Active Towns

Their downtown was dying, then they did this. In this episode, I am honored to connect with Dabney Sanders, the outgoing Project Manager responsible for helping pull together this fantastic four-mile Downtown Greenway in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Downtown Greenway website
👉 My Indy Cultural Trail Video
👉 My Razorback Greenway video

🤙 This episode mentions my beloved Brompton folding bicycle. I highly recommend buying your own Brompton from your local dealer if you have one or from my favorite Boulder, Colorado-bas...

This is a conversation with Bike Streets founder Avi Stopper about how our cities can start building Bike Networks Now, not 30 years from now, using a Network First strategy.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Bike Streets website
👉 My recent Bike Streets ride with Avi
👉 Avi Stopper on the Pod Ep 292 and Ep 184

🤙 This episode mentions my beloved Brompton folding bicycle. I highly recommend buying your own Brompton from your local dealer if you have one or from my favorite Boulder, Colorado-based store, Freedom Fold...

In this episode, I finally connect with Fionnuala "Finn" Quinn, founder of TrafficGardens.com, for an in-depth discussion about the history and future of traffic gardens as a strategy to help create safer, more inviting communities for all ages and abilities.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Traffic Gardens Main Site
👉 Traffic Gardens Info site
👉 The Kentucky Traffic Garden video with the Bike Lane
👉 My Playlist of videos featuring Prof. Peter Norton

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consi...

In this episode, I reconnect with Eileen McGinnis, Founder & Executive Director of the Parents' Climate Community, for an in-depth discussion about what prompted her to start this organization, as well as Austin's Kidical Mass, Bike Bus, and all things sustainable active mobility as caregiving.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Parents’ Climate Community website
👉 Austin’s First Kidical Mass video (full length)
👉 Austin’s First Kidical Mass video (just the ride)
👉 Book: The Parents’ Guide to Climate Revolution by Mary Democker
👉 Book: From What Is to What If by R...

In this episode, I reconnect with my good friend, the former Executive Director of the Adventure Cycling Association, Missoula, Montana-based, Jim Sayer. We catch up on land use and parking reform progress being made in the State, in general, and in the city in particular. We also address some street design changes in the works, before shifting our attention to all things bike touring and adventures by bike. We also nerd out a bit on Edinburgh, Scotland.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Adventure Cycling Association website
...

In this episode, we reconnect with Victor Dover, co-author of Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns, Second Edition, for a deep dive into precisely why streets matter so much in shaping our daily lives, for better and for worse, and how, by learning from the world’s best streets, we can transform our dysfunctional and dangerous cityscapes into more livable environments

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 The Street Design website... Use the discount code ARC20 on the Wiley site or...
👉 Buy the book on...

LIVESTREAM RECORDING:  Beth Osborne, President & CEO of Smart Growth America, joined me for an in-depth discussion about the newly released Dangerous by Design 2026 Report.

👉 Preview the Report here

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:
1. Become an Active Towns Member on YouTube for exclusive member-only content and Livestreams
2. Join the Active Towns Patreon community. Contributions start at just $3 per month
3. If you enjoyed this episode, you can also "leave a tip" through "Buy Me a Coff...

In this episode, Clarence Eckerson, Jr., shares some behind-the-scenes insights into the making of his new documentary profiling the amazing 34th Avenue Open Streets installation, now viewed as a permanent linear park, formally named Paseo Park by the city. This version was recorded live and then edited.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Streetfilms website
👉 Sara Lind Open Plans episode
👉 Bruce Appleyard episode
👉 My most recent episode with Cathy Tuttle
👉 My episode with Lenore Skenazy
👉 My Paris School Streets video

If you are a fan o...

In this episode, I connect with Professor Sara FL Kirk, with Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for an in-depth discussion about her research centered on environments that promote healthy, active living, what prompted her to become a safer streets activist, hint: it's the story as we heard from Tom Flood with the Urban Truth Collective, and some of her favorite initiatives she's been involved with there in Halifax.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Urban Truth Collective episode
👉 Grant Ennis Dark PR episode
👉 Tim Gill and...

New York City is on the cutting edge of many amazing "Streets Are For People" initiatives, and Open Plans is increasingly front and center in this movement with campaigns such as School Streets, Low Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs), Public Space Management, Intersection Daylighting, and many more.

