Go Cultivate!

We've reached the end of Go Cultivate! Season 3! To wrap us up, Kevin details the impacts that the suburban experiment has had on our country and asks the question: what does ‘quality of life' really mean, and does an auto-centric lifestyle support these outcomes? After defining actionable steps to take in order to address the challenges posed by the suburban development pattern, Kevin emphasizes the importance of finding and connecting with other people and groups in your area to drive meaningful change at the local level. We believe that by working together, we can create more vibrant and inclusive communities that are built to last and benefit everyone. Stay updated with our newsletter!

In this episode we are sitting down with Matt Meals, the newest addition to Verdunity's engineering team. He and Kevin discuss Matt's journey to Verdunity, and his perspective on how land use fiscal analysis gives cities the education they need to plan for communities to take root, as well as how it empowers citizens to take active roles in shaping the future of their communities. Throughout the interview, Matthew emphasizes the importance of context and community in engineering and design, and shares how his passion for environmentalism and sustainable energy led him to where he is today. Matt Recommends:Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert Putnam

In this episode, AJ interviews Dr. Kaye Monk-Morgan and Shaun Rojas of the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) where Kaye is the President and CEO, and Shaun is the Senior Director of Civic Engagement. Their discussion emphasizes the importance of building a culture of civic leadership and engaging with community members to address their concerns and build stronger, healthier, and more prosperous communities. The conversation also touches on the idea that leadership is an activity rather than a title or position, and the need to develop skills and engage in activities that promote leadership. Kaye Monk-Morgan, KLC President and CEOA third-generation Kansan, Dr. Kaye Monk-Morgan is the president and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC), an internationally recognized center of excellence for leadership development and civic engagement. She previously served as the inaugural chief impact officer. Her work fosters civic leadership for stronger, healthier, and more prosperous communities in Kansas and beyond. Service and education have been hallmarks of Monk-Morgan's personal and professional story for decades. Prior to her time at the KLC, Monk-Morgan dedicated her talents to higher education. Over 30 years, she served in roles ranging from residence hall director to Assistant Dean of Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and ultimately the Vice President for Strategic Engagement and Planning at Wichita State University. Her areas of responsibility varied over the years and included community and economic development, strategic planning, assessment and accreditation, and coordination of WSU's First-Generation student services. Her longest appointment was as director of the TRIO Upward Bound Math Science program. An active community servant, Monk-Morgan has served on non-profit and corporate boards at the local, state, regional and national levels. She currently serves as a board member for: NXTUS, a non-profit that catalyzes startup ecosystems, The African American Museum of Kansas; and Emprise Bank. She is a trustee for the Wichita Land Bank; and advisor to the Ulrich Museum at Wichita State University.Shaun Rojas, Senior Director of Civic EngagementAs Senior Director of Civic Engagement at the Kansas Leadership Center, Shaun oversees the organization's Civic Engagement Initiative tasked to equip Kansans in public life to build civic trust on the most pressing issues. Shaun works with the Civic Engagement Team to develop Tresources for those in elected and appointed office and partners with organizations who are facing a civic challenge. Starting at KLC as an intern in 2008, Shaun has been around the KLC block. Over the years, he has done everything from help support community leadership programs across the state to help Kansans have better conversations on divisive issues. Shaun's dedication to help communities engage in better civic dialogue goes well beyond his role at KLC. He is the founder of the Young Latino Professionals of Wichita – which helps raise the profile and equip young professionals with leadership skills – and was a previous board member for the Association of Leadership Programs. In 2014, Shaun was named as Young Professional of Year for Wichita Urban Professionals. In 2016, he was named to the City of Wichita's Citizen Review Board by the City Manager. Shaun also serves on the District Six Advisory Board for the City of Wichita. Press Coverage:Local Entreprenuership Pilot Programhttps://kansasleadershipcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Kauffman-Grant-Communities_FINAL.pdfHeartland Together Partnershiphttps://kansasleadershipcenter.org/kansas-leadership-center-launches-multi-state-listening-tour/ Resources:Kansas Leadership Center (KLC)https://kansasleadershipcenter.org/KLC's Civic Missionhttps://youtu.be/jcMEWtUXVPgHeartland Together Projecthttps://kansasleadershipcenter.org/heartland-together/ Mentioned in this Episode:Create Campaign, Inc.https://www.createcampaignks.com/about-usThe Journal: A Civic Issues Magazinehttps://klcjournal.com/When Everyone Leads, by Ed O'Malley and Julia Fabris McBridehttps://kansasleadershipcenter.org/when-everyone-leads/Network Kansashttps://www.networkkansas.com/Center on Rural Innovationhttps://ruralinnovation.us/Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundationhttps://www.kauffman.org/

Time to roll out some new Meet the Verdooners episodes to introduce y'all to the newest members of our team! In this episode, Kevin sits down with Maddie Bonney, our new Planner, and they discuss her personal motivations for pursuing a career in planning, including her desire to improve quality of life and promote self-sustaining economic development. She explains how her values align with Verdunity's focus on fiscal health and local wealth, and they discuss the relationship between the design of our neighborhoods and the mental health of the people living there.  

Moving communities beyond status quo is hard. Entrenched practices in zoning, transportation planning, and road design have created places that are unsafe, unhealthy, and inequitable for many, while others who have benefitted from these systems staunchly defend them. In this episode, “Plangineers” Andy Boenau and Kevin Shepherd discuss how their careers evolved from engineering to planning to advocates for change in their respective roles today. They discuss why radical changes to traditional planning and engineering approaches are needed in order to create more inclusive, sustainable, and thriving places. Andy explains the benefits of using storytelling to communicate and simplify concepts to inspire change, as well as how to use online platforms and targeted posts on social media to communicate and test ideas. If you're searching for language and tools to nudge your community forward, Andy is an excellent resource.Andy Boenau is a storyteller disguised as an urban planner that wants to help create happy, healthy communities where we can safely ride bikes at night in dark clothes. He is a filmmaker, photographer, writer, and podcaster. Andy is the founder of Speakeasy Media LLC where he teaches people how to create memorable stories and is the producer of the podcast, How We Get Around. He's also the author of the Substack blog Urbanism Speakeasy where he shares simple truths about city planning & transportation to help you promote healthy infrastructure. Boenau has won awards for three short films, a podcast, and one of his books. His contributions to the design industry have also been acknowledged by Engineering News-Record (Top 20 Under 40, 2016) and Style Weekly (Top 40 Under 40, 2016). Andy is currently working on an upcoming documentary called White Collar Epidemic: Infrastructure is Crumbling our Minds and Bodies.https://www.andyboenau.comhttps://speakeasy.substack.com/https://twitter.com/Boenauhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/boenau/https://seedandspark.com/fund/white-collar-epidemic#story 

