Beyond Streets

In this episode, Sam Roxas and co-host Greg Rodriguez sit down with transportation planner/data engineer (and new parent!) Arthur Getman to unpack how practical, measurable street fixes in NYC ripple out nationwide and what the next NYC administration must do next.

We get into:

• Why “small wins” (LPIs, hardened centerlines, slow-turn wedges) add up to big safety gains and how they scaled from pilots to citywide programs.
• The quick-build playbook: paint, posts, and proof before pouring concrete.
• Queens Boulevard’s transformation and what a real feedback loop with communities looks like.
• Data as narrative: defining success with the public before you design.
• Future of NYC: the first 100 days playbook for a new mayor + DOT leader -- clear metrics, faster buses, relentless community comms, and a commissioner who blends vision with operations.
• The “free and fast buses” debate, trade-offs, and why speeds often improve when fares disappear.
• How big-city choices (busways, plazas, congestion pricing) ripple to every other city

Practical, not precious. Reform that actually gets built. Tune in! 

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

In this kickoff episode of our Abundance series, we’re asking the big question: Can abundance actually be abundant?

We’re unpacking the buzzy optimism of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s “abundance agenda” and confronting the messy realities of implementing it. From housing fights in California to cost-of-living politics, and permitting bottlenecks to the psychology of scarcity, our guests Tahra Hoops and Gary Winslett of the Chamber of Progress (and writers of The Rebuild) join us to explore what it takes to move from rhetoric to results.

Together, we question whether abundance can scale beyond think pieces, and how cities, states, and everyday people can actually build toward a future where “enough for everyone” isn’t just a slogan. Because right now, as Sam puts it, “we’re barely scratching the surface of what abundance means in practice.”

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

In Indy, residents don’t just use infrastructure, they help design it. 

In this episode of Beyond Streets, we sit down with Natalie van Dongen, Director of Community Outreach for the City of Indianapolis, and Daniel Stevenson, Deputy Director of Policy & Planning at the Indianapolis Department of Public Works. Together, they share how the City of Indianapolis is flipping the script on traditional urban planning with Community Powered Infrastructure. 

From tactical urbanism pilots that boost safety, to residents pitching and crowdfunding projects, to a CPI Lending Library that puts real tools in people’s hands, it's a lesson in building trust, unlocking creativity, and empowering community pride.

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

What does it take for a city to bet big on its future and actually bring the community along for the ride?

In this episode of Beyond Streets, we sit down with Sabrina Sussman, former USDOT official, longtime Zipcar leader, and now head of Nashville’s Choose How You Move program. After voters approved a bold ballot measure to raise local funds for mobility improvements, Nashville is embarking on a generational investment in sidewalks, transit, and safe streets.

We talk with Sabrina about:

• Why she left D.C. for Nashville and how Civic Match helped connect national talent to local needs.
• The years of community input and trust-building that made this ballot measure possible.
• How focusing on basics first—sidewalks, signals, safety, and service—helped secure public buy-in.
• What “trust” really means when government asks residents to invest.
• Why Choose How You Move is as much a talent and workforce initiative as it is a transportation one.

It’s a story about public trust, civic courage, and what it means to deliver visible change in a city that decided to invest in itself.

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

How do you move public engagement beyond checking the box?

On the latest episode of Beyond Streets, we sit down with LaToya Thomas, founder of Brick and Story, who has built a practice around one powerful idea: engagement should be meaningful, strategic, and rooted in community stories.

We talk about:
 👉 Why “listening” is a strategy, not a checkbox
 👉 What trust looks like in neighborhoods facing gentrification and displacement
 👉 The role of storytelling in shaping better projects and decisions
 👉 How rural and urban communities both wrestle with growth—and what we can learn from each other

LaToya reminds us that engagement isn’t about post-it notes on a wall. It’s about creating spaces where people feel heard, respected, and part of shaping their future.

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

In this episode of Beyond Streets, we talk about how rural mobility, aging in place, and data standards are, amazingly, at the center of a more inclusive, tech-enabled transportation future. We sat down with Jana Lynott—longtime transportation policy expert, livability advocate, and self-proclaimed “transpo geek”—to unpack what it really takes to make our streets and systems work for older adults and underserved communities.