In this episode, I connect with Sara Lind, Co-Executive Director of Open Plans, to discuss the projects they are working on and their universal applicability to car-centric cities worldwide.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Open Plans website
👉 Streetsblog NYC

In this episode, I connect with Ashton Rohmer, a doctoral candidate in Peace and Conflict Resolution studies, who is examining Car Supremacy and our societal acceptance of vehicular violence through her research on the ideology of car supremacy and on reimagining streets as sites of care and community. She challenges us to imagine more peaceful streets for everyone.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 "Car supremacy: Deconstructing the ideology driving our modal hierarchy" paper
👉 Ashton's website to follow along with her journey
👉 Brompton Bicycles
👉 Buy Your Bra...

In this episode, I connect with Professor Michael Pollack for a deep dive into his fabulous new book Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America’s Most Overlooked Resource.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Buy the book through the Active Towns Bookshop or via Amazon here

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:
1. Become an Active Towns Member on YouTube for exclusive member-only content and Lives...

In this episode, I welcome back my good friend and colleague, Chris Bruntlett, International Relations Manager with the Dutch Cycling Embassy, for a follow-up discussion about the resurgence of everyday cycling culture and cycling infrastructure as an official policy in a variety of cities across China.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Dutch Cycling Embassy website
👉 Chris & Melissa Bruntlett - Modacity website
👉 Dutch Cycling and China Part One
👉 Chris in a Cameo Leipzig Velo City Bike Parade
👉 Women Changing Cities episode with Melissa & Chris

If...

In this episode, we dive into the details of the Navahine Settlement with the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, with Luca Cuniberti, Hawaii Youth Transportation Council member, and Doorae Shin, Navahine Settlement Coordinator with Our Children's Trust.

The settlement agreement, which the court has approved, recognizes children’s constitutional rights to a life-sustaining climate and mobilizes HDOT to plan and implement transformative changes of Hawaiʻi’s transportation system to achieve zero emissions in all ground transportation, and interisland sea and air transportation, by 2045. The court will retain jurisdiction to enforce the agreement for the next 21 years...

In this episode, I connect with Sam Johnson from the World Bank for a discussion about the connection between active mobility for all ages and abilities and livable communities, as well as, overall quality of life measures.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Invest In Livable Communities
👉 Invest In Livable Communities FAQ
👉 My episode with Prof. Ruth Oldenziel from TU Eindhoven
👉 You can connect with Sam on LinkedIn
👉 Ireland's progress in active mobility

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast...

How streets are transformed into safer, more inviting places is messy and difficult. This fascinating new documentary dives deep into the details of just such a transformation in New York City, and the results are beautiful and inspiring, yet frustrating on so many levels. You'll ask: "Why does it have to be so hard?" and then you'll see the very human responses to the prospect of change and how the advocates for safer streets navigate the minefield of barriers to progress.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Cha...

In this episode, I reconnect with Tim Gill and meet Alice Ferguson for a discussion about a recent report they collaborated on titled “Streets for Play, Streets for Freedom,” which calls for a radical, child-centered approach to decision-making around streets and transport planning.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Streets for Play, Streets for Freedom Report
👉 The Urban Playground Episode with Tim Gill
👉 Fighting for Family Friendly Streets Episode with Tim Gill
👉 Marco’s book Movement: How to Take Back Our Streets and Transform Our Lives
👉 Pet...

In this episode, I reconnect with Tom Flood and Grant Ennis and meet Brent Toderian to discuss their new collaborative effort, the Urban Truth Collective: The truth about cities in an age of disinformation.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 The Urban Truth Collective website
👉 The Urban Truth Collective on Bluesky
👉 The Urban Truth Collective on Instagram
👉 The Urban Truth Collective on LinkedIn
👉 Rovelo Creative, Tom Flood's website
👉 My most recent episode with Tom
👉 Dark PR episode with Grant Ennis
👉 Brent's website

If...

In this episode, I reconnect with Ross Chapin, author of Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World, for an in-depth discussion about this powerful approach to creating more livable communities.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Ross Chapin's website for resources
👉 My Pocket Neighborhoods video from 2017
👉 Buy the book: Pocket Neighborhoods - Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World:  or on Amazon
👉 Incremental Development website
👉 My Montreal Alleyways tour guide video
👉 Episode 76, May 2021, featuring Ross

If you are a fan of the Active...

In this episode, I connect with Jacob Davis, host of The Cities in Motion Podcast, for a discussion about what led him to want to host an urbanism and sustainable communities podcast that channels the tenets of the Strong Towns and Active Towns movements. We also profile the opening of the new Wishbone Bridge, which closes a critical gap on the Butler Hike & Bike Trail around Ladybird Lake in Austin, TX.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 My episode on The Cities in Motion Pod
👉 Amtrak/Brompt...

This is the recording of my Live discussion with Charles “Chuck” Marohn, Founder and President of Strong Towns, about their Mission Accomplished: End Highway Expansions Now initiative, and what we as a nation and at the local level should be focusing our transportation dollars on.

