Chuck is joined by Carlee Alm-LaBar and Kevin Blanchard, former city staff members in Lafayette, Louisiana. They discuss the challenges of balancing competing demands and priorities when working in local government. (Transcript included.)
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Denyse Trepanier is the president of Bike Walk Alameda. She joins Norm to discuss the city's efforts to improve biking infrastructure, including a network of low-stress bikeways. (Transcript included.)
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A deadly hit-and-run in Fayetteville, North Carolina sparks urgent calls for safer streets and stronger action from city leaders.
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Tired of excessive speeds on a neighborhood street, a community organization took matters into their own hands and saved lives in the process.
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Fragile cities are overextended, under-resourced, and deeply dependent on decisions made far away. Here’s what that looks like.
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For years, Pittsburgh struggled with rising traffic fatalities. Instead of accepting these tragedies as inevitable or waiting for outside funding, city leaders acted decisively with the resources they had. Here's how.
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A new push for parking reform in Connecticut reveals just how much public space and revenue towns are losing to outdated requirements—and what policymakers can do to fix it.
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Calgary is transparent about it’s finances. Now it’s time to uncover where value is being created—and where resources are being drained.
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In January 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice sued six of the nation’s largest landlords, accusing them of artificially inflating apartment rents. But the lawsuit reveals an even deeper problem.
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Steven Zittergruen is a city council member from Decorah, Iowa. He joins Norm today to discuss the ways he’s making his community stronger, including revamping the city’s budgeting process. (Transcript included.)
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If you’ve ever seen an underused property and thought, “Why doesn’t someone do something with that?”—take a look at this church in Texas.
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Ohio realtors and community advocates have created a practical toolkit to help communities across the state enable infill development.
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Cities slide into insolvency not with a dramatic collapse, but with a slow, steady drift into financial fragility.
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A Japanese study is the first to quantitatively measure the economic impact of tactical urbanism. Spoiler alert: it’s good for business.
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Will McCollum is the president and co-founder of Citymakers Collective, a nonprofit that teaches aspiring architects and planners how to design resilient, beautiful and prosperous places. (Transcript included.)
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Every few years, the American Society of Civil Engineers releases its Infrastructure Report Card. Let’s be clear about what this report card actually is: industry propaganda, not unbiased analysis.
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In this episode, Chuck and Abby discuss President Trump’s proposal to privatize 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 2008 financial crisis. (Transcript included.)
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Amy Emery is a community leader focused on fostering sustainable growth and smart development in Warrenville, Illinois. She joins Norm to discuss several ways the city is working to build a core downtown. (Transcript included.)
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Texas isn’t exactly known for its housing shortage, but continued affordability isn't guaranteed. That's why lawmakers across the aisle are trying to get ahead with a new bill.
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Today, Chuck is joined by Mark Moses, author of “The Municipal Financial Crisis.” They cover everything from the dangers of relying on “balanced budgets” to the difference between city and business finances. (Transcript included.)
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