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What if the way we move our bodies could change how we move a city forward? We sit down with artist-organizer and Eureka Councilmember Leslie Castellano to explore how dance, art, housing, and transit can pull a fractured community back into rhythm. From Florida’s Gulf Coast to Humboldt’s dunes, Leslie traces a path that runs through Tai Chi, contact improvisation, and the founding of Synapsis—each step teaching her to listen, share weight, and build momentum together.

We dig into why art isn’t a luxury but a survival skill in a time of noise and division. Leslie shares how the Ink People’s new permanent home will bring a gallery, youth classrooms, a recording studio, and a youth-run coffee shop under one roof—giving teens real tools for creativity, workforce skills, and belonging. We talk fiscal sponsorships for 90-plus projects, music mentors who help young bands record, and the power of spaces that make it easy to show up and make something new.

Then we get practical about the city we want to live in. Leslie lays out a grounded vision: mixed-use blocks on Wabash, ADUs that add both homes and homeowner equity, and small parklets that spark street life. We unpack the funded Eureka Transit Center—transit hub below, workforce housing above—plus microtransit on-demand, better bike storage, and faster connections that make buses a real option. Parking pressures, data-driven thresholds, and when a garage makes sense all get honest airtime. Along the way, we celebrate vinyl’s tactile joy, live shows that bond strangers, and the kind of “calling in” that turns critique into learning.

If you care about rebuilding the commons—where neighbors meet, create, and move—this conversation offers both heart and a roadmap. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves Humboldt, and leave a review telling us: what would you build first?

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About 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond

Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.

We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.

We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing North Coast of California 100%!

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