The Holistic Housing Podcast

Jim Johnston, NACCED Board President and Manager of Municipal Development at Allegheny County, PA Economic Development, joins the show to take a walk down memory lane. We discuss his time with NACCED and his career in community development, including Pittsburgh’s cultural transformation from an immigrant-rich steel town to a modern tech and robotics hub, and how partnerships make all the difference in successful projects. Plus, we celebrate being together for the first time in two years, and ask, when were emoticons invented? And did Kenny Rogers wear rhinestones? Laura also announces a show hiatus – we’ll see you on the other side! Follow the show on Twitter at @HousingPodcast and send us a note at [email protected]. Please subscribe and give us a five-star rating. Thank you for listening! 

Repvblik co-founder and principal Richard Rubin joins the show to discuss how his company reimagines and transforms existing infrastructure to become workforce housing. We discuss the future of office space, how adaptive reuse helps address the labor shortage, and how to reckon with pandemic-induced questions about quality of life, as we inch our way closer to the “metaverse.” Plus, Laura learns what Branson, Missouri is, and Cameron shares some fun facts about a well-known (but maybe cursed?) Washington hotel ahead of NACCED’s annual Legislative Conference. Follow the show on Twitter at @HousingPodcast and send us a note at [email protected]. Please subscribe and give us a five-star rating. Thanks for listening!

In the last episode of 2021, Clay Grubb, CEO of Grubb Properties based in Charlotte, NC joins Cameron and Laura to discuss Clay’s career growing up in the family business (including his time as a 12-year-old mortgage collector), why cars are the enemy of affordable housing, the need for more essential housing, and how solutions truly do come from all sides of the political spectrum. Plus, what role did Lexington BBQ play in ending the Cold War? And, we debut a new question: if you were a vending machine, what would you vend?

Follow the show on Twitter at @HousingPodcast and send us a note at [email protected]. Please subscribe and give us a five-star rating. See you in 2022!

In his book, Sunbelt Blues: The Failure of American Housing, Andrew Ross examines the state of housing in Osceola County, FL. Once the main approach to Disney World, where vacationers found lodging on their way to the Magic Kingdom, the fifteen-mile Route 192 corridor in Osceola has become a site of shocking contrasts. At one end, global investors snatch up foreclosed properties and park their capital in extravagant vacation homes for affluent visitors, eliminating the county’s affordable housing in the process. At the other, underpaid tourist industry workers, displaced families, and disabled and elderly people subsisting on government checks cram themselves into dilapidated, roach-infested motels, or move into tent camps in the woods. We discuss how ineffective government planning, property market speculation, and poverty wages have combined to create this catastrophe, and what solutions are available.

Plus, in this episode, Laura continues to advocate for Christmas music out of season, and Cameron drops a Sherlock Holmes reference. Follow the show on Twitter at @HousingPodcast and send us a note at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and give us a five-star rating. Thank you for listening!

It’s time to meet your new co-host! In this episode, Laura interviews NACCED’s new Membership & Operations Associate, Cameron Wheeler, on his work and interests. Topics include: storytelling, federalism, fruit, livin’ simple, and just why NACCED’s local government members are so special. Plus, how DO you pronounce Wawa? And, Cameron answers just about every questions that’s ever been asked on the show, and Laura finally has a hot dog ally.

Follow the show on Twitter at @HousingPodcast and send us a note at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and give us a five-star rating. Thank you for listening!

Arroyo Village is an award-winning, first-of-its-kind community in Colorado to encompass a continuum of care for people experiencing housing instability that includes a homeless shelter, permanent supportive housing and affordable housing under one roof. In this conversation, we’re joined by two of Arroyo Village’s leaders, Laura Rossbert of Shopworks Architecture, and Dontae Latson, CEO of Rocky Mountain Communities, to discuss building using trauma-informed design to create opportunities and hope for people in need.

Plus, Laura D. reps the NHP Foundation Symposium (nhpfoundation.org) and asks, is it too early to listen to Christmas music? Follow us on Twitter at @HousingPodcast, rate, review, subscribe, and send us an email to [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

How do we bring agencies and governments together to achieve a comprehensive national housing strategy for the US? Atlanta Housing Authority CEO Eugene Jones, Jr. joins the show to discuss this question, bringing the perspective of a career in housing that has taken him from San Francisco to Atlanta and many places in between. We also discuss Eugene’s book, Housing Humans, and just what can be done about Atlanta’s traffic (and that Georgia heat). Plus, we celebrate the show’s four-year anniversary, Sarah says farewell, and Laura declares that the show must go on!

Follow us on Twitter at @HousingPodcast, rate, review, subscribe, and send us an email to [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Cache County Director of Economic Development Shawn Milne joins the show to share his perspective on what it’s like to work in in the nation’s fastest growing state, Utah. We talk the importance of housing workers near jobs, why housing should be a nonpartisan issue, and how serving in elected office taught Shawn the benefit of political moderation.

Plus, the show starts with a comedy of errors, Sarah has an announcement, and we wonder, is Shawn really just in town because he is a Freemason and needs to steal the Constitution or something? We may never know!

Find us on Twitter at @HousingPodcast, rate, review, subscribe, and send us an email to [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Why do street addresses matter? Author Deirdre Mask joins us to talk about her book, The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power. In this fascinating look at the history and impact of addresses from West Virginia to Kolkata and everywhere in between, we ask: why are some people resistant to having an address? How can addresses prevent public health crises? Is being unreachable a new status symbol? Will digital addresses become a thing? All that and more!

Plus, we celebrate being back in the studio together for the first time in 14+ months, Sarah is mostly uninterested in thinking about the future, and Laura needs more snacks.

Find us on Twitter at @HousingPodcast, rate, review, subscribe, and send us an email to [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Maggie Jones, Assistant Director for Community Development at Tarrant County, TX, joins the show to talk all things change-making. Hear what’s it been like to adapt as a local government professional providing community services during COVID, why change does not have to equal loss, and how working at a Greek restaurant was the perfect customer service training.

Plus, Maggie knows more about Jeeps than any other person on the planet, Laura enforces the rules of a new game a little too stringently, and Sarah is open to trying to the new trend of cooking cicadas. Thank you to the NHP Foundation for sponsoring this episode, and be sure to learn more about NHP’s annual symposium at NHPFoundation.org!

Find us on Twitter at @HousingPodcast, rate, review, subscribe, and send us an email to [email protected]. Thanks for listening!