Kevin’s editorial note: I’ve had some questions about making transcripts of these available, for those who’d prefer to read instead of listen to the podcasts. I’m looking into it, especially what AI tools might help. Just know I have exceptionally limited time, and there’s no way I’m going to spend an additional hour or two each week refining a transcript. At this point in my life, it’s just not possible.

At any rate, the audio is much more interesting anyway - please give it a listen. If you’re new to podcasts, give them a try. I will definitely be producing more actual written content soon. The first half of this year has simply hit a new threshold for busy-ness in my life. Thanks as always for following, and keep your comments coming.

For this week’s episode, I give my observations on how change happens. We seem to have a lot of confusion about this. Some folks think change never happens, and others seem to think it can be made to happen in big, utopian ways immediately. Big societal changes do happen (that should be obvious to anyone over 30), but they take time, leadership, and lots of grass roots effort. Change that sustains itself almost always connects deeply to human nature and human pleasure. I’d hope that would be obvious, but it seems often not to be the case.

In my public presentations, I talk frequently about how change has happened in relation to food, cooking and eating. I discuss the groundbreaking efforts of Alice Waters and Julia Child in particular. And then we draw connections to how change has been happening with our cities and towns, going from the post-WWII period up until now. Jane Jacobs is obviously a big figure in this effort (btw, fun cameo of her in the latest season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), but let’s not forget the thousands and thousands of others who put in time and effort in complementary ways - all trying to pursue pro-human values about life in cities. Oh by the way, it’s not easy, and you may in fact experience a lot of hatred in the process. Buckle up.

This episode comes out just as the Strong Towns National Gathering and CNU 31 in Charlotte is commencing. If you’re there and would like to chat in person, please come find me. I’ll be doing a presentation with Abby Kinney at the Strong Towns gathering related to traffic calming and beautification projects in Kansas City. At CNU 31, I’ll mostly be in the Urban Guild room, as we have two days of very exciting and practical content. Of course, there’s also the session on AI, which may or may not be practical, but should be entertaining. See you there.

Find more content on The Messy City on Kevin’s Substack page.

Music notes: all songs by low standards, ca. 2010. Videos here. If you’d like a CD for low standards, message me and you can have one for only $5.

Intro: “Why Be Friends”

Outro: “Fairweather Friend”

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