120. Growing Communities for Humans with Jeff Siegler

Jeff Siegler is back with an incredibly thought-provoking episode about built places, communities, assumptions, and loneliness, and why designing our spaces and cities and towns to promote community is so important. This episode has it all: hot takes, hard truths, hard-to-discuss-but-mega-important ideas, and solutions to forge a better path forward.    (Please tell us you also read that last sentence like Bill Hader's SNL character Stefon on Weekend Update.)    About Jeff:   Jeff Siegler is a writer, speaker, and consultant concerned with the powerful role place plays in our lives. He is the founder of the civic pride consulting firm, Revitalize, or Die and co-founder of the organization Proud Places. After obtaining his Masters in Urban Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University, Jeff went to work on Main Street. First as a downtown manager, and later as the Ohio Main Street State Coordinator. His first book, “Your City is Sick" is scheduled to be released on September 1st.. Jeff and his wife Amber and their four kids call Pittsburgh home.     In this episode, we cover: Why we need to be intentional about our communities Why beauty actually isn’t all that subjective How the “urban” and “rural” labels can contribute to divisiveness and blind spots How much our built environment affects our health A better way forward Links and Resources Mentioned: Your City is Sick Website (almost ready! Keep checking back!) YourCityisSick.com Ann Sussman's Cognitive Architecture  Ep. 99 with Jeff - How to Combat Apathy in Your Small Town: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode99