$1,000 a Year to Welcome a Data Center?
Would you welcome a massive data center to your town if the developer promised your household $1,000 every year? That's the offer facing res...
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Upzoned
Join Kea Wilson, Chuck Marohn, and occasional surprise guests to talk in depth about just one big story from the week in the Strong Towns conversation, right when you want it: now.
Episodes
20 of 125 episodesIs “Build It and They Will Come” Backward?
“Build it and they will come” sounds confident until the project is finished and nobody comes. The Neighborhood Playbook, a placemaking guid...
Can You Overrule a City’s Zoning?
Edmonton changed its zoning to allow more homes in existing neighborhoods, and Alberta has now given the city three months to undo those ref...
Can a Trolley Make People Want Transit?
A reliable bus is a big improvement, but Mobile is also looking at how appearance, comfort and the experience around the trip can make trans...
Can We Predict Which Housing Reforms Will Work?
States are legalizing ADUs, cutting parking mandates, and changing zoning, but it's still difficult to estimate how much housing each of tho...
The Street Redesign No One Can Agree On
Seven years of planning have not produced a version of Boston’s Blue Hill Avenue redesign that everyone can live with. In the Boston Globe a...
When Fixing Property Taxes Just Adds Another Tax
A New York condo sold for $238 million, but the city assessed it at just $15.5 million. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has framed his new pied-à-terre...
What Happens When Malls Start Charging for Parking?
What happens when something people have always treated as free suddenly gets a price tag? A USA Today article, “Shopping Malls Are Charging...
This Tiny Backyard Home Cost $600,000
A Los Angeles couple set out to build a 400-square-foot backyard home for about $300,000, only to watch the final cost climb to $600,000 in...
When Did Letting Kids Play Outside Become a Crime?
A six-year-old rides his scooter to a playground a quarter mile from home. Two days later, Child Protective Services is at his family’s door...
L.A.’s 8-Mile Bike Path Is Now a $1 Billion Project
An eight-mile gap keeps Los Angeles from having a continuous river bike route through the heart of the city. Voters approved hundreds of mil...
The Water Crisis That Left a Small Town Abandoned
Hartman, Colorado, reached a point where it could no longer function as a town. Its water system was unsafe, every member of the town board...
What If NIMBYs Were Paid to Say Yes?
What if the easiest way to overcome opposition to new housing was simply to pay people to accept it? A recent article in The Atlantic argues...
When Boomers Don’t Downsize, What’s Left for Everyone Else?
What happens when one generation holds much of the country’s housing wealth and has little reason to give it up? Chuck Marohn talks with Str...
The Retirement Plan Trapped Inside the Housing Crisis
Americans have been told that buying a home is one of the safest ways to secure their future. But when retirement depends on home values con...
Chicago’s $1.2 Billion Parking Meter Problem
In 2009, Chicago traded 75 years of parking meter revenue for a $1.2 billion payment that helped fill an immediate budget hole. Norm Van Eed...
Can Rebuilding Make a Town Weaker?
Five years after wildfire destroyed most of Lytton, British Columbia, rebuilding remains slow despite more than $140 million in committed pu...
The Housing Crisis Isn’t Moving in One Direction
Chuck Marohn has long been critical of housing research that treats affordability as a simple supply problem. This week, he brings Andrew Bu...
Charlotte Said No to a $4.3 Billion Highway. Now the State Wants $60 Million Back.
When Charlotte and its regional planning body withdrew support for a $4.3 billion widening of Interstate 77, North Carolina lawmakers respon...
Why Do Vacant Storefronts Stay Vacant?
A decade ago, a row of North Park storefronts was cleared for a university housing project that never came. The businesses are gone, the bui...