Today, I’m going to show you what election years do to a nonprofit like Strong Towns, one dedicated to working from the bottom up, with everyone, regardless of how messy those relationships can be. It’s kind of ugly.
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In this episode of Upzoned, co-hosts Abby Newsham and Chuck Marohn discuss the problems with common natural disaster responses, such as managed retreat or rebuilding disaster areas to be more fortified, and suggest some alternatives.
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The U.S. is in a massive housing bubble fueled by widespread fraud. With banks incentivized to look away and Wall Street and Washington incentivized to keep housing prices artificially high, a bottom-up approach is the only hope for bringing sanity back to the housing market.
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Winnipeg, Manitoba’s new transportation plan uses all the right words to seem like it’s prioritizing maintenance and multimodal transit, but its funding allocation tells a very different story.
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In this episode of Upzoned, host Abby Newsham is joined by Jason Carter-Solomon, an incremental developer and commercial lender in Kansas City, to talk about financing small-scale development.
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We can’t wait for big government housing programs to fix the housing affordability crisis — in fact, they can actually make things worse. But don't lose hope. Local governments have the power to tackle the housing crisis in ways that actually work.
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Family Dollar is shutting down many of its urban stores, while Dollar General is expanding in rural areas. This week’s episode explores the reasons behind their differing success and the effect dollar stores have on neighborhoods.
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Many bus routes have moved away from traditional static signage to digital maps and schedules that can be updated in real time. But is this really the right move, or are there enough benefits to static signage to justify it sticking around?
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Highway expansion projects have a devastating impact of city finances while only providing minor benefits. This case study explores the financial details of a highway expansion project in Winnipeg, Canada, and discusses how people can take action to stop this kind of project.
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It’s Member Drive Week here at Strong Towns. To celebrate, Chuck’s reading some of his best articles that you might’ve missed. Today, he’s reading “The Cost of an Extra Foot,” which explains why engineers love overdesign and what that means for cities’ finances.
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Once a city acknowledges that it can’t afford maintain its infrastructure, it’ll change its investment pattern to be more resilient….right? Actually, many cities try to make more money magically appear so they can continue that pattern. Here’s why “How do we get more money?” is the wrong question and what cities should be asking, instead.
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Do you know what it's like to have your housing be dependent on a country club membership that you can't afford? Renters across the United States do, as they're forced to pay for amenities like private parking spaces or pool access — even if they never use them.
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With interest rates rising, the cost and availability of housing are becoming increasingly popular topics of debate. But most of these discussions fail to challenge the root of the issue: the absurdity of mortgages as an investment vehicle.
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If we listen to those concerned about housing affordability, rents are already too high and may only go higher. If we listen to those concerned about housing finance, rents are about to collapse. Can both of these narratives be true?
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Houston’s fiscal problems are less critical than other major cities with large budget shortfalls—yet, their mayor is correct when he said his city is broke, that the financial approach of the city is clearly not working. Here’s why.
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Small-scale developer Coby Lefkowitz joins us to discuss how finance shapes our cities, why debt is used to develop cities, and and why America's housing financial system privileges large-scale institutional development.
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How do we get philanthropy involved in community building, and how do we make good investments in our cities and towns? How do we access federal programs and bigger resources effectively?
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For local governments, it’s often easier to let the tangled web of debt at the heart of the budget go unexplored. In cities reliant on sales tax, these problems are only magnified.
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At a glance, the sales tax is a nearly invisible revenue source that is also a cash cow. Yet, for local governments, it is the most distorting of taxes. Here’s why.
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In this week’s episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck Marohn talks about the financial system, and provides insights on what’s currently happening in the banking industry.
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