Sam Quinones keynoted the Strong Towns National Gathering last week and closed with a story about a tuba. If that left you wanting more, this conversation with Chuck Marohn is the place to start. This rerun from the Strong Towns Podcast follows Sam’s obsession with the “perfect tubas,” the almost-mythic York horns that tuba players have chased for decades. From there, he opens up a wider world of band rooms on the Texas border, long days playing at Disney World, and crowded Tuba Christmas events. Together, he and Chuck connect tubas, band culture, and strict musical standards to addiction, purpose, and how shared work and craft help hold communities together.

• Sam Quinones (LinkedIn, Site)
• Chuck Marohn (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

A viral town meeting clip from Marblehead, Massachusetts, raised a question that goes far beyond one zoning debate: What happens when a state says yes to more housing, but the local process still makes it hard to build? Or, as resident David Modica put it, “Are we trying to do nothing?” Carlee Alm-LaBar talks with Strong Towns Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt and Lafayette City Councilman Thomas Hooks about the messy handoff between policy and place. They look at why communities can comply on paper while resisting in practice, and why the next real step may be as small as one block, one lot, or one drawing that helps people see what is possible.

• "The Latest Hero of the ‘Yimby’ Movement Is a Massachusetts Man in a Hoodie" by Will Parker, WSJ.com (May 2026)
• Downzone:
  • The Victory of Greenwood, by Carlos Moreno (Site)
  • Scrubs Reboot (Site)
  • Junior League of Lafayette (Site)
  • Strong Towns National Gathering (Site)
• Carlee Alm-LaBar (LinkedIn)
• Thomas Hooks (LinkedIn)
• Edward Erfurt (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Des Moines just approved an $8.4 million first phase for a $54 million park overhaul. The bid came in over estimate, and there's no maintenance plan in sight — meanwhile the city was cutting services 9% across the board just last year. Norm Van Eeden Petersman talks with parks consultant Jamie Sabbach, author of the new book The Bison Principle, and writer Michel Durand-Wood about what cities consistently leave out of these decisions. Construction is only about 20% of what a public asset costs over its lifetime, and most cities aren't planning for the rest. The conversation gets into maintenance backlogs, why capital and operating budgets are really the same money, and what a city would actually decide if the 50-year cost were part of the conversation from the start.

• "Birdland Park's $54M Overhaul Moves into Construction Phase" by Jason Clayworth, Axios.com (April 2026)
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Jamie Sabbach (LinkedIn), The Bison Principle (Book)
• Dear Winnipeg (Site), You'll Pay For This! (Book)
• Articles Mentioned and Downzone:
  • In Praise of Background Buildings by Gracen Johnson
  • Places and Non-Places by Andrew Price
  • Field of Schemes
  • Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy - Album by The Refreshments
  • Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
  • The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro
  • The 99% Invisible Breakdown of The Power Broker
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.