“When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” Strong Towns demonstrates how this country fails to heed this warning.

This used to be a great podcast, but it’s clear they have stepped beyond their scope of expertise. Listening to Chuck try to explain economics/finance is like listening to a kindergartner explain physics.

It’s a good start but apparently when all you have is a hammer, even the washing machine gets treated as if it were a nail. The StrongTowns viewpoint tries to paint everything with a simple problem and it ignores the complex wicked problems that are actually creating fiscal issues.

I just don’t get the overly loud music at the end. is there a good reason for this? Is this just how you do broadcast?. And some guy starts shouting over top of the shrill harmonica that has jacked up the music to another level. Is there some thinking behind this? Why is it so much louder than the rest of the podcast?

Love the podcast, particularly the recent episode with not just bikes. All the talk of the floor/ceiling for transit got me (an American raised in a car dependent suburb) thinking about when I was an exchange student in high school. I lived in a german village with 700 people that had hourly bus service. I currently live in Denver (population of over 700k) and most busses that run through my neighborhood have hourly service.

This is a pretty important podcast, from a professional engineer who discovered, based on his fiscally conservative upbringing, that the way we’ve been doing towns and cities in America is fundamentally unsustainable and must change. Sadly, since he quit to do advocacy full-time, his views seem to be drifting into crank territory. Engineers are best when they are directly connected to their work. Now Chuck is going into social systems, where he does not have expertise, but he can be wrong a long time without being caught.

I genuinely enjoy this organization and the work that they are doing. I do have one sincere critic which I hope they genuinely take to heart. While the work of strong town tries to stay non-political in an effort to further their goals. When politics do come up Chuck can’t help malign either the intent or actions of those left of center. Any poor reaction from a conservative is caused by an obvious over zealous liberal or progressive who is narrow minded. Expecting empathy and kindness for the thoughts and concerns of those right of center while constantly insulting those left of center (while slipping in but we work with all ends of the political spectrum) Is not a welcoming at all. I will continue to support of strong towns but I genuinely hope that they try to confront their own internal biases.

Really enjoyed today’s podcast. Thank you so much, Chuck. Thank you for raising awareness for issues that go beyond the simple problem and solution narrative. Always enjoy hearing a bit more about your personal life as well. You are so articulate and draw brilliant connections between relevant topics

I’ve been into city planning as a fun nerd out hobby and finding this podcast has made my month! Ive been on the website and got the books but now I get to expand my learning even more while taking walks! Awesome! thanks for an impressive amount of episodes

Best podcast ever!! Recommend buying their books!