Join Abby and guest John Pattison as they dive into the benefits and drawbacks of "sponge cities," cities that incorporate natural features like wetlands into their stormwater management infrastructure. Is this method more resilient in the long term? Do the benefits outweigh the massive cost? How does this relate to the incremental, bottom-up approach? They’ll cover all this and more in today’s episode of Upzoned. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “‘Sponge City’: Copenhagen Adapts to a Wetter Future” by Paul Hockenos, Yale Environment 360 (July 2025). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.

Data centers power everything from cloud computing to artificial intelligence, and they use a massive amount of electricity, sometimes even rivaling major cities. Watchdogs claim that tech companies aren’t absorbing the costs of this electricity use, causing rate payers’ electricity bills to spike as they’re forced to subsidize these data centers. Today, Edward and Abby discuss the far-reaching implications of this kind of land use. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “As electric bills rise, evidence mounts that data centers share blame. States feel pressure to act.” by Marc Levy, AP News (August 2025). Want to bring the conversation to your community? Book Edward as a speaker. Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.

Colorado's population is rapidly aging. Soon, one in five people in the state will be be over 65 years old. Limited housing stock means seniors are stuck in too-large homes that they can’t afford to maintain. In turn, that means there’s fewer large homes for younger families who need them. Today, Abby is joined by Katy Clagett, an incremental developer originally from Colorado who’s working to develop infill housing options for seniors. They discuss what Colorado’s situation means for communities and how we can reshape housing to be more adaptable to the needs of all age groups. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “As Colorado ages, seniors are colliding with the housing crisis” by Brian Eason, The Colorado Sun (June 2025). Learn how to create a more flexible housing market. Katy Claggett Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.

In January 2025, wildfires swept across Los Angeles with record-breaking destruction. To encourage swift rebuilding, Governor Newsom suspended environmental regulations. But six months later, only a fraction of homeowners have even received permits, let alone started the rebuilding process. Chuck is joined by Edward Erfurt, Strong Towns’ chief technical advisor, to talk about why, as well as the deeper challenges of rebuilding in fire-prone areas. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Why it’s taking LA so long to rebuild” by Umair Irfan, Vox (July 2025). Want to bring the conversation to your community? Book Chuck or Edward as a speaker. Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.

In Lincoln County, South Dakota, a growing agriculture company is being charged $50,000 annually for wear and tear on township roads caused by the company's trucks and machinery. Abby and Edward discuss the balancing act between infrastructure costs and municipal budgets, especially in rural areas with few taxpayers. They explore the public process behind this kind of decision and offer suggestions on how it could be improved. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Milk facility to pay $50,000 for road use” by Rae Yost, KELOLAND (July 2025). Want to bring the conversation to your community? Book Edward as a speaker. Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.

Sunbelt cities like Phoenix, Dallas, and Atlanta have long prided themselves on having affordable and abundant housing. However, they’re now seeing stagnation in housing construction and rapidly rising costs. Today, Abby is joined by Rachel Leonardo, a trained architect and Strong Towns’ video creator, to discuss how rigid single-use zoning has locked cities into expensive fragility. They explore whether these cities can course correct and how they could become more resilient and prosperous in the long-term. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Here are 6 simple ways to make housing more affordable in your community. “Sprawl made the American Sunbelt affordable. Now it’s breaking it.” by Marina Bolotnikova, Vox (July 2025). See Rachel’s work: Studio Leonardo (YouTube) Strong Towns (YouTube) Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.

Today, Abby is joined by Bernice Radle, a small-scale developer and historic building preservationist from Buffalo, New York. They cover two developing stories: First, a new bill was proposed that would give the Buffalo housing court more power to sell or repair buildings taken from absentee or negligent landlords. Second, the Historic Preservation Fund is currently at risk. Bernice and Abby discuss how these changes could affect small-scale developers and historic preservationists. Bernice also explores how these two fields are closely linked and should work together to save urban spaces. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Proposed bill would give Buffalo housing court greater authority over derelict properties” by Nate Benson, WGRZ (May 2025). “Preservation Under Threat: A Critical Moment for the Historic Preservation Fund” by Preservation Buffalo Niagara, Buffalo Rising (June 2025). See more from Bernice: Strong Towns Neighborhood Evolution Preservation Buffalo Niagara Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.

