Two years ago, a German newspaper ran a piece hinting that Green Party Bundestag member Anton Hofreiter was calling for a ban on new single family homes. Hofreiter had not been calling for a ban on single family homes, but rather an end to subsidies that cater to sprawling detached single family homes, as well as the lower energy efficiency standar…

Strike. Verb. A disaster, or other unwelcome phenomenon that suddenly occurs and has harmful or damaging effects on something. Zoning has afflicted our cities - some might say even damaged them - through their lack of flexibility and sterility. A hundred years on, the experiment of zoning is a massive failure. However, it doesn't have to be this wa…

Housing prices in the US are completely out of balance. Affordable housing is difficult to attain in entire metropolitan areas. There are few options for middle class households, and even fewer for working class residents. We need a reset on the American dream. From one that is sprawling, unaffordable, lonely, carbon intensive, and exclusive – to o…

Aufstockungen is the German term for vertical additions. These are rooftop additions common throughout European cities - where many structures were built with concrete, block, or stone. Vertical additions offer a really interesting path towards re-compacting (densifying) existing neighborhoods in an incredibly sustainable manner. They preserve more…

Our cities are full of ghost projects. Lost opportunities. Potentialities that could have prioritized safe streets or public health. Transit station with homes for cars, instead of a neighborhood for people. Streets that prioritize speeding cars, instead of safety and sustainable mobility. But the reality of our cities, at least in the U.S. – is th…

Several of our friends and colleagues are currently going through divorces and other changes in their family household structure. Many of them were homeowners. However, Seattle - as many other cities in the US, has a pretty severe housing shortage. There are very limited options for housing that is affordable for single parents or those co-parentin…

Nestled at the southwest edge of the Black Forest, close to where France, Germany and Switzerland all come together - is the Green City of Freiburg. I spent a year living and working in Freiburg in 2003-2004, with a really amazing architecture firm ( Pfeifer.Roser.Kuhn Architekten) doing incredible things around low energy buildings and dowel lamin…

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have had fairly significant wildfire smoke for the last six weeks. For the most part, wind patterns have kept much of the Seattle Metro from experiencing the worst of it. That changed this week, as weather patterns shifted and the dense wildfire smoke cloaked our region for several days, thrusting both Seattle and …

A few months ago, Larch Lab was contacted to start discussions of an ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) focused on climate adaptive urbanism, influenced by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. With the effects of climate change becoming more frequent and intense than anticipated – we can no longer wait ten to twenty years to adapt to t…

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the United States lacks the vitality, affordability, access to nature and open space, and high quality urban spaces found in new European ecodistrics/TOD. They are also much more auto-centric than would be found in EU cities - leading in part to a lower quality of life than should be possible. This is in part d…

In a warming world, heat will increasingly be deadly. The IPCC has stated that extreme heat events are due to global warming – and as we are failing to curb emissions – there is a high confidence they will only get worse. Even if your building doesn’t overheat today – it may well in the future. In this episode of the Livable Low-Carbon City, we'll …

US cities don't have a missing middle problem, they have a missing *mid-rise* problem. A problem that is reflected in the depths of our housing crises – and in the inability to meet climate goals. In this episode of the Livable Low-Carbon City, we'll explore the problems with Missing Middle housing and why it is inadequate to meet the demands of to…

In this inaugural episode of the Livable Low-carbon City podcast, host Michael Eliason explores different types of vertical access for urban housing - and the effects these have on livability, sustainability, and climate resiliency. Projects discussed in this episode include: Vienna House, Vancouver. Public Architecture + Communication. Gleis21, Vi…

What do city budgets, wise infrastructure investments and mom and pop shops have to do with a livable city? Turns out, quite a lot. If our cities and our towns can’t make wise and measured investments in the right things, then it’s going to struggle to be a place that people can thrive in. How about progressive change, what does that have to do wit…

Part II of the conversation with Larry Beasley and Jonathan Barnett. Why do we even live in cities? There's been a lot of criticism about them during the pandemic which makes this the perfect time to reflect on this very question. Larry and Jonathan discuss this and much more in this second half of the conversation, the first half from two weeks ag…

If you were in a position to lead a plan to make your city more livable, how would you do it, what would you do? How would you go about instilling your vision for greater livability but in close collaboration with your fellow city residents, how would you do that? My two guests today for part one of a two part series did not have the luxury of doin…

