Go Cultivate!

Verdunity
Go Cultivate!

A podcast for community builders. Discussing ways to grow financially resilient, resource-conscious, and people-friendly cities.

  1. 08/01/2023

    Season 3 Wrap Up — with Kevin Shepherd

    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.

    44 min

  2. 07/14/2023

    Meet the Verdooners — with Matt Meals

    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.

    16 min

  3. 07/04/2023

    Leadership and Inclusive Prosperity — with Dr. Kaye Monk-Morgan and Shaun Rojas

    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.

    1h 17m

  4. 06/27/2023

    Meet the Verdooners — with Maddie Bonney

    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.

    16 min

  5. 06/07/2023

    Plangineer to Storyteller — with Andy Boenau

    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.

    1h 14m

  6. 05/11/2023

    Development Bills at 2023 TxLEG—with Michael Kovacs and Tom Yantis

    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.

    47 min

  7. 05/02/2023

    Rural Community Transformation — with Julianna Dodson

    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. 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.

    1h 19m

  8. 04/04/2023

    Place and Prosperity — with William Fulton

    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.

    1h 11m
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Trailer

5
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

A podcast for community builders. Discussing ways to grow financially resilient, resource-conscious, and people-friendly cities.

Information

  • Creator
    Verdunity
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2023
  • Episodes
    116
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2020 Verdunity
  • Show Website
    Go Cultivate!

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