Jeff Wood
Recent Posts
Talking Headways Podcast: Indexing Livability for All Ages
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This week we chat with Rodney Harrell of the AARP Public Policy Institute about their new Livability Index Tool. I ask him who the tool was created for and tell him why it should be regarded as more than just magazine clickbait. We talk about the robust policy tools that were included for each section […]
The Subduction Zone(ing), or [Tectonic] Platers Gonna Plate
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This week we have Talking Headways alum Tanya Snyder back on the podcast to talk about a few things that were in the news over the last few weeks. We talk about all the new streets babies that have been born recently which leads to a discussion about living in cities with kids. We also […]
Talking Headways Podcast: High-Speed Rail Lessons from France and Germany
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This week we’re joined by Eric Eidlin, a community planner and sustainability lead at the Federal Transit Administration. Over the last few years Eric has also been studying high-speed rail in Germany and France as a fellow with the German Marshall Fund. He recently published a report, “Making the Most of High-Speed Rail in California: Lessons from France and Germany.” Eric […]
Talking Headways Podcast: Building Relationships to Build a Better City
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This week’s guest is Janne Flisrand, an independent consultant and writer at Streets.mn. In her work as a “network weaver,” Janne thinks about how to elevate different voices and make sure everyone in a movement has a place to share their expertise and opinions. In this episode we talk about the importance of relationships in cities — between neighbors and between […]
Talking Headways Podcast: Metro Areas — True Laboratories of Democracy
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This week I’m joined by Bruce Katz, vice president of the Brookings Institution and founder of its Metropolitan Policy Program. We chat about devolution in Great Britain –the idea of moving power away from national bureaucracies and towards metropolitan governance — and the power of metropolitan areas around the world. There is much that America could learn from […]
Talking Headways Podcast: A Positive Vibe For Chicago TOD
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On this week’s podcast, Yonah Freemark of the Metropolitan Planning Council (you may know him from The Transport Politic) shares the scoop on transit-oriented development in Chicago. In a recent post, Yonah writes that in order to break the pattern of slow growth but ever-increasing demand, more development should happen near Chicago’s extensive transit system. We talk about why […]
Talking Headways Podcast: The Missing Middle
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This week on the podcast, Dan Parolek of Opticos Design talks about their new website themissingmiddle.com, which explores housing types between high- or mid-rise buildings and single-family homes that cities don’t make much anymore. We get into Austin’s development code, Cincinnati’s walkable neighborhoods, and how people are often worried by the phrase “density,” then surprised by density designed well. Why are developers and bankers […]
Talking Headways Podcast: Welcome to the Fresh Coast!
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This week I chat with Jeramey Jannene of Streetsblog Network blog Urban Milwaukee. Jeramey discusses freeway teardowns, freeway expansion, the new bike-share system, the transit funding situation in the city, the city’s streetcar plans, and the city’s really high weighted density. And we talk about water. Milwaukee is becoming the “Fresh Coast,” an innovative place for studying […]
Talking Headways Podcast: Oklahoma City Shapes Up
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This week on the podcast we’re bringing you the keynote address from the 2015 National Bike Summit, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists. The LAB’s Liz Murphy introduces Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, who talks about how he took his city from being rated as one of the least physically fit to one of the fittest. Cornett […]
Talking Headways Podcast: Those Roads Won’t Pay for Themselves
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This week we’re joined by Kevin DeGood of the Center for American Progress, who along with Andrew Schwartz recently wrote a report called Advancing a Multimodal Transportation System by Eliminating Funding Restrictions. Sound too wonky? I call it the “Roads Don’t Pay for Themselves Report.” When approximately 5.5 percent of roads carry 55 percent of the traffic, you would expect them to […]
Talking Headways Podcast: The Future of Street Lights
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Clifton Lemon and Steve Lawton of LightPlace Advisors join me this week to talk about how lighting is going to change in cities with the advent of the LED. We learn about what fire and light means to humans and why the street light might become one of the most valuable assets a city has. Clifton […]
Talking Headways Podcast: Cowboys on Light Rail
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Christof Spieler joins me again to continue our discussion of Houston. This time we talk transportation and all the great things Houston is working on. Uptown, home to the highest building in the U.S. outside of a central business district, will soon be getting true Bus Rapid Transit, and people on bikes are now rolling next to the bayous and connecting […]