As they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. And when something in your neighborhood or your city has been a certain way for decades or even hundreds of years, it’s easy to forget that a physical place or the places where neighbors come together to know one another can, in fact, change for the better. But this is exactly the power of reimagining wha…

How do we know if our cities are livable? There are many cities that you’ve visited that have felt much more or much less livable to you compared to the one you call home. And this is no different than how livable other peoples’ homes feel to you compared to your own home. But the difference with cities is that thousands or millions of people call …

What’s the role of transportation in the livability foundation of a city? Even more specifically, what’s the role of public transit in making a city more livable? In places where transit has long been neglected, many might even think that public transit might diminish the livability of a place because it becomes correlated with increases in local c…

In the midst of the unpredictability that has come with the COVID-19 pandemic, at least one thing has become quite true: many of the world’s cities desperately need more space. What kind of space are we talking about? Not necessarily private space, like a backyard, but a repurposing of existing public space away from only movement through a place a…

One of the most powerful and unpredicted outcomes so far from the Coronavirus pandemic has been the immediate change in how the world’s city streets are used. Pre-pandemic, many cities’ streets were mostly dedicated to moving motor vehicles back and forth in a monotonous rhythm of the daily commute. No longer the case, streets lay mostly empty from…

Do you need to become an urban planning professional in order to make more livable cities? Do you need to study civil engineering in order to help design safer neighborhood streets? The answer is, yes sometimes, but not always. The story behind today’s guest, Austin Gibble, will help give you a good example of being both a professional and non-prof…

The debate is not a new one and yet it feels like the world wonders for the first time, do dense cities inherently make us more prone to becoming infected with something like a Coronavirus? It turns out, the answer isn’t as simple as it might at first seem to be. I debate this with special guest Yonah Freemark. But the conversation still focuses al…

Part II of my conversation with Doug Gordon, host of The War on Cars podcast and local better streets advocate in Brooklyn, NY. In this part we get even deeper on the way cars have impacted our cities and Doug has some very good advice on how you can begin to push back on cars where you live. You can find Part I before this episode released on Marc…

Are we talking about a literal war on cars here...not quite. Cars do have their legitimate place in our cities. But in many cities they’ve become the only real and viable way of getting around for millions of people and that comes with many, many problems unleashed on society at large. So where do cars belong in our cities then? My guest today is p…

How does transit affect the livability of a place? Turns out, quite a bit. My guest today, Jeff Wood of the Talking Headways podcast, talks about how important it is to be able to experience your city through as many different transportation options as possible. A commonly held belief, particularly in North America, is that cars bring true personal…

How calm and enjoyable is your neighborhood, your town, your city? I’m not talking about a sleepy place where very little is going on, but a vibrant place that is still, even while bustling, calm and enjoyable for the vast majority of people who live there or move through it. If not your town or city, then have you visited one where you really noti…

What does it take to lead change? Ultimately, it means taking action and not just getting stuck thinking about taking action. For my guest today, Gary Reiter, this was a conscious decision that he wrestled with and ultimately decided on if he was to help make a difference in his neighborhood in Indianapolis. Gary is a dynamic guy with a ton of ener…

Bike lanes are sometimes controversial in communities because they’re seen as something encroaching on the space, efficiency and our limited time in getting somewhere by car. Love cars or hate them, for many places in the world they’re the primary and many times only current way of getting somewhere. And we’re not here to solve this debate once and…

Gentrification, cultural shifts, crime, unsafe streets, poverty and disconnection. They all sound pretty bleak especially when considered together. But my guest, Joanna Taft, has been experimenting along with her neighbors in the Herron Morton neighborhood in Indianapolis and have found some remarkably sensitive and effective ways to begin to rever…

A tough but real pair of questions: do you know anyone, are you good friends with anyone within a short walk of your home? And how much of your life can you live everyday without needed to leave it to buy something? In this episode, I interview Jacob Moses where he talks about these kinds of things for the neighborhood that he lives in Denton, Texa…

That's right, trains are greater than cars if you care about livable places. There, I said it - now for some background... Have you ever experienced something so transformational that it caused you to make a major shift in how you do something? My guest for this episode, Mike Christensen, had a large shift that completely changed the direction of h…

How do we make change of such massively complex ways of doing things for our cities and towns? My guest today has many thoughts about this and much practical advice to share. In this sixth episode, I interview Michael Schneider where we talk about the gridlocked streets of Los Angeles and how he started the non-profit and coalition to change this, …

