The Strong Towns Podcast

Author of The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving, Leigh Gallagher, joins Chuck Marohn this week to talk about her book, her research and the reaction to her insights on America's post World War II development pattern.

This week on the podcast, Chuck interviews Original Green Steve Mouzon about his new book, New Media for Designers + Builders. Released today, the book explores the new and old media and provides the individual or small organization critical advice for how to project ideas into the modern marketplace. You can get a copy of New Media for Designers + Builders here. As you would expect from Steve, the book is beautifully written and illustrated. It is an easy read, yet has a ton of depth and insight. New Media for Designers + Builders is thick with content and, for those wanting more, Steve has set up a website full of extras that you can dive into with a simple click. A pure pleasure.And surprisingly (or perhaps not surprisingly), Steve’s Original Green philosophy shines through and applies quite nicely to the realm of media and communications. While it was not his objective to write “original green for marketing,” Steve shows how simple, genuine and persistent rues the day over slick, packaged and ubiquitous. If you’re struggling with a marketing/advertising budget that is not getting you the results you are paying for, New Media for Designers + Builders will help you understand why.And it will also show you what to do about it. At Strong Towns, we’re generally considered pretty decent at this whole new media thing. Well, I learned a ton from this book and am already working to improve our approach here and accelerate the spread of the Strong Towns movement. Congratulations to one of our good friends, Steve Mouzon, on this accomplishment. His work continues to break down barriers and make the world a better place.

This week Joe Minicozzi and Josh McCarty join Chuck Marohn from Chapel Hill to talk about what makes a financially productive place and the difference between a community getting rich and growing wealthy. 

Andrew Burleson joins Chuck Marohn this week to share his harowing plane story (failed engine on takeoff) and talk about the latest series on the Strong Towns Blog, Rational Responses. Bonus: Best intro music yet.

This week we share an interview of Chuck Marohn from the Outspoken Cyclist, a radio show out of Cleveland, Ohio. You can listen to the outspoken cyclist each week online at WJCU.org. 

There is an epidemic failure to understand what creates value within our cities. Applying the approach of baseball sabermetrics to our places reveals important truths.

Some miscellaneous interviews and speeches from CNU 21 in Salt Lake City. Speakers include (in order) Edward Erfurt, Will Dowdy, Andrew Burleson, Nate Hood, Faith Cable Kumon, Howard Blackson, Kevin Klinkenberg, Jen Krouse and John Anderson.

Steven Shultis of the blog RationalUrbanism.com joins Chuck Marohn to talk about competing casino proposals in Massachusetts, including one in downtown Springfield that is surprisingly well done.

Chuck Marohn's speech during the closing plenary at CNU 21 in Salt Lake City. We've also uploaded the audio along with the timed slides as a YouTube video.

From the Peery Hotel at CNU 21, Chuck Marohn talks with people about their big ideas. Special guests include Grant Humphries, Karja Hansen of Ioby, Howard Blackson of Placemakers, John Anderson of Anderson|Kim and Ian Rasmussen of Urban Cartographics. 

Andrew Burleson visits Brainerd and sits down in studio to interview Chuck Marohn and find out where he's been (and where the Strong Towns podcast has been). A podcast short with a longer episode on transportation to follow tomorrow.

Mississippi traveler and author Dean Klinkenberg is the guest on this week's podcast. Dean has spent many years traveling the Mississippi river and he provides his insights, assessments and thoughts for the future of this important waterway. You can follow Dean's work on his blog at mississippivalleytraveler.com.  Dean Klinkenberg has written the Mississippi Valley Traveler series, which currently includes three books that cover portions of four states along the Mississippi River (Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota). The Quad Cities Travel Guide, released in June 2009, has 128 pages of detail on the cities of Bettendorf, Davenport, Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, Hampton, Pleasant Valley, and Riverdale, plus a separate section on Arsenal Island. The Lansing to LeClaire Travel Guide was released in November, 2009. The 360-page book has detailed information for 47 historic communities like McGregor/Marquette and Dubuque, Iowa, plus Galena, Illinois and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The Driftless Area: Along the Mississippi River from Hastings, Minnesota to Lansing, Iowa and has 376 pages of local history with listings of attractions, restaurants, and places to stay for 54 communities like Red Wing, Wabasha, and Winona in Minnesota, La Crosse, Trempealeau, and Alma in Wisconsin, and the villages around Lake Pepin. These books and more can be purchased directly from the Mississippi River Traveler site.