Dear fellow city builders,
I have really missed writing and sharing with you over the past six months. Work and life have intervened in various ways, as they tend to do! However, I’m excited to be getting back to this newsletter. I have several things planned for the next couple months, starting with an examination of the new wave of rent-control policy initiatives, lessons from the effort to enact rent control in Providence this spring, and what I see as implications for the broader YIMBY movement.
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My big announcement, however, is that I’m starting a podcast: The New School for City Builders, which will be run through this substack and the various other places you might play your podcasts. The New School for City Builders is an outgrowth of my essay on the need for new schools to train city builders.
The podcast will be released in June and published roughly weekly. In each episode, I’ll talk with some of the most interesting and talented city builders: architects, engineers, planners, developers, city managers, and civic leaders to explore their own educational experiences and current practice. Together, we’ll ask questions like:
What should someone actually learn if they want to build great neighborhoods?
What knowledge and skills are missing from today’s professional training?
What educational experiences helped shape some of the best designers, developers, and public leaders of today?
And if we were starting from scratch, how would we design a school that trains the next generation of city builders?
This podcast is part of a larger effort to imagine—and eventually create—that school.
A place where people can learn the craft of city building through practical hands-on projects. A school where the disciplines are not siloed off from each other. A community that comes together around a shared vision for what makes a great place, and how to work together to get there. Because saving the world is a team sport.
The future of our cities won’t be determined by policies or plans. It will be led by the people who know how to get shit done.
So whether you’re a young professional looking to learn from leading practitioners, or a student looking to make the most of your education, or an experienced city builder looking to give back by teaching the next generation, I hope there will be something for everyone who cares about how we build great cities and towns.
If you want to be part of the conversation and support this movement, please like and subscribe on whatever podcast platform you prefer. Give us a 5-star review–no really, it actually matters! Share it around to your friends. Tout it on whatever social media platforms you frequent. I plan to keep the show free to listen to, but I need your support to keep it going. Please consider joining as a paying subscriber at, Build The Next Right Thing. Every little bit helps.
Welcome to the New School for City Builders.
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