Downtowns across the country are struggling after COVID — with empty storefronts, declining foot traffic, and major uncertainty about the future of office districts and city centers.

In this episode of Building Better Cities, host Kate Gasparro sits down with Mayor Knox White of Greenville, South Carolina to unpack what it really takes to save a downtown — and why Greenville’s approach has become a national model for mid-sized cities.

Greenville, SC is now known for its walkable Main Street, mixed-use downtown living, and the transformation of the Reedy River into Falls Park. But that success was far from inevitable. Mayor White reflects on downtown decline in the 1970s, the decision to invest ahead of the market, and the political courage behind bold moves like narrowing Main Street and removing the Camperdown Bridge.

The conversation explores:

• Downtown revitalization strategies after COVID
• Public-private partnerships in city redevelopment
• How tax increment financing (TIF) can support downtown recovery
• Why mixed-use development is essential for vibrant city centers
• How cities can reinvest downtown success beyond the core
• Housing affordability and rising rents in revitalized downtowns

As many cities search for ways to bring life back to downtown corridors, Greenville’s experience offers timely lessons on leadership, planning, and long-term investment.

This episode is for city leaders, planners, developers, and anyone thinking seriously about the future of downtown America.

Resources:

From groundbreaking to opening of Honor Tower, see Unity Park through the years (Greenville News)

Falls Park on the Reedy (Rudy Bruner Award)

Downtown Reborn (City of Greenville)

Small and midsized downtown recovery: Overcoming obstacles and uplifting innovative solutions in four regions (Brookings)

To save downtowns, cities need to do more than turn offices into housing (Urban Institute)

Can we save the downtown? Examining pandemic recovery trajectories across 72 North American cities (Cities)

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One year ago, the Los Angeles wildfires made one thing unmistakably clear: climate risk is no longer peripheral to urban life — it is a defining condition for many cities. The loss of thousands of homes has forced urgent questions about how to rebuild in climate-risk areas.

Homeowners are facing rising insurance costs — further exacerbating the affordability crisis. Earlier this year, we explored how pricing climate risk into insurance could create a pathway for insurers to re-enter these markets. Beyond that approach, there are more efforts to make insurance more affordable. But without fundamentally changing how we design for resilience, these tools risk normalizing unsafe conditions rather than correcting them.

That’s why we’re replaying this timely conversation with Alisa Valderrama, founder of FutureProof. As a climate-based insurtech start-up, FutureProof prices climate risk using insurance data and weather models. With a recent aquisition, FutureProof is expanding it's capabilities to address wildfire risk in pricing products for leading national insurers. In this episode, Alisa shares how quantifying climate risk for insurers is changing the way we build (and rebuild) with resilience.

Resources:

FutureProof Technologies Acquires Terrafuse AI to Address Wildfire Risk (Business Wire)

Who Pays When Insurance Fails to Cover Climate Disasters? (NRDC)

Forging a resilient future for California's homeowners and insurers (McKinsey)

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How do you make mission-driven development pencil in a neighborhood shaped by decades of disinvestment?

In this episode of Building Better Cities, host Kate Gasparro sits down with J. Byron Brazier, lead developer of Woodlawn Central, a nearly $895 million mixed-use development on Chicago’s South Side anchored by the Apostolic Church of God. Together, they explore how community-led, faith-based development can drive large-scale urban regeneration without displacement.

The conversation dives into how Woodlawn Central is moving forward without relying on Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and how financing tools like joint ventures, phased development, and future tax-increment strategies help the project pencil.

This episode is a must-listen for developers, city leaders, investors, planners, and community builders interested in equitable development, transit-oriented districts, and new models for community-driven urban revitalization.

Resources:

Woodlawn Central: "A model for the new Black community" (Urbanize Chicago)

A Woodlawn megadevelopment stirs hope and fear in the Chicago neighborhood (WBEZ Chicago)

Price tag for Church's sweeping plant to redevelopment Woodlawn property could hit $1B (Block Club Chicago)

Bid to aid 'vulnerable residents' by Obama Presidential Center wins city panel's unanimous backing (WBEZ Chicago)

Why homes for low-income renters are far more expensive to build (BisNow)

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Why is housing so expensive — and what are states doing about it? Well... California has passed SB 79 to spur transit-oriented development. This upzoning will leverage infrastructure investments to increase supply and build more sustainable cities. To unpack what that means, host Kate Gasparro sits down with Ben Metcalf, Managing Director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley and one of the nation’s leading experts on housing policy, zoning reform, and development feasibility.

Ben brings a rare, full-spectrum view of the housing system — from his experience as a developer, to shaping national policy at HUD under the Obama Administration, to leading California’s Department of Housing and Community Development. Together, Kate and Ben explore:

• What SB 79 actually does and why it’s a big deal
• How upzoning and land use reform are becoming bipartisan tools to address the housing shortage
• The political tension between state mandates and local control
• Lessons from other states pursuing transit-oriented development (TOD) and pro-housing policy
• What cities, planners, and developers need to prepare for implementation
• How national cost pressures — construction inflation, interest rates, labor shortages — shape what gets built

If you follow housing policy, zoning reform, TOD, state housing laws, land use planning, or the future of affordability, this episode breaks down the trends shaping America’s housing landscape and how SB 79 could become a national model.