Residents of Boca Chica, Texas, have voted to turn their community into a new official city called Starbase. This new municipality is tightly controlled by SpaceX leadership and most residents are SpaceX employees, which has raised concerns about the reemergence of company towns. In this Upzoned episode, Abby is joined by our Chief Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt to discuss the Strong Towns perspective on this story. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Elon Musk’s company town: SpaceX employees vote to create ‘Starbase’” by Nick Robins-Early, The Guardian (May 2025). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

As of the 2023-24 academic year, the University of California faces $9.1 billion in deferred maintenance, while California State University faces $8.3 billion. In today’s episode, Chuck and Abby explore how this problem arose, how it mirrors the challenges cities are facing, and what it'll take to manage this decline. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Inside a $17 billion maintenance backlog plaguing California’s universities” by Victoria Mejicanos, Matthew Reagan and Mercy Sosa, CalMatters (April 2025). Learn more about the Growth Ponzi Scheme and how to evaluate your own city’s financial position. Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (Substack) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

President Trump has proposed the privatization of 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. In this Upzoned episode, Chuck and Abby discuss the proposal and how it would affect the housing market. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “How Trump plans to get government out of the mortgage business” by Paige Sutherland and Meghna Chakrabarti, WBUR On Point (March 2025). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (Substack) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

In this Upzoned episode, Abby is joined by Strong Towns Chief Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt to discuss the emergence of food deserts in the United States. In the 1980s, the U.S. government stopped enforcing price discrimination laws, letting large supermarkets use their size to leverage better prices from suppliers. This led to the closure of many small, independent groceries and helped create today's food deserts. Abby and Edward discuss the shift from grocery stores being neighborhood assets to regional destinations and how that extracts wealth from communities. Then they share bottom-up ways that everyday people can address these food shortages in their communities. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “The Great Grocery Squeeze: How a federal policy change in the 1980s created the modern food desert” by Stacy Mitchell, The Atlantic (December 2024). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

Co-hosts Abby Newsham and Chuck Marohn discuss the challenges faced by Victoria, Prince Edward Island, a town in Canada that only has 139 full-time residents. In an attempt to attract new residents, the town has adopted its first five-year development plan. Chuck and Abby talk about how very small towns like Victoria show the absurdities of the Suburban Experiment best — and feel its consequences most keenly. They explore what the future could look like for communities like this and emphasize the importance of embracing the things that make a specific town special instead of trying to copy suburban subdivisions. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Population growth called 'critical' for the sustainability of Victoria, P.E.I.” by Sara Fraser, CBC News (February 2025). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (Substack). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

Residents of a neighborhood in Colorado are confronting a $434 million debt incurred by their community’s special taxing district, which was set up by developers to finance the neighborhood’s infrastructure. A group of neighbors are now organizing to take control of the district’s board and try to bring transparency to the financial situation. In today’s episode of Upzoned, Abby is joined by Edward Erfurt, Strong Towns’ chief technical advisor. They discuss how using special taxing districts to fund developments is a common practice, how it leads to snowballing debt, and how difficult it is for residents to manage this kind of situation. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “The largest neighborhood of this Colorado city is $434M in debt. Neighbors are now seeking board control.” by Olivia Young, CBS News (February 2025). This Thursday, February 27, Strong Towns will release a toolkit to help city officials welcome incremental housing development. Learn more here. Become a member to join the launch livestream with experts Alli Thurmond Quinlan (Incremental Development Alliance) and Eric Kronberg (Kronberg Urbanists + Architects). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

