What do Albuquerque, Anchorage, and Albany have in common? Beyond cultural and climate differences, each city — like countless others in the U.S. — has given over about a third of its downtown land to off-street parking.

This week, we reframe the way we talk about infrastructure investment. Rather than citing too few users as a reason not to invest in better infrastructure, what if we saw the folks persisting in spite of lacking infrastructure as a signal and hunger for more?

Timeline:

00:00 A commonality.

02:20 Rethinking how we frame bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

05:20 Bridges, as a proxy.

07:15 Kids biking to school reveals resilience.

08:55 Gen Z wants walkability.

10:20 Nostalgia for walkable places.

12:28 Why verbs (walking, biking) matter more than nouns (suburbs, cities).

13:35 Wrapping up, and next week’s conversation with David Obst.