Next City
Join Lucas Grindley, executive director at Next City, where we believe journalists have the power to amplify solutions and spread workable ideas. Each week Lucas will sit down with trailblazers to discuss urban issues that get overlooked. At the end of the day, it's all about focusing the world's attention on the good ideas that we hope will grow. Grab a seat from the bus, subway, light-rail, or whatever your transit-love may be and listen on the go as we spread solutions from one city to the Next City .
Episodes
164 episodes
What Happens When the Bus Is Free To Ride
Cities everywhere are proving paying a fare to ride the bus isn’t necessary, and getting rid of fares altogether makes them more useful.
Where the Employees Bought The Landscaping Business
This El Paso landscaping company is now owned by its employees.
Uber-For-Buses Comes Right to Your Door
What rideshare did for cars is proving possible for buses in cities everywhere. It’s called microtransit.
These Tenants Took on Their Corporate Landlords
Private equity firms own their homes. When these tenants weren’t getting repairs they needed, they put their rent in escrow.
Let’s Talk More About EBikes, Less About Electric Cars
What could leaders do to make ebikes the transportation of the future?
Tulsa Offered to Pay People to Move; 50,000 Applied
This Oklahoma city bet that remote workers would move to the city if offered a set of incentives, including cash. They were right.
Understanding Patagonia and Perpetual Purpose Trusts
The big news that a billionaire had “given away” his company to fight climate change is actually part of a movement that is redefining the goals of business.
That Art On Your Street Makes Them Safer
Using art to redesign streets cut by half the rate of traffic crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists.
One City Is Already Making Reparations Payments
Evanston, Illinois is sending checks — long before the debate even gets started at the federal level about whether reparations are possible.
These LGBTQ Seniors Built Their Own Place to Retire
Village Hearth in North Carolina is one example of LGBTQ seniors innovating ways of creating truly inclusive housing.
How Many Cities Are in the World? A New Way to Count
Until recently, there wasn’t any standard definition of a city. Now researchers can finally make comparisons across countries and continents.
Using Queer Power to Stem Gentrification
When finding an affordable place to live seemed fanciful, these organizers formed a collective called Queer The Land and purchased housing together.
Ending the Colonial Mindset in International Philanthropy
This nonprofit shows foundations that their support isn’t about exporting some scarce resource; it’s about unleashing a community’s own plentiful potential.
These Maps Once Showed Where Being Gay Was Safe
Today on the show we’re talking about a travel guide — The Damron Guides.
A Proven Way to Reduce Violence in Cities
No, it’s not more police.
Can This Beer Stop Lesbian Bars From Going Extinct?
These beer lovers created a specialty line that just might help preserve lesbian culture — even as gathering spaces like lesbian bars disappear.
The Case for Guaranteed Income for Transgender Americans
The reality is that transgender women experience poverty rates as high as 30%. Rates of poverty are worst for Black and Latinx transgender people.
Where Overdue Library Books Became A Thing of the Past
Libraries in New York City are proving you don’t need fines to get books returned. What can everyone learn from what’s working?
Taking the Corporate Profits Out of Your News
Hedge funds have quietly bought up local newspapers across the country. A movement of nonprofit newsrooms is countering corporate news.
The First City To Launch Its Own Bank
What becomes possible when the public owns the bank?
Chinatown Nights Is Cultural Power And Preservation
The event is called “place-keeping” as it turns back a wave of anti-Asian hate that came with the pandemic, fights gentrification, and celebrates what makes
Too Hot? Your City Needs a New Coat of Paint
Heat is intensifying, thanks to climate change. A coalition of cities is pioneering a makeover for roads and rooftops that makes everything feel cooler.
How Cap-And-Trade Keeps People In Their Homes
The California cap-and-trade program is building up cash while lowering carbon emissions. We look at one way that money is being put to use.
What If We Put Another House in Your Backyard?
The rising cost of homes in Evanston is driving gentrification and displacement.
The Only County Where Child Removal Is Race-Blind
When decisions about whether to remove a child from a home are race-blind, fewer Black children end up in the system.
Can Landlords Compromise? This Anti-Eviction Program Says Yes
With a growing understanding that eviction is a cause of poverty, it’s imperative we find solutions that keep tenants in their homes.
The Business That’s Owned By An Idea
A bakery in Oakland isn’t owned by a person or profit-hungry investors.
What If You Give $5,800 To Someone Who Is Homeless?
A foundation in Vancouver decided to see what would happen if it gave a lump sum of cash to people experiencing homelessness. It changed their lives.
We Could Stop Policing Homelessness and Start Helping
We Could Stop Policing Homelessness and Start Helping Description: Many business districts hire security to “solve” homelessness.
Is Giving Away Cash the Best Way to Cut Poverty?
Guaranteed income programs are spreading fast.
Can Higher Education Bring Your City to the Next Level?
The push for equality has often been emboldened in Greensboro, North Carolina by its education system.
What Kind of City Evolves from a Crossroads?
Tracing the origins of a city like Greensboro, North Carolina uncovers the character of the place it is today.
What To Do When Racism Is Profitable
Meet the co-founder of an organization working to dismantle the “oppression economy” and manifest the “liberation economy.”
Welcome to Princeville, A Town Founded By Black Americans
The North Carolina town of Princeville is considered by many to be the first ever founded in the United States by African-Americans.
Actually Foundations Keep 95% of Their Cash
The open secret about philanthropy is that way more resources are put behind making money than giving it away.
This Technology Has Cleared 140,000 Marijuana-Related Convictions So Far
Having a criminal record stops plenty of people from getting their next job — even if they have a marijuana-related conviction, and even if what was once
This Is Our Land, Not A Money-Making Scheme
A change in how banks do business caused an explosion of private companies becoming our landlords.
The Real Reason Dollars Stores Are Everywhere
Almost half of the stores that opened in 2020 was a Dollar Store. The pandemic might’ve contributed to the problem, but it’s not the only issue.
An ‘Unapologetically Black’ Monument Rises in Los Angeles
A new monument is designed to showcase the rich cultural history and beauty of the predominantly Black community in Crenshaw.
This Ride-Hailing App Alternative Is Owned By the Drivers
You’ve probably heard complaints about Uber and Lyft from drivers who spend all day working for the apps but who aren’t full-time employees.
These Formerly Incarcerated Women Launched A Worker-Owned Business
ChiFresh Kitchen is a worker cooperative, which means the founders share equally in the management of the business and the profits.
The Black-Owned Startup Turning Buildings Into Teslas
Time is running out to reduce our carbon footprint. Did you know that 40% of carbon comes from buildings?
These Cities Have Ended Chronic Homelessness
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for homelessness. But there is a by-name database.
Introducing Next City
Don’t listen to people who say our problems are too big to solve. We're here to set the narrative straight on a new podcast from Next City.