Urban farms, or, farming in the city,  on rooftops, vacant lots, front yards. I've alway been intrigued with farming in the city and the potential there to feed its people.

A couple years ago I read  Jennifer Cockrall King's book "Food and The City: Urban Agriculture and The New Food Revolution," and that's when ideas and the light bulb went off. In her book, Jennifer (and the guest in this episode) offers real-world examples of cities (well, it's people) growing food on a large-scale. And, I learned of Paris in the 19th Century, leading the way in urban ag (before it was called urban ag - back then it was just called "surviving," or being frugal as our grandparents called it).

True, urban gardening might get lumped in with other hipster, foodie trends (cough artisanal mustard cough), but I think it goes beyond that. It has the potential to feed us. And it looks cool.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, urban farms supply food to about 700 million city dwellers. And nearly all of the world’s population growth between now and 2030 will be concentrated in urban areas in developing countries. By then almost 60% of people in developing countries will live in cities. Farming in and around urban areas is going to play a huge role in feeding city populations.

For more than a year I’ve been obsessed with Cincinnati, Ohio. While doing research on old churches being retrofitted as brewpubs, I stumbled across Taft’s Ale House in Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine neighborhood. From there, I went deep. The architecture. The flight to the suburbs. The abandonment. The subway that was built in the 20s but was never used. Then, new life. The comeback.

To find out more about Cincinnati, I spoke with Randy Simes, an award-winning urban planner who founded a site called UrbanCincy back in 2007. Simes grew up on Cincinnati’s west side, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally acclaimed School of Planning. He’s put together a team of writers and reporters that have elevated the conversation about urban planning, placemaking, and what’s making Cincinnati move on up. My obsession grows. Enjoy the show!

This episode I’m speaking with Brian Libby, a journalist and critic living in Portland, Oregon. Among the magazines and newspapers he has contributed to include The New York Times, The Atlantic, Dwell, CityLab, Metropolis, and Architectural Record. Brian is also a book author, filmmaker, and runs the popular Portland Architecture blog.

Though episode three admittedly tends to be a bit Portland-centric, it's still interesting for anyone listening. Brian talks about the current housing crisis in Portland, some of his favorite, current projects on the books, efforts behind the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, and what it’s like to write for the New York Times.

This show I speak with Aaron Holm. He’s the CEO of Blokable. The company manufactures “high-performance modular building assemblies that are easily customizable, with technology and energy efficiency built in.”

You might think that a 30-minute interview talking about modular homes might be kind of snoozy. But not so. Aaron’s a cool guy, he’s thoughtful, he’s got some great ideas for his company, he’s got some insight on how cities might grow…and he’s a musician.

What intrigued me about Blokable’s technology is that it’s perfect for building small communities – including single-family housing, instant offices, pop-up retail space, and multi-unit smart communities.

Episode one: Downtown LA and its unwritten history: Our guest is Kim Cooper. 

Kim edited Scram magazine in the early 90s up to the mid 2000s and  co-edited the anthologies Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth and Lost in the Grooves. Nowadays, Kim leads tours of Los Angeles, along with her husband, Richard, with Esotouric – described as bus adventures into the secret heart of Los Angeles.
 
We’ll talk about everything from downtown Los Angeles, preservation, The Omega Man, movies shot in LA, and the infamous Skid Row Slasher.