For more information:
👉 Strong Towns Mission Accomplished website

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:
1. Become an Active Towns Member on YouTube for exclusive member-only content and Livestreams
2. Join the Active...

In this episode, I reconnect with a dear friend from my Boulder triathlon days, Dieter Bruhn, and his relatively new wife, Grace. We discuss the Hanoi dance scene and contrast the culture of activity in Vietnam with Boulder, Colorado.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 One World Training website

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:
1. Become an Active Towns Member on YouTube for exclusive member-only content and...

This is the Livestream recording of my Follow-Up Conversation with Prof. Wes Marshall, about his impactful book Killed By A Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies our Transportation System.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Wes Marshall's website
👉 My Book Launch episode with Wes in 2024
👉 Buy Killed By A Traffic Engineer in my Bookshop or on Amazon or on Audible
👉 The Look Both Ways Podcast with David Zipper
👉 Jeff Wood's The Overhead Wire Talking Headways Podcast
👉 David Zipper's website
👉 David on Bluesky
👉...

In this episode, I connect with Diane Alisa Tuft, author of A Love Letter to Suburbia: How to Restore the American Village, to discuss her journey into urbanism and her advocacy for walkable communities and the return of villages. As part of this journey, we discuss how a specific Not Just Bikes video opened her eyes to what was making her so frustrated and miserable.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Are American Suburbs to Blame for Everything?
👉 Buy A Love Letter to Suburbia: How to Restor...

In this episode, I reconnect with Carter Lavin for an in-depth discussion about his new book, If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight: A Guide to Effective Transportation Advocacy.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Carter’s website
👉 Buy the Book via the Active Towns bookshop or via Amazon, and on the Island Press website, for a limited time, use code FIGHT for 20% off
👉 My Livestream with Prof Wes Marshall

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider su...

In this episode, I connect with Esther Walker, Executive Director of Outride, a non-profit launched by Specialized Bicycles with the mission of providing research, cycling programs, and funding to empower all people to experience the social, emotional, and cognitive benefits of cycling.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Outride website
👉 Riding For Focus Grant
👉 Outride on Instagram
👉 Outride on YouTube
👉 Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, a book Dr John Ratey
👉 Specialized Bicycles
👉 Bike Works Kona
👉 Jonathan Haidt’s book Th...

In this on-bike interview, I connect with Ryan Short, founder of CivicBrand, for a tour around Boulder while we discuss his new book, The Civic Brand: The Power and Responsibility of Place.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 CivicBrand website
👉 Get your copy of the book
👉 CivicBrand on Instagram
👉 Ryan Short on LinkedIn
👉 Strong Towns website
👉 City Thread website
👉 Ryan Van Duzer's Channel
👉 Priority Bikes website
👉 Green Guru website
👉 My recent interview with Anna Zivarts about non-drivers and the week without driving chall...

In this episode, I finally connect with Mara Mintzer, co-founder and executive director of Growing Up Boulder, for a conversation about the power of engaging children in community conversations like planning and design that for too long have been left primarily or exclusively to adults.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Growing Up Boulder
👉 James Rojas
👉 PlaceIt activity
👉 My recent episode with Tim Gill
👉 My first episode with Tim Gill
👉 Urban Playground by Tim Gill
👉 My Episode with Lenore Skenazy
👉 Let Grow organization

In this episode, I connect with Jamie Sabbach from Salida, CO, and the 110 Percent organization for a very Strong Towns-esque conversation about parks and how cities need a better plan to maintain them and a better approach to programming more sustainable facilities, such as sidewalks and pathways versus large, costly sports complexes and fields.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 110 Percent website
👉 Strong Towns
👉 Verdunity website
👉 TPL 10 Minute Walk campaign
👉 Ryan Short’s new book Civic Brand

If you are a fan of the Active...

In this episode, I reconnect with Anna Zivarts for an update on the Week Without Driving Challenge and her new venture, The Non-Drivers Alliance. Naturally, we talk about the land use patterns and infrastructure needed to facilitate a sustainable non-driving existence.
Thumbnail photo credit: Boulder Chamber Transportation Connections (BCTC) see link below

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Non-Drivers Alliance
👉 Tour de Duzer Weekend Video
👉 My Mueller Playlist
👉 NRDC Who Doesn’t Have a Car
👉 StreetsBlog article
👉 Pittsburghers for Public Transit
👉 Paris Lime Bike...

