes

A Conversation with Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt

Mayor David Holt, far younger than me, has an impressive resume for any big-city Mayor. He’s been elected overwhelmingly twice, and his city is clearly on the rise. If you’re not familiar with what’s…

Published on 1 year ago

Can Design Charrettes Teach Us How to Fix Broken Systems?

It’s an intriguing irony that we live in the managerial age, with more managers than ever, and yet so much in our society is so poorly managed. But what can be done? Is it just an inevitable fact of …

Published on 1 year ago

The many virtues of urban courtyard living

If you’ve traveled much to countries outside of the US, you frequently see a type of building that sits right up on the street, but has a landscaped courtyard space behind it. Instead of the ubiquit…

Published on 1 year ago

Building the Not-Quite Missing Middle

In the urbanism and planning world, we talk a lot about Missing Middle Housing. Rightfully so, since it’s a critical element that helps a community succeed and provide the total range of housing opti…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

How to Hack Your Life

Stop what you’re doing, and listen to this episode. Trust me, it’s worth it.

I came across Joe Jimenez by way of Coach Carson, who has interviewed him twice. Joe lives in Kalispell, Montana, and now o…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Turning love of your town into a development crusade

Before this episode, I knew nothing about Mineral Wells, TX. Now, i’m interested to visit. Mineral Wells is a small, historic resort town west of Fort Worth. It’s the sister city of Hot Springs, Arka…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Getting to Affordable Infill Development

Eric Kronberg, of Kronberg Urbanists + Architects, is a wealth of knowledge for people wanting to truly understand the realities of new construction in cities. First off, it’s Kronberg with a long o,…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Travel Lessons

So-called “urbanists” tend to travel to foreign lands and come back with the obvious takeaways: foreign cities good, American cities bad. I get that. I understand the impulse. I’ve done it myself, so…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

How Does a Small Developer Actually Make Money?

Monte Anderson of Neighborhood Evolution and Options Real Estate in Duncanville, Texas joins me to talk about extremely practical matters: making money in real estate. That is, as a small developer, …

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago

Cities and Parents: Let's Get Real About What Matters

Truth is, I wish we talked a lot more about making cities as kid-friendly as possible. The topic is often overlooked. That’s why it was fascinating to see Derek Thompson’s article, “The Urban Family …

Published on 1 year, 4 months ago