Listen in to learn how policy reform and industry innovation can unlock more homes, stronger transit systems, and more equitable cities.

Resources:

Gov. Newsom signs law overhauling local zoning to build more housing (Cal Matters)

State housing policy changes are more random than you think (Mercatus Center)

Framing Futures: pro-housing legislation goes vertical in 2025 (Mercatus Center)

How Minneapolis became the first to end single-family zoning (PBS)

Unlocking additional housing through accessory dwelling units (American Legislative Exchange Council)

Unlocking the power of transit-oriented development (Building Better Cities)

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When the Building Better Cities podcast launched just over a year ago, we set out to explore how we design and deliver the infrastructure and buildings that shape our lives.

So this week, Kate is revisiting the very first episode of the podcast — a conversation with Dr. Andrew Sonta that explores the connection between the urban form and social cohesion. His work at EPFL focuses on human interaction in the built environment. And, since the conversation, more studies have expanded on this idea, showing something fascinating — and a little troubling. Even as our cities are built to enable connection, people are walking faster, lingering less, and spending less time in shared spaces.

It feels like the right moment to pause and reflect on why that’s happening — and what it means for the kind of cities we’re building. As we continue to talk about smart growth, density, and sustainability, it’s worth remembering that cities are also social ecosystems. The way we move through and experience them matters.

Resources:

Rethinking walkability: Exploring the relationship between urban form and neighborhood social cohesion (Sustainable Cities and Society)

Pedestrians now walk fast and linger less, researchers find (MIT)

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More than a century after the Tulsa Race Massacre devastated Black Wall Street, the land where that thriving community once stood is again shaping Tulsa’s future. The 56 acres of Kirkpatrick Heights and Greenwood, long defined by stalled redevelopment and distrust, are now the focus of a community-led effort to restore both land and power.

In this episode, Kate speaks with Ashley Philippsen and Dr. Lana Turner-Addison, co-chairs of the Kirkpatrick Heights–Greenwood Master Plan. Ashley is Executive Director of ImpactTulsa and a former Deputy Chief of Community Development and Policy for the City of Tulsa. Dr. Turner-Addison is a lifelong North Tulsa resident, educator, and advocate who has served as President of Tulsa Public Schools Board and Director of Human Rights for the City.

Together, they discuss how the plan has led to the formation of the new Greenwood Legacy CDC, and what it takes to navigate history, rebuild trust, and center healing, ownership, and accountability in community development.

Resources:

Redevelopment plan advances for Tulsa massacre area (Congress for New Urbanism)

Tulsa announces reparations for the 1921 'Black Wall Street' massacre (Washington Post)

Greenwood Legacy Corporation to host 2 community meetings (Fox)

How Tulsa, Oklahoma's civic and philanthropic leaders have catalyzed inclusive, tech-driven economic growth (Brookings)

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Penn Station has long been more than just a transit hub — it’s a mirror of New York itself: ambitious, messy, and perpetually under construction. Decades after the original station opened, financial troubles forced its owners to sell the air rights above, paving the way for Madison Square Garden. Now, the station is poised to embark on a new chapter of redevelopment.

In this episode, host Kate Gasparro sits down with documentarian Claire Read to discuss her film Penn F---ing Station, which traces years of high-stakes political maneuvering, community resistance, and evolving design visions for the station’s renewal.

After years of gubernatorial leadership shaping the project, the Trump administration has recently stepped into a lead role — placing Amtrak and the U.S. Department of Transportation in control.

Together, Kate and Claire explore how local dynamics, often kept off the national front page, ultimately determine how major projects come together. They unpack what this new federal intervention means for power, accountability, and the long-term trajectory of the project — and how documenting Penn Station’s evolution reveals broader truths about who builds cities, who shapes their futures, and how the local and the national collide in urban development.

Resources:

Trump administration takes control of $7B Penn Station redevelopment (Construction Dive)

When Penn Station Was a Masterpiece (The New York Historical)

The Gods of Times Square (IMDB)

Penn Station advocates to submit their own redevelopment plan (City & State New York)

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In Ann Arbor, Michigan, a bold experiment in community building is underway. Veridian at County Farm is a 14-acre net-zero neighborhood redefining what sustainable living can look like.

In this episode, host Kate Gasparro sits down with Matt Grocoff, the visionary developer behind Veridian. Matt shares the story of how he discovered the site, the ethos driving its design, and how a virtual power plant with onsite solar and batteries will allow the community to be self-sufficient while also serving as an asset to the regional grid.

Together, Kate and Matt also explore how Veridian integrates energy, water, and food systems to create a model for resilient, regenerative living. Veridian is proof that sustainability can be woven into everyday life- not at a premium upgrade, but as the foundation for a healthier, more resilient community.

Resources:

Energy-Efficient Isnt' Enough, So Homes Go "Net Zero" (NYTimes)

Residents have almost no energy bills int his self-powered Ann Arbor neighborhood (M Live)

"Net Zero" Living in a Green Home in a Walkable, Historic Neighborhood (Smart Cities Dive)

Ann Arbor's sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid fo the future- alongside the old one (The Conversation)

Thanks for listening to Building Better Cities!
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