The U.S. senior housing market is poised to shift from a surplus to a shortage in the next five years, as the oldest baby boomers turn 80 by 2030. In this Upzoned episode, Abby is joined by Norm Van Eeden Petersman, Strong Towns’ director of Movement Building. They unpack the implications of this market shift and discuss what building more options for older adults could look like. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Aging Boomers Are About to Rekindle the Senior-Housing Market” by Peter Grant, The Wall Street Journal (February 2025). Read more: “Seniors Have Large Suburban Houses To Sell. Does Anyone Want Them?” (Strong Towns). “The Great Senior Short Sale or Why Policy Inertia Will Short Change Millions of America's Seniors” (Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

In this episode, Abby is joined by Chicago aldermen Matt Martin and Andre Vasquez to discusses the Western Avenue corridor study, one of the most ambitious planning efforts Chicago has seen in decades. It includes widespread rezoning reform, and it also addresses affordable housing, economic vitality and transit efficiency. The aldermen share their approach to rezoning, emphasizing the importance of a community-first approach. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Let’s fix Western Avenue and make Chicago stronger” by Aaron Feldman, Chicago Tribune (June 2024). There are 6 easy code reforms that city officials can use to bring more housing to their communities. We will release a toolkit to help you implement these changes in February 2025. Get a sneak peek here and join our mailing list to be notified when this resource is available. Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

In 2021, Massachusetts signed a law requiring communities that are served by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) to legalize multifamily housing development near MBTA transit stations. Recently, a state court ruled that the state has the authority to sue cities and towns that don’t comply. In this episode of Upzoned, Abby and Chuck discuss whether that’s a good idea, the broader trend of states intervening in city zoning practices, and how the root issue is actually poor transportation investment practices. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Court Ruling Paves the Way For State to Sue Towns With Exclusionary Zoning Laws” by Christian MilNeil, StreetsblogMASS (January 2025). “Our Financial System Favors Large-Scale Development…but at What Cost?” with Coby Lefkowitz. Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

In California, many major insurers have recently dropped homeowners in high risk areas from their plans, forcing them to seek alternate coverage with the state. However the state has nowhere near enough money to cover current property damage costs, a situation that will likely get worse as wildfires continue to burn. In this episode of Upzoned, co-hosts Abby Newsham and Chuck Marohn discuss the impact of natural disasters on the insurance industry, the feasibility of government-run insurance programs, and what this might mean for California in the long term. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Support Southern California Wildfire Relief. (Thank you to Strong Towns Artesia for providing this resource!) “California’s Insurance System Faces Crucial Test as Losses Mount” by Christopher Flavelle, The New York Times (January 2025). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

In this episode of Upzoned, host Abby Newsham is joined by Kevin Klinkenberg, an urban designer, planner and executive director of a place management organization. They discuss how a middle-class life — especially homeownership — has become increasingly difficult for younger generations to attain. They also cover the factors that contribute to this difficulty and possible responses. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Transcript available on our site. “Is a Middle Class Life Still Attainable?” by Tom Owens, Aaron Renn Substack (December 2024). Read more from Kevin Klinkenberg on Strong Towns or his Substack The Messy City. Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

In this episode of Upzoned, co-hosts Abby Newsham and Chuck Marohn talk about satellite communities — towns that are developed a distance away from existing urbanized areas. They also discuss the psychological phenomena that incline people toward big projects that may solve an immediate issue (such as housing) but will cause larger difficulties later on (such as maintenance debt). ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Tewin's $590M infrastructure bill locks in 'forever sprawl,' councillor says” by Arthur White-Crummey, CBC Ottawa (June 2024). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).

Canada needs an additional 3.5 million housing units by 2030, and that means Canadian cities — as well as many others throughout North America — are facing the challenge of building more housing without wasting natural resources like mature trees. In this episode of Upzoned, co-hosts Abby Newsham and Chuck Marohn discuss this balancing act, the high value that trees bring to a community, and why sacrificing “urban forests” for housing doesn’t have to mean sacrificing those trees. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Can urban forests survive the housing boom?” by Hanna Hett, Canada’s National Observer (October 2024). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.