What happens when you start using your bike to get to places? Turns out, a lot of unexpected things. In this fifth episode, I interview Lauren Crabtree where we talk about her “gateway drug,” the humble bicycle and how that got her to noticing how neighborhoods, towns and cities are built for or against people. Lauren is fascinating to talk to sinc…

How do you begin to get involved where you live? Our guest today, Dawn Olsen, just can't keep quiet about the details of where she lives. She just can't help but notice many things that could be better about her neighborhood in Indy and that has meant she has become a trusted voice as the neighborhood president. Dawn will inspire you with practical…

Laura Giffel, licensed clinical therapist, Bates Hendricks neighborhood president and advocate, and candidate for Indianapolis city council seat of the 16th district. Laura shares with us about her advocacy work in her neighborhood and will inspire you with practical advice on how to do the same where you live. Find Laura on Twitter @giffel4council…

In this first full length episode of Livable City, my friend and first guest Allan LeSage interviews me, Jim Hodapp. In this episode you'll hear from Allan on his views for what makes Chicago livable to him and what he feels is pretty special about this city. Then you'll hear some of the highlights of my story, how I got to caring about cities and …

Introducing the Livable City podcast! Love your city or your town? Want to learn how to make it even better? A brand new bi-weekly podcast that seeks to explore this question deeply and get highly practical. Episode length will be between 30 and 60 minutes. New full-length episodes coming soon that include in-depth interviews from people just like …

The Texas wine industry is exploding. Steven Morgan of the Bluebonnet Wine Trail joins the show to share the insides and outs of this bustling business and how you can enjoy the fruits of their labor (we couldn't resist the pun-ortunity.) Learn more at: https://www.texasbluebonnetwinetrail.comโดย Michael Shawn & Blinda Ann Kelly

The principles of Islamic garden design have informed almost all of the work at Mirror Lake since Shawn first learned of the concepts in school. Today, Shawn and Blinda chat with Emma Clark, author of The Art of the Islamic Garden. Emma Clark designs gardens with a fundamentally spiritual and holistic outlook, undertaking them for private clients a…

Continuing from last week, Shawn and Blinda discuss the various elements that define and distinguish the quintessential southern garden.โดย Michael Shawn & Blinda Ann Kelly

Shawn and Blinda reminisce growing up in the south. Southerners have a unique relationship with their gardens, and along with guest "Skip" Richter, the three dish on zucchini-bikinis, black eyed peas, and more.โดย Michael Shawn & Blinda Ann Kelly

The kids are getting antsy! There are only a few more weeks of school left, and if you have little ones you know that they're ready for summer. Shawn and Blinda chat with Chris Kiewra of Nature Explore, a non-profit whose mission is to "to help children and families develop a profound engagement with the natural world, where nature is an integral, …

A quick way to add curb appeal to your home is integrating a water feature to your front yard. It may seem like a bold or intimidating gesture, so Shawn and Blinda talk you through everything you need to know to create a welcoming space around the water.โดย Michael Shawn & Blinda Ann Kelly

If you need some attractive ground coverage at a great value, Shawn and Blinda have the answer for you. Are you looking for low maintenance and beautiful coverage with low maintenance? One of these options may be a great solution. Listen on!โดย Michael Shawn and Blinda Ann Kelly

Over 30+ years, Shawn has designed thousands of backyards and swimming pools. And he has noticed one fascinating phenomenon within these designs: our response to circles. Sounds strange? Hear the man out...โดย Michael Shawn & Blinda Ann Kelly

There's a trend within newer planned neighborhoods: larger lots - much larger than the neighborhoods we've been familiar with the last thirty years or so. With this increase in property and real estate comes a unique design challenge. Mainly, how do you design for so much more acreage?? Shawn and Blinda dish out some design solutions for these larg…

The front yard is a unique area in our homes. It is where our private property intersects with our neighbors and communities. Too few people homeowners realize their front yard's potential. Shawn and Blinda discuss how to make the most of this neglected real estate.โดย Michael Shawn & Blinda Ann Kelly

Before you build a pool there are some things you should consider: Mainly, most of your time will not be spent in the pool; It will be spent around it. This consideration should inform a solid, comprehensive backyard design. With 35 years of building pools, they offer much needed advice for soon-to-be pool owners.…

Shawn and Blinda have made a name for themselves owning and operating Houston's premiere landscape design firm, Mirror Lake Designs. But more and more, homeowners are turning to YouTube, Pinterest, and other sources to facilitate their need to DIY their own backyards. In this episode, Shawn lays down the basics of sand-laid paver patios.…