There are a number of bills working their way through this year's session of the Texas Legislature that will impact cities' ability to guide development in a manner that ensures fiscal sustainability and affordability. Proposed bills address topics like: annexation/deannexation; prohibiting cities from requiring development value and infrastructure costs as a factor in development approvals; reducing the minimum lot size; and allowing accessory dwelling units by right. One side of the conversation centers on those who want to preserve personal property rights and are opposed to higher density development via smaller lots and units. From the local government side, city officials are concerned about losing the ability to guide what gets built and the impact it will have on their ability to provide services to current and future residents and businesses. Suffice to say these are very important discussions and decisions that will have significant impacts. This discussion is not limited to Texas, either. Numerous other states are having similar debates as pressure to address growing affordability and infrastructure costs increases at the state and local level.In this episode, Kevin talks with two city management officials about which bills concern them and the unintended consequences that could result if they're passed. Michael Kovacs, the City Manager of Fate, a fast growing suburb east of Dallas, and Tom Yantis, the Assistant City Manager of Taylor, a community outside Austin that recently landed one of the largest economic development deals in Texas with Samsung have been leaders in adjusting development processes to ensure their cities have the money they need to maintain quality services and infrastructure long-term while keeping housing and taxes affordable. Both cities received national awards for their Comprehensive Plans for embracing principles of fiscal sustainability. These two guys are extremely knowledgeable about how development impacts short and long-term costs and affordability, and how things “work” in Texas, so their input is worth listening to.Discussions in Austin are ongoing and votes will start happening very soon, so we wanted to get this episode out quickly so it can be shared to inform voters, lobbyists, and especially our representatives in Austin that are casting votes.-Don't forget to take part in our 2023 podcast survey!https://www.verdunity.com/2023survey

Rural communities are a focus for us here at Verdunity. In this episode, AJ interviews Julianna Dodson, Deputy Executive Director, and Radically Rural Director for the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship. Prior to her work with Hannah Grimes, she was primarily in the financial services industry (which according to her is a lot more vibrant and dynamic than one might imagine!) but has also taught English overseas, and runs her own small business on the side. Together they chat about how to transform these places for the better. You might be surprised to hear that rural communities face some of the same issues that bigger cities do – housing shortages, inability to find affordable child care – but they also face issues like the hollowing out of medical support systems that historically have been a part of the rural fabric. Julianna highlights how rural communities have attempted to recover from one financial crisis after the next and how they do that differently than cities.-If you have a spare minute, please take part in our 2023 podcast survey!https://www.verdunity.com/2023survey Press Coverage:Radically Rural 2023 Summithttps://www.radicallyrural.org/2023-summit/Radically Rural PitchFork Challengehttps://www.radicallyrural.org/pitchfork-challenge/The News Project – ‘Radically Rural'https://gnat-tv.org/the-news-project-radically-rural/Tight knit: Connection is critical for progress in rural entrepreneurial ecosystemshttps://www.kauffman.org/currents/connection-is-critical-rural-entrepreneurial-ecosystems/Radically Rural: Turning the Silver Tsunami into Goldhttps://dailyyonder.com/radically-rural-turning-the-silver-tsunami-into-gold/2020/01/06/In Little Keene, NH, Boosting Rural Economies and Entrepreneurshiphttps://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2019/08/22/in-little-keene-nh-boosting-rural-economies-and-entrepreneurship/?sh=455daadd7e98 Resources:Federal Resources for Rural Americahttps://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/community-strategies-group/rural-in-the-american-rescue-plan/The Rural Business Show, Episode 42: Radically Ruralhttps://www.ruralbusiness.com/episode-42-radically-rural/E&P Reports Vodcast, Episode 101: Focusing on Small-Town Americahttps://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-jmbbi-fde3064?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share2022 Radically Rural Summit Recaphttps://www.radicallyrural.org/2022-summit/Mentioned in This Episode:Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westoverhttps://bookshop.org/p/books/educated-a-memoir-tara-westover/15280731?ean=9780399590528

William Fulton is one of America's most established thought leaders in urban planning. From 2014 to 2022, he served as Director of Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Prior to moving to Houston, he served as Mayor of Ventura, CA and Director of Planning and Development for San Diego. He's the author of multiple papers and books, including his most recent book Place and Prosperity, which is the focus of this episode. Kevin and Bill discuss Bill's experience growing up in a factory town in New York, stepping into community planning and city leadership roles in California, and personal stories detailing how quality of life for he and his family has been impacted by the design of the different neighborhoods he's lived in. Bill makes the case that building great places is fundamental to cultivating prosperity, and better cities emerge when the people who shape them think more broadly and intentionally about the places they are creating.Some of the topics covered include:How Bill defines “enduring prosperity” and why this is a goal cities should all be striving forQuality of life is based in large extent on how we experience the places around usWhy we need to look beyond our own homes to fulfill ourselves on a daily basis, and how he's come to believe that “his town is his house”Examples from his experience growing up as a child in a pre-WW2 neighborhood in Upstate New York and as an adult seeking to get around without a car in Houston, and how mobility systems impact the look, safety, and development of citiesHow carsharing, Uber, scooters and e-bikes are supporting the transformation to more walkable citiesHow decisions get made in local government, and the importance of communication with community membersHow California's Prop 13 property tax cap legislation impacted municipal finances, what worked, and what didn'tThe role infill and redevelopment in economic development and community buildingThree pieces of advice Bill has for people currently leading cities or aspiring to serve on their city councilBe sure to complete our quick annual podcast survey for a chance to win $50 to Amazon! These submissions help us steer Go Cultivate! in the right direction so we can better provide the content you want to see.LINKSWilliam Fulton (LinkedIn)Place and Prosperity Book (Atlantic Press)Place and Prosperity Book Talk (YouTube)Rice University's Kinder Institute

Whether you're a long time follower of our Go Cultivate! podcast or just started listening, we'd love some feedback. This annual survey guides our team in creating content you actually want! As a thank you, all submissions will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card - winner will be announced in our May 2nd podcast episode!  Link: verdunity.com/2023survey  

Melissa Milton-Pung is a Policy Research Labs program manager at the Michigan Municipal League. As a Federally-qualified architectural historian, her expertise is in place-based economic development initiatives, historic rehabilitation, and heritage tourism. She holds a BA in Public History from Western Michigan University and a Master of Historic Preservation from the University of Kentucky College of Architecture, where her research created the Commonwealth's first historic property tax credit. Melissa is also adjunct faculty in Historic Preservation at Eastern Michigan University and a past president of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN).Prior to joining the League in 2017, Melissa spent more than a decade as economic development & historic preservation project manager for Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor), and worked in cultural resource consulting.It's not enough to hope for better neighborhoods. Meaningful policy needs to be enacted to make better places possible. Melissa Milton-Pung and the Michigan Municipal League have been working to give advocates the tools they need to push for zoning and housing reform in Michigan. But the lessons they provide can be applied across the country.This particular episode covered a large number of fascinating articles and resources. Check them out below.Press Coverage:Plan by MML and MEDC could bring more housing options to communities quickerhttps://www.macombdaily.com/2022/10/15/plan-by-mml-and-medc-could-bring-more-housing-options-to-communities-quicker/September 22, 2022 Press Conference https://www.facebook.com/MMLeague/videos/758557258540932New partnership draws inspiration from catalog and kit homes to shore up state housing stockhttps://www.secondwavemedia.com/rural-innovation-exchange/devnews/Pattern-Book-Homes-22.aspxHousing experts lay out plan to encourage more infill housing across Michiganhttps://mibiz.com/sections/real-estate-development/housing-experts-lay-out-plan-to-encourage-more-infill-housing-across-michiganCNU Teams with Michigan Leaders on New Guide to Code Reformhttps://www.cnu.org/news/cnu-teams-michigan-leaders-new-guide-code-reformResources:Pattern Book Homes https://www.mml.org/pattern-book-homes/Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company by Katherine Cole Stevenson and H Ward Jandl, 1995https://bookshop.org/p/books/houses-by-mail-a-guide-to-houses-from-sears-roebuck-and-company-katherine-cole-stevenson/7295788?ean=9780471143949America's Favorite Homes: Mail-Order Catalogues as a Guide to Popular Early 20th-Century Houses (ISBN: 0814320066) 1990United Way - The ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Projecthttps://www.uwmich.org/alice-reportThe Project for Code Reform (CNU)https://www.cnu.org/our-projects/project-code-reformEnabling Better Places: Users' Guide to Zoning Reformhttps://www.cnu.org/sites/default/files/PCR-9-15-18.pdfMichigan Statewide Housing Plan https://www.michigan.gov/mshda/developers/statewide-housing-planMichigan Association of Planning Zoning Reform Toolkit https://www.planningmi.org/zoning-reform-for-housingMichigan Association of Planninghttps://www.planningmi.org/Housing Michigan Coalition https://housingmichigan.weebly.com/RSMeans - Construction Cost Estimating Softwarehttps://www.rsmeans.com/

Fiscal policy, municipal finance, thoughtful budgeting, and infrastructure maintenance. If you ever wanted to know where and why your city's money gets spent, you'll want to hear this. Mark Funkhouser, former mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, with decades of experience in municipal finance, and Liz Farmer, a writer, thinker, and consultant on policy and budgeting, are two of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to local finance. They present us with some really tangible options for getting more out of those in this episode and explore how the systems we have built are fragile, like we've seen in places like Pittsburgh and even in a place like Texas that is ostensibly booming.There's a lot more. Don't miss it.Some things to check out after the episode:Mark's 2015 Governing article about Infrastructure vs. Pensions: https://www.governing.com/gov-institute/on-leadership/gov-fiscal-issue-that-matters-most-infrastructure-pensions.htmlLiz Farmer's Substack article on 5 things she's learned after a decade of reporting on municipal bankruptcy:https://lizfarmer.substack.com/p/5-things-ive-learned-after-a-decade?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=560793&post_id=96315141&isFreemail=false&utm_medium=emailVolcker Alliance Paper: https://www.volckeralliance.org/resources/sustainable-state-and-local-budgeting-and-borrowing-0BOOKSDignity by Chris ArnadeBonds of Inequality by Justin JenkinsStill Broke by Rick WartzmannStrong Towns by Charles MarohnThink Again by Adam GrantContact Mark or Lizmark@mayorfunk.comWebsite: mayorfunk.comTwitter: @mayorfunkliz@majorfunk.comSubstack: Long Story ShortTwitter: @LizFarmerTweets 

We're kicking off 2023 with an interview with Mara Mintzer, a co-founder and the Executive Director of Growing Up Boulder, an initiative to engage with city children and youth and offer them opportunities to affect change within their community. In 2017, Mara hosted a TEDx talk on including young people in city planning—which has amassed nearly 2 million views—and she recently co-authored the book, "Placemaking with Children and Youth: Participatory Practices for Planning Sustainable Communities". In this episode, we discuss Mara's mission and inspiration, young people's natural ability for intuitive and smart city design, and the connection between the inclusion of children in community building with the residents they'll become in the future as adults."Placemaking with Children and Youth" bookGrowing Up BoulderGUB's Child-Friendly City Map "How kids can help design cities" TEDx talk"The Nature of Cities" documentary trailer 

Kevin Shepherd, the founder and CEO of Verdunity is here to talk about where the company has been, where it might be going in the future, and what gifts your city-focused friends might enjoy. Spoiler alert: he loves books. Kevin is an engineer, but as is usually pretty obvious, not your typical engineer, and its interesting to hear from him some of the struggles he has faced trying to communicate a message of fiscal responsibility to sometimes very resistant parties. This episode rounds out our Meet the Verdooners mini-series. We hope you've enjoyed getting to know a little more about our team!

Episode 5 of “Meet the Verdooners” introduces us to AJ Fawver, who leads Verdunity's Community Consulting Program. In this episode we learn what initially brought AJ into the planning world and what element of community building she is most concerned about. AJ is a firm believer that we serve communities best when we remember that people are at the center of everything we do, and she greatly admires communities that are willing to have difficult conversations in order to effect positive change in their cities. After the episode make sure to check out AJ's book recommendations:The Local Economy Solution by Michael ShumanPlacemaking with Children and Youth by Victoria Derr, Louise Chawla, and Mara MintzerAs well as “We Built it That Way”, a podcast she co-hosts with Jordan Clark.

Tim Wright's work spans the gamut from missing middle housing to incremental development and infrastructure right-sizing. He has been an engineer on the kinds of projects that can transform a place into a more sustainable, connected community. Hailing from the great state of Louisiana (Shreveport to be exact) and proudly lacking on sleep (as he's a brand new dad), Tim is an integral part of the team here at Verdunity. Tim is also the founder of Re:Form Shreveport, an organization that is working to improve the city of Shreveport by fostering deep community connections and volunteerism, locally.

Mari Austin is Verdunity's Process and Communications Coordinator. Her work is too varied to adequately explain in a podcast blurb – but it ranges from process improvement to multimedia production (including this very podcast), to fostering a positive and forward-looking company culture here in-house. Mari comes from outside the world of municipal planning and engineering, and thus brings a unique perspective to our team. But it's clear in this episode how much Mari brings to the work that we do here; her personal experience living in underserved communities and looking up at the systemic apathy that can often oversee the communities we live in is critical to the conversations we have. Enjoy!

Episode 2 of "Meet the Verdooners is back with Karina Castillo, a planner here at Verdunity. If you are a young planner, ready to go out and change the world, there is some interesting backstory you might enjoy from Karina. There are some real gems of knowledge here when it comes to trying to get good work done – who really makes the big decisions in your community, and are those the same people who are most qualified to solve the issues in front of them?

We are heading into this holiday season with a little series of episodes called "Meet the Verdooners. You'll get to hear from each of our team members and get a little background on them and what makes them tick. This first episode introduces Marshall Hines, our Creative Director and the person responsible for helping us communicate this message of fiscal responsibility in the most compelling and understandable way possible. After the episode be sure to check out the books Marshall recommended:Increments of the Neighborhood Brian O'LooneyVisualizing Density Julie Campoli and Alex S. MacLean

Ryan Short is the CEO of CivicBrand, a firm that blends together branding, communications, and direct engagement with communities. As we think about the kinds of places we want our cities to grow into and be in the future, it's important to directly connect with members of the community to help identify and then take ownership of a place. CivicBrand is right at the place where those things converge. If you are interested in how to get your community more engaged in discussions both large and small, this episode is right for you.  There is also some really interesting discussion about communicating in a meaningful way in the time of COVID, and work-from-home in this episode. Take a listen and let us know what you think.Links:Eyes On the Street Podcast – https://www.civicbrand.com/insights/podcastCivicBrand Website – https://www.civicbrand.com

How sustainable is any system which requires the agreement and buy-in of those with the deepest pockets and largest portfolios to be successful? Can many small players create the same value in a place that the big guys do? This week's guests will tell you that the former simply isn't sustainable, and not only is the latter, but it also creates more lasting value for the community. Monte Anderson and Mike Keen are working in two different places (South Dallas and South Bend, Indiana). Still, they are working to create incremental wealth in the communities where they live, and as you will hear, both of them have been successful at this bottom-up approach to development.The discussion on this week's podcast covers topics like financing these small projects and how imperative it is that common sense and effective land use entitlements are to the success of these small, locally-led projects.About Mike KeenMike Keen is a Managing Partner with Hometowne Development LLC, and President of The Bakery Group LLC.  A LEED-AP with two decades experience as a sustainability professional, he spent 30 years as a professor of sociology and sustainability studies at Indiana University South Bend.   As Managing Partner of Hometowne Development for the last six years, Mike has taken the lead role in the development of Portage Midtown, a sustainable neighborhood demonstration infill project located in South Bend, Indiana.  He is also the facilitator of the Michiana Town Makers ecosystem, an informal network of small scale developers, design professionals, finance officers, real estate agents, property managers, contractors, neighbors, and municipal officials dedicated to helping to create wealth in neighborhoods for neighborhoods. A social entrepreneur, Mike is trained in The Natural Step's Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development.  He offers seminars, workshops and consulting services to developers, municipalities, and not-for-profits wishing integrate sustainability and/or incremental development into their localities.About Monte AndersonSince 1984, Monte has been improving the living and working environments in Texas' southern Dallas and northern Ellis counties. He's an outspoken man who cares about people, and he is an advocate for policies and practices that serve urban neighborhoods.Items to check out after the podcast:A New Generation of Town Makers – Strong TownsCounting the Impact of Incremental Development – Public SquareThe City Owned by Locals – Reasons to be CheerfulOne Dallas Developer's Secret: Bigger Isn't Always Better – D MagazineTyler StationGrow Desoto MarketplaceWheatland Plaza

Kent Cagle has been a city manager in Texas for over 20 years, and has worked in local government in Texas for nearly 35. He has worked in cities that are growing rapidly, and ones that are built out and having to determine how they can balance a budget with limited resources. He is the current city manager in Killeen, Texas and oversaw the city's recent Comprehensive Planning effort. Kent shares a great deal of knowledge on how he has navigated the changing landscape of local government and provides some useful insight on how to actually get things done. Hint: he's very pragmatic about it all. In this episode:City of Killeen – 2022 Comprehensive PlanKent Cagle – City ManagerContact KentMonte AndersonCity of LeanderCity of DuncanvilleCity of CarrolltonCity of Plano  

If just about anyone tells you that they totally understand zoning codes, they are probably lying to you. Well, unless they are today's guest. Sara Bronin is a Mexican-American architect, attorney, and policymaker specializing in property, land use, historic preservation, and climate change.  She's a professor of planning and law at Cornell University, and she was recently nominated by President Biden to Chair the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, pending Senate confirmation.  She founded and directs the National Zoning Atlas, a tool that aims to depict critical aspects of zoning codes nationwide in an online, user-friendly map. If there is one thing we love discussing here at Verdunity, it's zoning and how it can be improved. You won't want to miss this episode.Links to things discussed in this episode:Cornell Chronicle 5/17/22 National Zoning Atlas launched to make America's patchwork of codes accessible and comprehensibleNational Zoning Atlas websiteBloomberg, 2/2/22 Why the U.S. Needs a National Zoning AtlasStrong Towns, 3/30/22 Is It Time for a National Zoning Atlas?Connecticut Public Radio/WNPR, 1/28/21, Report: The Vast Majority of Connecticut Zoning Blocks Affordable HousingThe Connecticut Mirror, 1/28/21, Data suggests dozens of towns are violating CT Supreme Court decision on exclusionary zoningThe Connecticut Mirror, 2/3/21, The Zoning ATlas – an important resource as Connecticut rethinks housing policiesHartford Courant, 1/27/21, New zoning map shows how hard it is to build multifamily housing in Connecticut; most of state is restricted to single-family homeshttps://parkingreform.org/resources/mandates-map/The Day, 1/31/21, Study: Connecticut zoning regulations restrict expansion of affordable housingSara Bronin - audio/print/video worksDesegregate Connecticut websiteEnergy Policy Now podcast: Zoning Rules Stifle Urban Clean Energy. Can The Rules Be Rewritten?Courier Journal, 6/9/20, Opinion: In fight for justice, zoning laws that exclude low-income people must be changedPBS Newshour, Roads to RecoveryNext City, 6/10/22, New Digital Atlas Hopes to Demystify Urban ZoningGoverning, 6/19/22, Project Highlights Relationship Between Zoning and Affordable Housing

Incremental improvement is a key element to the success of any place. The biggest projects, developments, and infrastructure also come with the biggest collection of dangers and places that something can go wrong. Starting from the bottom and working to solve an immediate need in the most effective way possible can also solve big problems over time, we just need to embrace that way of thinking. Kevin and Colleen Askew discuss just this (and more). 

Jason Duff is the Founder of Small Nation which encompasses a group of companies, leaders, and investors who develop places, spaces, and dreams for small towns and small-town entrepreneurs across the county.  Jason and his team at Small Nation have completely revitalized the town of Bellefontaine, Ohio.  In 10 short years, they have turned a dying town around and helped make it a Best-in-State destination. If you want some serious inspiration for how your downtown can be enlivened with passion and hard work, this is a must-listen. Mentioned in This Episode:About Jason & Small Nation:https://smallnationstrong.com/Jason's Work:Downtown Proponent Breathes Life Into One Small Town, Hopes to Repeat Feathttps://ddc.downtowndevelopment.com/2022/03/01/downtown-proponent-breathes-life-into-one-small-town-hopes-to-repeat-feat-2/?doing_wp_cron=1647274596.8421850204467773437500BG Leaders Look at Bellefontaine's ‘Hustle Hard' Approach Used to Rescue that Downtownhttp://bgindependentmedia.org/bg-leaders-look-at-bellefontaines-hustle-hard-approach-to-rescue-that-downtown/Bellefontaine - The Resuscitation of a Dying Small Townhttps://smallnationstrong.com/case_study/bellefontaine/Articles by Jason:The Best Entrepreneurs Spend Less Time Marketing And More Time Building Social Media Engagementhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/09/13/the-best-entrepreneurs-spend-less-time-marketing-and-more-time-building-social-media-engagement/?sh=19dd88f76e2cOther Resources:Incremental Development Alliancehttps://www.incrementaldevelopment.org/Building Small: A Toolkit for Real Estate Entrepreneurs, Civic Leaders, and Great Communities, by Jim Heidhttps://www.jheid.com/small/How to Get Started as a Small-Scale Developer https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/11/1/how-to-be-a-small-scale-developerSeeing Smallhttps://www.mainstreet.org/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDocumentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=e921d7c8-92fe-b822-1975-1254a2f6ee61&forceDialog=04 Tested Techniques to Catalyze Small Town Redevelopmenthttps://meetingoftheminds.org/4-tested-techniques-to-catalyze-small-town-redevelopment-27017A Common-Sense Approach to Reinvigorating Small-Town Americahttps://www.ruralbusiness.com/a-common-sense-approach-to-reinvigorating-small-town-america/

Andrew Kleine is the author of "City On the Line" and is working tirelessly toward a future in which municipal budgeting produces the results that leaders are looking for. Shayne Kavanagh, the Senior Manager of Research for the Government Finance Officers Association, has spent his career looking at how government policy interacts with the fiscal health of the places in which he works.To some, municipal budgeting is a black box, but today's conversation aims to make this sometimes-confusing topic a little more transparent. Can the budgeting process be communicated to the public in a way that actually helps them understand and be a part of the process? The answer is yes. Kevin, Shayne, and Andrew look seriously at how we can we take a data-first approach to planning for the future and come up with ways for our budgets to actually produce meaningful results in our communities.Lots of great content to check out after you listen to this episode:https://www.gfoa.org/rethinking-budgetinghttps://bloombergcities.jhu.edu/category/budgeting-equitySome books worth checking out:City on the Line by Andrew KleineTrying Hard is Not Good Enough by Mark FriedmanThe Price of Government by David Osborne and Peter HutchinsonThe Art of Explanation by Lee LeFeverData Story by Nancy DuarteBack of the Napkin by Dan Roam

Have you ever heard the phrase "affordable housing" used by 5 different people,  but it seems like every one of them is talking about something slightly different? This episode will help shed some light on this sometimes confusing, always complex subject. AJ and Deborah go deep and we are here for it.Lots of great content to check out after you listen to this episode:Deborah's Business: https://dmyersonconsulting.com/Mentioned in This Episode:How Did They Do It? Discovering New Opportunities for Affordable Housinghttps://dmyersonconsulting.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/how-did-they-do-it-jan-2017.pdfFew American Cities are Truly Dense. We Can Do Better.https://www.governing.com/community/few-american-cities-are-truly-dense-we-can-do-betterPublic Meetings Thwart Housing Reform Where it is Needed Mosthttps://www.governing.com/now/public-meetings-thwart-housing-reform-where-it-is-needed-mostSome of Deborah's Work:Invisible Neighbors: How To Include People Left Out of B-town's Neighborhoods https://limestonepostmagazine.com/invisible-neighbors-left-out-of-neighborhoods/Best in American Living (Blog)https://bestinamericanliving.com/?s=deborah+myersonProspects for New Housing Cooperatives: Feasibility Study for Housing Cooperatives in the Northern Rockieshttps://dmyersonconsulting.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/prospects-for-new-housing-cooperatives-executive-summary-1.pdfMultifamily Housing Development: Ten Case Studies of Innovative Projectshttps://uli.bookstore.ipgbook.com/multifamily-housing-development--ten-case-studies-of-innovative-projects-products-9780874203868.phpOther Relevant Tools and Articles:Are We Doing This Right: Granny Flats Editionhttps://www.verdunity.com/podcast/episode-37The Affordable City: Strategies for Putting Housing Within Reach (and Keeping it There) by Shane Phillipshttps://islandpress.org/books/affordable-citySupportive Housing: A Community Solutionhttps://www.csh.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/BeyondNIMBYpdf.pdfThe Radical Way Cities are Tackling Affordable Housinghttps://www.fastcompany.com/90618596/the-radical-way-cities-are-tackling-affordable-housingLocal Tools to Address Housing Affordability: A State-By-State Analysishttps://www.nlc.org/resource/local-tools-to-address-housing-affordability-a-state-by-state-analysis/Cooperatively Owned Builder Sees Affordable Housing, Climate Action in ‘Granny Flats'https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/cooperatively-owned-builder-sees-affordable-housing-climate-action-in-grann

In the heart of San Antonio, Texas lies 2.2 miles of 7-lane stroad that connects to I-35.Originally part of a state owned loop, the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) approved a transfer of ownership to the City of San Antonio in late 2014. Since then, the City has undertaken a public engagement process to determine how best to adjust this road to better suit its citizens.Leaders in San Antonio are proposing to reduce travel lanes to two in each direction and add protected bike lanes, widen sidewalks, and plant street trees to make the thoroughfare accessible to all types of traffic. But the state has decided that is unacceptable, and in January rescinded the transfer on the grounds that an official Project Acceptance letter was never issued. The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott has opposed similar Road Diets in Austin, and has referred to these types of projects as a "war on cars".Kevin, and Kea explore this back and forth between the state and local leaders and discuss reasons why there is such a disparity between what direction is being given from the top-down, and the push for reform from the bottom-up. Links:TxDOT votes to take control of Broadway, short-circuiting city's redevelopment plansState moves to take back Broadway and stop city's redevelopment projectLower Broadway Transformed: What's Coming and on the Drawing BoardTxDOT Ends Program That Converts Paved Roads to Gravel | The Texas Tribune 

What makes a great downtown? What do we sometimes miss that can influence the way new visitors feel about our downtown? AJ interviews Catherine Sak, Executive Director of Texas Downtown to get the answers to these questions.If you care about your downtown, or are just a lover of downtowns generally this episode is for you. Catherine and AJ get into when you need to drop Truth Grenades on the members of your community who aren't helping your downtown to be as successful as it can be, and how important a downtown is to your sales tax revenue. There's also some interesting discussion about small commercial districts in neighborhoods and how those places are deserving of our time and attention.Links:Texas Downtown website: https://www.texasdowntown.org/The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities: 2020 Summary: https://downtown.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/IDAVODT20_Compendium_2020_ExecSum_021921.pdf.pdf?utm_source=ida&utm_medium=publication&utm_campaign=buttonKey Elements of Successful Downtowns: https://ced.sog.unc.edu/2019/01/key-elements-of-successful-downtowns/Here's What *Not* to Do to Your Small-Town Main Street: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/12/2/heres-what-not-to-do-to-your-small-town-main-streetMain Street America - Resources: https://www.mainstreet.org/howwecanhelp/resourcecenter/webinarseriesRecast Your City: How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdnIvp9Udv0The Heart of the City: Creating Vibrant Downtowns for a New Century by Alexander GarvinResilient Downtowns: A New Approach to Revitalizing Small- and Medium-City Downtowns by Michael A. Burayidi

In this first Podcast of the year Kevin takes an introspective look look back at Verdunity's last year and gives a preview of what we expect to be up to in 2022. Listen in to Kevin giving some thought toWhat prosperity is.How we are building cities we can't afford to live in or maintain.How clear it's becoming that there is hope at the neighborhood level.As we look forward to 2022 we hope you will join us for some upcoming workshops we will be holding around the state of Texas. Stay tuned, chances are we will be coming somewhere near you!Items mentioned in the podcast:Podcast SurveyEpisode 23 – Co-creating the city you want to live in, with Ben Orcutt"Buckle Up, Baby" – with Chuck MarohnFiscally Informed Planning - with the City of Taylor, TexasBuilding community wealth with Monte AndersonEpisode 28 – A small city does the math on new development

Does your community say it values fiscal responsibility but continue to make development decisions that increase infrastructure and service liabilities without a plan to pay for them in the future? If so, a fiscally-informed comprehensive plan process like the one Verdunity helped Taylor, Texas prepare might be beneficial. Taylor is a small town in Central Texas who's heyday came and went in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Originally a major hub for commerce in Williamson County, Taylor stagnated due to a number of factors including having I-35 routed significantly west of town bypassing the community entirely. Now in the early part of the 21st century Taylor is poised for major growth as more people move outside of Austin. Major employers have taken notice – Samsung has just inked a deal for the single largest silicon chip manufacturing facility in the US to be built at the edge of Taylor. Having just completed the first major rewrite of their comprehensive plan in 20 years Mayor Brandt Rydell and Assistant City Manager Tom Yantis discuss why the city wanted financial resilience to be at the center of their planning process, the role Verdunity's fiscal analysis played in informing decisions and building alignment in the community, and why it's important to have these conversations in your community before you jump into investing valuable time and dollars into code updates or capital improvement projects.  Envision Taylor Comprehensive Plan (PDF)  Envision Taylor Comp Plan Promotional Video (5 big ideas)Samsung to Choose Taylor, Texas, for $17 Billion Chip-Making Factory - WSJ

The Go Cultivate! podcast is back! In this episode Kevin introduces Marshall Hines who will be helping out with episodes going forward and they talk about what to expect from us in the future. Chuck Marohn (of Strong Towns) and Kevin Shepherd (of Verdunity) discuss how they came to engineering in the first place, what led them to discover some problems in the profession, and their divergent paths to solving them. It turns out to be a critical conversation between two engineers recovering from the dogma of their chosen career with thoughtful advice for the rest of us. You'll also hear how Chuck and Kevin think about Bottom Up action applies to larger infrastructure projects and planning efforts. Items mentioned in the podcast:Confessions of a Recovering EngineerStrong TownsCareers at VerdunityEpisode 47 – Chuck Marohn and the Revolution We NeedEpisode 10 – Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns

Andrew Kleine is the Former Chief Administrative Officer for Montgomery County, MD, and before that, he was the budget director for the City of Baltimore. He’s the author of one of our favorite books, City on the Line: How Baltimore Transformed Its Budget to Beat the Great Recession and Deliver Outcomes. He describes the city's implementation of outcome-based budgeting during his time there. It’s an excellent resource for any city looking to implement an outcome budgeting approach.Learn more about Andrew (or get in touch with him): @awkleine on Twitter / andrew@andrewkleine.com / cityontheline.comMentioned in the show:A Playbook for Reducing Police Budgets and Investing in Equity – Andrew's recent op-ed in NextCity--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!(This episode features music from No Future, Tours, and Custodian of Records.)

2020 is almost over, and it's time for our annual assessment of how we're doing and what we want to focus on in the upcoming year. In this short update, Kevin and AJ talk about Verdunity's commitment to serving our listeners, followers, and partners and how we use listener feedback to inform what we write and talk about. To help us make the podcast and other content as relevant and helpful as possible, we're asking our friends and followers to complete a quick survey. Click HERE to let us know what podcast episodes and blogs were your favorites, what your biggest challenges are, and what information and topics you'd like us to cover in upcoming episodes!https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Verdunity-GoCultivate2020Thank you for listening to the Go Cultivate! podcast. We look forward to continuing to share content to help you cultivate meaningful improvement in yourself, your neighborhood, and your community!--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Kevin speaks with Jim Proce, City Manager for the City of Anna, Texas, about a pressing issue many cities are facing: the struggle to find the money needed to maintain and replace streets and other infrastructure built back in their growth years. Also discussed in this episode:The difference between street maintenance and replacement, and how they're each typically fundedHow cities typically prioritize maintenance and CIP projectsHow Jim is approaching his job in a city that is in the midst of its fast-growth phaseTo see some of Jim's CIP process mentioned in the show, follow this link.Find  Jim on LinkedIn--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Future, Jim Croce, and Custodian of Records.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-76

In this installment of the 'Are We Doing This Right?' series, we take on the humble sidewalk. We packed a lot into this episode, including:How the use of the street right-of-way has changed over timeWho “pedestrian infrastructure” is really forThe common use of the term “pedestrian” and its implicationsThe bizarre ways sidewalks get paid for (and who that impacts most)The recent resurgence in walking awarenessElements of successful sidewalksScoring streets for their sidewalk qualityHow shared space eliminates the need for the sidewalkAnd of course, we answer the question, “Are we doing this right?”Want to do some further research on the topic? Head on over to the show page for this episode to find a list of resources we found helpful in compiling this show.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Future, Freddie Kepperd, Peter Grudzien, Dionne Warwick, and Jellybean.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-75

In this episode, Kevin is joined by a trio of folks from Smart Growth America: Vice President for Economic Development Chris Zimmerman, Deputy Director of Economic Development Jeri Mintzer, and visiting Director of Research Michael Rodriguez. We discuss Smart Growth America's fiscal sustainability research and its implications for communities of all sizes, as well as some things the group would like to see all levels of government doing differently to build a stronger foundation for the communities of tomorrow. --The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money and Custodian of Records.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-74

Kevin sits down with John Lettelleir, Director of Development Services for the City of Frisco, Texas. John has been with the City of Frisco since 1998, when the population was around 25,000, and has seen it grow to more than 200,000 residents. John brings a unique perspective on planning for and managing fast population growth in North Texas. Kevin and John discuss the recent repeal of the Plano Tomorrow comprehensive plan and the impact it may have on planning in North Texas in the coming years. They also talk about the challenges that come with managing growth, the long-term fiscal impacts of growth, and  advice for leaders in other cities who find themselves in similar situations.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money and Custodian of Records.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-73

Noel Bernal and Helen Ramirez, are the city manager and assistant city manager (respectively) for the City of Brownsville, Texas. In this wide-ranging interview, they discuss some of the ways they're using the lens of fiscal sustainability to guide investments, prioritize infrastructure projects, and make land use decisions. (Last year, Verdunity conducted a land use fiscal analysis for Brownsville, which was used as the launch point for a more intentional budgeting process, the creation of a new Unified Development Code, and investment in revitalization of their historic downtown.)Noel and Helen also give some insights on building an effective and unified leadership team. --The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, Tours, and Custodian of Records.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-72

This time on our ‘Are We Doing This Right?’ series, we take a look at the local budgeting process. Here’s what you can expect from this episode:A quick rundown of common presumptionsAn overview of the way budgeting processes work in most towns and citiesA discussion of the “seven deadly sins” of public finance (as told by friend of the show Liz Farmer), Some of the most common criticisms of city budgeting processes and outcomesA bit of perspective from AJ on what budgeting processes actually look like from inside a local government A snapshot of some popular types of budgeting approaches that are out there (from line-item, to zero-based, to participatory, to outcome-based, and everything in between)A list of best practices for creating a truly accessible budgeting process, plus examples of cities that have taken big steps in this directionA final discussion about budgets as exercises in making choicesAnd, of course, we answer the titular question—are we doing this right?Want to do some further research on the topic? Head on over to the show page for this episode to find a list of resources we found helpful in compiling this show.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, Custodian of Records, Scott Joplin, and The Kinks.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-71

In this episode, Kevin speaks with Kennedy Smith, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), about strategies that city leaders can use to help local businesses weather the pandemic—and the post-pandemic world. Kennedy has just authored a report titled 'Safeguarding Small Business During the Pandemic: 26 Strategies for Local Leaders.'The 26 actions outlined are grouped into three main priority areas that address immediate, short-term, and longer-term actions to guide community leaders:First: Provide quick relief to keep businesses afloatNext: Help businesses adapt and pivotLater: Fix systemic problems that the pandemic has laid bareWe're big fans of ILSR, and we encourage you to check out the rest of their work as well!--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, Custodian of Records, and Petula Clark.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-10

In this episode, Kevin speaks with Becky Gray, Director of Housing for Chaffee County, CO, to discuss the County's early efforts to build a more resilient regional housing system.  We follow up on their work since the County hosted Kevin and Monte Anderson for a workshop last year. Curious about the original radio show discussed in this episode, featuring Kevin and Monte? We aired it as a podcast episode last year. Note from your producer: The audio quality in this episode is not quite what it usually is! We had an issue with the normal recording and had to fall back on the recording of the video call (which we're very glad we had). We think this episode is still definitely worth listening to, despite it all! --The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, Custodian of Records, and Isaac Horwedel.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-69

Our friends at Strong Towns have put out a new resource for folks in local government called The Local Leader's Toolkit: A Strong Towns Response to the Pandemic. Jordan speaks with Rachel Quednau of Strong Towns and then with Verdunity's AJ Fawver to discuss some of its key points.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money and Custodian of Records.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-68

For this month’s edition of ‘Are We Doing This Right?’, we’re turning our attention to the comprehensive plan. There’s a lot to talk about, including:History! Where did comp plans come from?How to know when your city’s comprehensive plan is outdated (or even harmful)An alternative vision for what comprehensive plans could be… from all the way back in 1967Why some comprehensive plans just sit on the shelf gathering dustWhat it means for comprehensive plans to “fail”—and what causes failure (from AJ’s experience)Some examples of comprehensive plans we like, for one reason or anotherAre comprehensive plans really necessary?Best practices for comprehensive plansWant to do some further research on the topic? Head on over to the show page for this episode to find a list of resources we found helpful in compiling this show.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money; Custodian of Records; and Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, & Emmylou Harris.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-67

In this episode we’re joined by Shari Davis, Executive Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project, and Derrick Braziel, co-founder and Development Director of MORTAR Cincinnati.On today’s show, we follow the money. We discuss public budgeting processes, the moral weight of budget decisions, and the opportunities we have to make these documents “living, breathing reflections of community need and community-driven investment.” Participatory budgeting (PB) is a process by which all people in a community can play a role in shaping the kinds of projects their governments spend money on. We discuss what this means in general, and what role PB plays in rethinking public safety and economic development. We also discuss the reality for many Americans—especially in communities of color—who have a business idea but lack the connections to necessary tools and resources to get off the ground. Derrick started MORTAR to help people from marginalized groups get the training and resources to start and grow their own businesses. In addition to the programs MORTAR runs, Derrick discusses some of the policies they pushed for locally that have helped ensure the viability of the Cincinnati's Black-owned businesses.In addition to this background, we discuss:Some of the biggest barriers to challenging the status quo in city governmentsTrust and mistrust in local governmentFighting for systemic change while also experiencing traumaHow COVID-19 and the growing movement for Black lives have affected the ways Derrick and Shari are thinking about their work—and what’s possibleThe importance of narrative shift when conditions shift—and the importance of sharing stories that seldom get toldWhat we mean by “safety”—and who we’ve too often left out of the discussionInvesting in the broader ecosystem of social justiceHow PB is a tool to build the infrastructure for what reinvestment in community looks likeWhose talent we’ve historically been leaving off the field in our communities—and what the implications are for today’s recovery effortsThe challenges associated with discussing changes to policing and first responseHow we might make society more democratic and participatory as a wholeKey takeaways for local government leadersBook recommendations! (See below)Links to things mentioned in this show:‘Represent’ initiative in CincinnatiEngagement Strategy, by adrienne maree brownThe Alchemist, by Paulo CoelhoExcuse Me, Your Life is Waiting, by Lynn GrabhornParable of the Sower, by Octavia ButlerUnapologetic, by Charlene CarruthersThe Source of Self-Regard, by Toni Morrison--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money & Custodian of Records)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-66

Today’s episode features a conversation with Bennett Sandlin, the Executive Director of Texas Municipal League. We talk about:what a Municipal League is and what they do;the ongoing dialogue between local governments and state officials in Texas about resource gaps, property tax caps, and annexation;how COVID-19 has had an impact on city budgets;ways TML is available to help all of their member cities, including the many small, rural communities throughout the state; what to expect at TML’s annual convention coming up (tentatively) this October in Grapevine, TX.--Want to take advantage of our COVID-19 discounts? Head over to verdunity.com/covid for more information on our assessments, fiscal analysis, and workshops.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money and Custodian of Records.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-64

Quint Studer is the author of Building a Vibrant Community, which we discuss in this episode.  His most recent book, The Busy Leader’s Handbook, became a Wall Street Journal bestseller. He is the founder of Studer Community Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida. He is also the founder of Vibrant Community Partners, which coaches communities in building out a blueprint for achieving growth and excellence. Quint speaks and works with communities across the country, helping them execute on their strategic plans, create a better quality of life, and attract and retain talent and investment.Quint also talks about four areas he feels are critical to building communities that thrive, some of his takeaways from his community work, and why small and midsize communities have a great opportunity to lure talent away from the big cities.Check out:Vibrant Community BlueprintThe Busy Leader's HandbookPensacola Metro Dashboard (Studer Community Institute)--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money and Custodian of Records.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-63

Most cities lack the resources to keep up with infrastructure and service demands, yet daily decisions continue to prioritize growth and short-term wins over long-term costs and impacts.If you’re in local government and are looking for ways to get more out of your existing resources—while building community trust and making immediate progress—we've been working on something we think will help you do just that.We’re hosting a free, 10-part training webinar series called Emerge Stronger, where we're walking through the process we use to help city leaders align vision, policies, and investments with what citizens are willing and able to pay for. These interactive webinars are taking place every other Friday through September.If you missed the first webinar (hosted May 22), where we talked about how you can assess the plans and other tools that your city already has at its disposal, you can still watch that one here. The next webinar will take place on Friday, June 5, at 1:30pm Central. Register here! In this one, we'll talk about how you can assess and maximize the various resources your community has available. In particular:How to use land use fiscal analysis to quantify the costs and revenue productivity of your city’s land, buildings, and infrastructure—and how it can be used to align your city’s development pattern and service model with what residents are willing and able to pay forHow to align and inspire your existing staff to maximize engagement and achievement of priority outcomesHow to identify and tap into other partners in the community such as school districts, philanthropic groups, local businesses, and other “implementers”--Want to take advantage of our COVID-19 discounts? Head over to verdunity.com/covid for more information on our assessments, fiscal analysis, and workshops.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(Music in this episode is from Custodian of Records)

In this episode, Kevin chats with Patrick Lawler and Chad Janicek, the co-founders of ZacTax, an online sales and hotel tax analysis platform for local governments. Before making the jump to ZacTax full-time, Patrick and Chad both worked in local government, most recently as City Manager and ACM for Hudson Oaks, TX. They share our passion for helping communities move toward a more sustainable development and operations model, and using data to inform decisions. We talk about what led them to create the early version of ZacTax while they were working at the city, how the software has evolved, and what their data is showing about the impact of COVID-19 on city finances. --The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, Custodian of Records, and Harlem Hamfats.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-62

LeVette Fuller, Shreveport councilmember and co-founder of Re:Form Shreveport, joins the show to talk about her journey from citizen advocate and "land-use nerd" (her words) to local elected official—plus a few specific challenges the city has faced during her tenure.Some of what we cover in this show:LeVette's background in community advocacy and how Re:Form Shreveport was startedWhat motivated her to run for City CouncilHow actually serving on Council compares to what she thought it would be likeAn example of a key issue and how she handled the research, response (voting), and reactionThe importance of downtown to the city's identity and cultureThe role that horizontal expansion and annexation has on city services and budgetsHow last year's budget process compares to what they're going to be dealing with in their upcoming FY21 budgetAdvice for other people thinking about running for CouncilMentioned in the show: The Memphis 3.0 PlanFollow LeVette on Facebook (that's her official councilmember page) and Twitter.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, Custodian of Records, and Isaac Horwedel.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-61

In this episode, Kevin speaks with Liz Farmer about the current economic situation and how it compares (so far) to the 2008 recession. They discuss the magnitude and impact of unemployment, recent credit downgrades for cities and states, and the ramifications of projected budget shortfalls for Medicaid, pensions, and infrastructure. They also delve into the Federal Relief Bill and what it covers, as far as state and local agencies go. And finally, Liz gives her thoughts on what recovery looks like, plus some advice for local leaders while navigating this crisis.Liz Farmer is a fiscal policy expert and journalist whose writing centers on the ways state and local governments spend taxpayer money. Her areas of expertise include budgets, fiscal distress, tax policy, and pensions. In the past, you may have read her excellent work for Governing (including the Finance 101 series); nowadays, you can find all of her writing at Farmers Field. Follow Liz on Twitter & LinkedIn.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, Custodian of Records, Cosmic Dan & the Mole Men, and Isaac Horwedel.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-60

We’re back with another edition of our series “Are We Doing This Right?” This time around, we take a closer look at parking minimums. They might seem like a harmless feature of your zoning ordinance, but they play a huge role in shaping the physical environment of your community. Intentionally or not, parking minimums adversely affect the viability of public transit and local businesses, housing affordability, regional ecological health, and the fiscal strength of the cities that enact them.In this episode, we dig into the history and consequences of minimum parking requirements, and then we talk about practical steps cities and towns can take to move beyond them. And of course, we always close by answering the question, “Are we doing this right?” (You might have guessed by now what the answer is on this one.)Your hosts for this episode: Jordan Clark & AJ Fawver.Want to see links to things we discussed in this episode? Head on over to the show page on our website.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, John H. Glover, Custodian of Records, Cosmic Dan & the Mole Men, Yung Chomsky, and Midnight Star.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-59