This week we look at a few places, from Ferguson to CA schools to youth sports, where maximizing for one variable at a time leads to a "very suburban style of thinking, addressing each problem in a vacuum and ignoring the interrelationships that eventually govern the world."
Read MoreDrunk driving is a behavior on which we spend a lot of effort discouraging and yet somehow largely ignore the importance of design. This article asks whether America has a drinking problem or a driving problem? What's worse yet, is that through things like minimum parking requirements and zoning we are virtually coding a problem into existence.
Read MoreSteven Shultis is a member of Strong Towns and a long time supporter living in Springfield, Massachusetts. You might remember him from an earlier podcast or from our more recent conversation about Springfield. He blogs at Rational Urbanism and this article, which first appeared there, is reprinted with his permission.
Read MoreThis week Chuck has a long overdue conversation with Patrick Kennedy, an urban designer advocating for more walkable/bikable neighborhoods in one of the country's most car-focused cities.
Read MoreI've been trying to place the Strong Towns message in historical counterparts. I want to know in which other context these ideas emerged, who led them, how, and how did it turn out.
Read MoreJohn Oliver is a comedian in the court jester genre: speaking truth to power.
Read MoreIt is interesting to look back and read what people thought a couple generations ago and how their thinking shapes our world today.
Read MoreStrong Towns members' blogs engage issues of who benefits from the way our cities are built and run, who loses out, and how a local government or developer's actions reveal its true priorities.
Read MoreI hope to be back in force tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.
Read MoreNext week Chuck and Jim will be in the Los Angeles area, our first Strong Towns trip to California since 2012. We're working really hard to get to Northern CA yetis year -- keep your eyes open for that.
Read MoreIt's not going to be difficult to improve on victory when victory means a pathetic $0.92 per person.
Read MoreToday we're going to do an Ask Me Anything lite.
Read MoreThe only thing worse than having congestion is not having congestion.
Read MoreThe host of EconTalk, Russell Roberts of Stanford University's Hoover Institute (Twitter / personal website), joins the podcast to talk about his latest book, How Adam Smith can change your life: An unexpected guide to human nature and happiness.
Read MoreLots of fun from the field this week:
The key problem with Walmart is that it systematically depends on the poverty of communities.
Read MoreIs compromise just a part of reform we should accept or would we be better off letting the unsustainable parts of our system implode so we can put our efforts where they will do the most good?
Read MoreWhat is the Strong Town thinking on Vision Zero? New York, Seattle and Portland have recently announced programs.
Read MoreShould the state be in the business of funding local streets? If a municipal advocacy organization has its way, it absolutely will. Here's a better way to strengthen cities.
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