The Strong Towns Podcast

Strong Towns members filled the Commons with questions, and Chuck sat down to answer as many as he could. Should cities require data centers to pay for their own eventual cleanup? Has Strong Towns been too wary of the YIMBY movement? Are e-bikes headed toward a backlash before cities have figured out what they’re good for? He also gets into tiny homes, land value taxes, coworking spaces, dream podcast guests, and whether Strong Towns ideas are actually becoming mainstream. Members can join the Commons to submit future questions, read Chuck’s columns before publication, and take part in the discussions that follow.

Additional Show Notes

Friday News Digest (Site)

A Mayor Willing to Tell His City the Truth (Article)

Local Conversations (Site)

The Commons (Site)

Strong Towns Membership (Site)

Chuck Marohn (Substack)

 

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

A strong bond rating can tell investors that a city is likely to repay its debt. It says much less about whether that city can afford to replace the roads, pipes, and other infrastructure its residents depend on. Richard Ciccarone, president emeritus of Merit Research Services, developed a new metric using financial statements from nearly 2,000 cities to estimate that burden. When he compared the infrastructure burden with government bond ratings, the correlation was surprisingly weak. Cities can remain attractive to creditors while aging assets accumulate replacement costs that no bondholder can force them to address.

Additional Show Notes

Richard Ciccarone (LinkedIn)

Infrastructure & Capital Assets Commitment Burden: Quantifying the Hidden Fiscal Risk (PDF)

'We Built the Best Interstate System. Now It’s Falling Apart.' (Video)

Mission Accomplished Report (Site)

Chuck Marohn (Substack)

 

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Atlanta’s Buford Highway supports apartment communities, small businesses, and an international food scene that draws people from across the region. It also carries six to eight lanes of fast traffic, and drivers use it as an alternate route when nearby interstates clog. More than 20% of trips happen outside a car, yet roughly 90% of the corridor’s space is reserved for vehicles. Rebecca Serna, executive director of Propel ATL, and Sagirah Jones, the organization’s program director, hosted walk audits to put residents, planners, and elected officials on the same road and show how people navigate it every day. The audits exposed an unexpected barrier: many people supported bigger changes while remaining convinced that someone else would never allow them.

Additional Show Notes

Rebecca Serna (LinkedIn)

Sagirah Jones (LinkedIn)

Propel ATL (Site)

Buford Highway Community Walk Audit Summary of Findings (PDF)

AARP Walk Audit Tool Kit (Site)

'We Built the Best Interstate System. Now It’s Falling Apart.' (Video)

Mission Accomplished Report (Site)

Chuck Marohn (Substack)

 

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

The Highway Trust Fund brings in roughly $45 billion a year and spends closer to $80 billion. Congress keeps the system running by borrowing the difference and moving that money into a program still treated as if road users fully fund it. Rebecca Higgins, vice president of policy at the Eno Center for Transportation, explains how the fund reached this point and why the gap keeps growing. She and Chuck examine the choices lawmakers have avoided for decades, including higher taxes, lower spending, new fees, or a smaller federal role, and what happens when highway funding begins competing with other underfunded national priorities.

Additional Show Notes

Rebecca Higgins (LinkedIn)

The Eno Center for Transportation (Site)

The Last Exit: Fixing the Highway Trust Fund while Solvency is still Solvable (Report)

'We Built the Best Interstate System. Now It’s Falling Apart.' (Video)

Mission Accomplished Report (Site)

Chuck Marohn (Substack)

 

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Cities often spend years studying a street before making a change, only to discover that the public is reacting to plans no one has actually experienced. Krista Nightengale, executive director of Better Block, explains another approach: build a temporary version, invite people into it, gather data, and adjust what does not work. She and Chuck talk about winning over skeptical engineers, learning from residents, and making safer streets without waiting for a perfect plan. The goal is not to prove the first idea was correct, but to learn enough, quickly enough, to make the next decision better.

Additional Show Notes

Krista Nightengale (LinkedIn)

Better Block (Site)

Wikiblock (Site)

Chuck Marohn (Substack)

 

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.