From building smarter dial-a-ride networks to demystifying the link between digital infrastructure and physical access, we explore how to close gaps in mobility, health, and equity. Plus, we take a walk down memory lane with the AARP Livability Index, Complete Streets policies, and how Denmark might just be the blueprint America needs.

Learn more about the studies referenced in this episode: 

• www.aarp.org/futureoftransportation
• A Step Forward: How Complete Streets and Neighborhood Walkability Make Streets Safer for Older Adults
• Connecting Community Transportation: Lessons Learned from Transactional Data Specification Demonstration Projects 

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

What if buying a secondhand e-bike were as easy and trustworthy as buying a certified pre-owned car?

In this episode of Beyond Streets, we talk with Marta Anadón Rosinach, Head of US at Upway, a company redefining the second-life market for e-bikes. A former Uber Eats executive, Marta shares how her personal obsession with e-bikes turned into a mission: making high-quality, affordable, refurbished e-bikes accessible to more people in more places.

We dig into:

• Why e-bikes are a powerful and fun tool for reclaiming cities from car dependency
• How refurbishment cuts carbon emissions by up to 95% while creating local jobs
• The challenges and opportunities of scaling in the US vs. Europe
• The role of policy in safe battery recycling and expanding incentives
• Why investing in workforce training is a crucial, overlooked lever in micromobility adoption

From tariffs to transit agency partnerships to e-bike theft myths, this conversation has it all, and it’s for anyone who cares about the future of sustainable urban transportation.

Learn more about Upway: https://upway.co/

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

Warren Logan doesn’t just talk about change, he clears the path for it. Whether it’s translating between city departments and private developers, batch-submitting 311 requests, or reworking zoning rules down to the inch, this man makes room for progress in places where inertia and red tape usually wins.

As the Director of Government Partnerships and Community Affairs for the Northlake project and Principal Advisor at Progress Public Affairs, Warren is helping reshape how cities and private partners collaborate. In this episode, we dig into how he's transforming a once-overlooked stretch of downtown into a neighborhood that actually works for people.

It’s not magic—it’s a well-functioning, healthy risk-taking, sandbox. One where the public sector gets support, the private sector shows up with more than capital, and everyone involved knows what role they play.

We talk about creating safe spaces for risk, building shared vision across sectors, and what happens when you design a process that helps every partner do their job better. Oh—and yes, RuPaul’s Drag Race comes into play. Because if you’re not lip syncing for your life in local government, are you even trying?

Learn more about the Northlake Project: https://www.northlake-oakland.com/

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

In this episode of Beyond Streets, we sit down with urban planning legend David Dixon—dubbed by us as the “Urban Planning Yoda”—to explore how cities can adapt to a changing world. From walkability to housing, transit to community-building, David brings decades of insight into how post-WWII patterns shaped our cities and how today’s leaders can design more equitable, vibrant, and people-centered places.

We talk about why density is a tool (not a threat), how community needs are shifting, and why enlightened self-interest might just be the secret to unlocking political will.

A hopeful, grounded, and deeply practical conversation on what it takes to build cities that invite us in and bring us together.

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Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org

As the school year winds down, Beyond Streets leans into the everyday intersections between education, transportation, and equity. This week, we sit down with Namita Brown, managing partner at Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost and a powerhouse in California education law.

From collective bargaining to broadband, school transportation to walkability, Namita offers a wide-angle view on the unseen scaffolding that keeps our schools—and students—functioning. 

We dig into how COVID reshaped schools as sites of cultural and political conflict, why transportation access is still a quiet crisis, and what parents, educators, and policymakers can do about it.

If you're navigating school lotteries, IEPs, or just figuring out how to get your kid to class on time, give this one a listen. 

Help us grow: please rate, review, and subscribe! 

Reach out with questions, ideas, and feedback: [email protected]

Keep up with us on LinkedIn: 

• Greg Rogers
• Greg Rodriguez 
• Samantha Roxas

www.beyondstreets.org