In this episode, I reconnect with Sam Pearson, Healthy Communities Program Manager at the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, to discuss active mobility implementation strategies in smaller cities and rural towns, and how to leverage existing assets such as trails and pathways.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Pennsylvania Downtown Center
👉 My Pittsburgh videos - Part One and Part Two
👉 Early Childhood Mobility Coalition

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the follo...

In this episode, I connect with Dr. Matthew "Tepi" Mclaughlin from Perth, Australia, for a conversation about the institutional subsidization of motonormativity that directly contributes to epidemic levels of physical inactivity.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Human Kinetics Journal article with Grant Ennis
👉 Episode with Grant Ennis
👉 15 Minute City shirt by Tom Flood
👉 My recent episode with Tom Flood
👉 Strong Towns website
👉 World’s Longest City doc
👉 8 INVESTMENTS
👉  The Conversation Article on Investment Levels
👉  The Conversation Article on 30 km/hr speed
👉  The Conversa...

In this episode, I connect with Michel Durand-Wood, the Elmwood Guy behind the popular blog Dear Winnipeg, for a conversation about his efforts to engage his community in discussions surrounding municipal finance, channeling a Strong Towns approach, and mobilizing a coalition of neighborhood groups to take immediate action on the streets with the city's (reluctant) support. We also talk about his new book, You'll Pay For This, which is part of a multi-volume effort called The City Project.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Dear Winnipeg blog
...

In this episode, I connect with Dorothy "Dot" Fennell and Zack DeClerk, co-founders of CargoB, a cargo bike-sharing scheme based in the Boston area. Inspired by the Dutch program Cargoroo, CargoB, employs a fleet of UrbanArrow bakfiets-style cargo bikes for folks to check out and use as needed.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 The CargoB website
👉 The Oslo Whee Cargo Bike Leasing Program on-bike interview with Kari Anne Part One and Part Two
👉 Utrecht's Bike Flip Program Profile Video
👉 Boston & Cambridge 2025 CNU Tour Part One and...

In this episode, I connect with Michela Grasso, a researcher and writer with the Urban Cycling Institute in Amsterdam, for a discussion about some of her recent projects, including the publication of A Manifesto for Cycling Futures and Planning the Cycling City: A Field Guide.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Meredith Glasser video playlist
👉 Urban Cycling Institute playlist
👉 Urban Cycling Institute website
👉 Urban Cycling Substack
👉 A Manifesto for Cycling Futures
👉 Planning the Cycling City: A Field Guide
👉 My Almere On-Bike Interview & Tour with...

In this episode, I reconnect once again with Melissa & Chris Bruntlett from Delft, NL, for a conversation about their beautiful and inspirational new book, Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Transformation.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Melissa & Chris Bruntlett's Modacity website
👉 Women Changing Cities on Bookshop.org or on Amazon
👉 Dutch Cycling Embassy
👉 Melissa's new venture
👉 My Paris Playlist

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following w...

In this episode, I connect with Peter Bird, a resident of Heidelberg, Germany, and a doctoral researcher at the Technical University (TU) Eindhoven in the Netherlands, to continue my discussions* about the Cycling Cities Initiative. He is studying and documenting the historical context of Minneapolis as an impressive North American example of a Cycling City.
*ICYMI: Refer to Episode 311 feat. Prof. Ruth Oldenziel

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Cycling Cities website
👉 Cycling Cities Minneapolis
👉 Cycling Cities Minneapolis GoFundMe
👉 Peter Bird on LinkedIn
👉 My Berl...

In this episode, I connect with the President of Brompton USA, Juliet Scott-Croxford, for a discussion about some exciting new developments 50 years after the first classic Brompton was built, including the release of the versatile new G-Line with 20-inch wheels and a UL-approved e-assist power system.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Brompton USA website
👉 Brompton International website
👉 My Interview with Brompton CEO Will Butler Adams
👉 My Brompton Playlist
👉 My Amtrak & Brompton Playlist

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast...

In this episode, I am joined by Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear to discuss their new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, which was inspired in part by their podcast, The War on Cars. Topics discussed include the origins of The War on Cars podcast name, having a good car management plan like the one implemented in Ghent, school streets, bike buses, the enhanced sociability of traffic-calmed streets, and so much more.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Life After Cars: on B...

In this episode, I reconnect with Prof. Ruth Oldenziel from the Technical University in Eindhoven for a discussion about the global Cycling Cities Initiative, which kicked off in 2016 with the publication  of the Cycling Cities: The European Experience coffee table book, which I happen to have in my house. We talk about the maturation of the project, including the upcoming release of the Cycling Cities: The African Experience, as well as the first from North America, Minneapolis.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Cycling Cities website
👉 Help fu...