My Town Hustle

Wait, what? What happened? Where have you guys been? Contrary to popular belief we aren’t dead, but we have experienced lots of changes in the past few months. We’ve been all over the place, but we’re back now. Hear what’s new with the My Town Hustlers, and what we’ve got planned for the future. Thanks for sticking with us and stay tuned for new episodes coming soon. (Don

What is gentrification? What does it look like? Is it happening here? Where is it happening? In this episode, we’ll discuss the history and origins of gentrification and offer some definitions, examples, and thoughts on how communities address equity in development (or redevelopment) so that everyone benefits. As you’ll hear, we all know what the tropes of gentrification are, b

Parking! Minimums! Can you feel the excitement!!!! In all honesty, this is an important topic and one of the key areas of local policy that communities can modify to support small businesses and the general business environment. With Black Friday and Small Business Saturday in our recent memory, and similar events becoming more significant retail opportunities for downtowns, the ti

With the recent passage of the federal infrastructure bill, broadband is once again at the forefront of the conversation. While this topic has never been far from the front page in rural communities, additional funding provided through recent legislation has rekindled many discussions around how to provide access to the highest need and most difficult to serve communities. In this

Election Day 2021! Both Sam and Bret were running for local office (school board and city council respectively), and this was our honest conversation about the election experience on the most anxious and tense day of the year! In this episode, we give an honest perspective on what it was like conducting a campaign, how it compared to expectations, what kinds of feedback folks provi

Sometimes, you get to meet your heroes. In this week's episode of My Town Hustle, we are excited to share our interview with Chuck Marohn, the Founder and President of Strong Towns, and the author of the new book ‘Confessions of a Recovering Engineer’- released in September 2021. In our conversation, we discuss the transportation challenges identified in Chuck’s new book, ide

Can you see me now? How about now? As part of our effort to evolve My Town Hustle to the next level – we’re making the podcast a video show! We’ll still have the podcast for you to enjoy as you always have. Now you’ll just be able to see our faces. If you want to. (You definitely want to.)Be sure to tune in for our interview with Chuck Marohn from StrongTowns!Who’s on it?

My Town Hustle is just over a year old! In celebration of this, we wanted to look back at our first year and reflect on our experience and share what we’ve learned. Perhaps most importantly, we have a new studio, new equipment, new sounds (‘talk to me goose…’), new hot takes, and a new commitment to keep the show going and growing in the future. We’ve got an exciting inte

Infrastructure is often hailed as the key to our future economic success. While there is absolutely no doubt that it is critically important, are we giving enough consideration to the long-term costs of infrastructure projects in our communities? Are we targeting returns that provide actual dollars invested in our communities or tangible cost savings to stakeholders? Or are we targ

Rural communities, especially those in Appalachia are filled with legacy industrial sites that remain from our collective industrial past. Often these facilities remain vacant, consuming valuable space in our communities, hoping for a future that despite every opportunity, has never come. In this episode, we will talk about one such site in our town, and how we can (and should) pul