13 / Walkability trojan horses, downtown stadiums, & a weekend at MLS cup.

An evening episode, following a weekend at MLS Cup in the underrated city of Columbus, Ohio. Festivals, sporting events, concerts, and holiday gatherings are all great entryways into the concept of walkable cities; people are empowered to explore an environment on foot - often on streets closed to cars, and opened up to people. They're a trojan horse, if you will. This audio is a reflection from one of those (don’t worry, if you don’t like soccer this one is still for you!).

We discuss:

• Overheard at MLS Cup. Urbanism takeaways from a weekend in downtown Columbus, Ohio.


• Large sporting events, concerts, and holiday festivals as trojan horses for walkable cities.


• Downtown stadiums determine the depth of a fan base.


• Lack of parking scares people in the short term, but it’s ultimately what makes them love places in the long term.


• Can we build walkable neighborhoods without an explicit, quantifiable, common interest?


• Why are some of the cities with the worst weather the best for biking and walking? Infrastructure matters.


• How Minneapolis, Portland, and NYC overcome weather to encourage active mobility and transportation.

Further context:

• Columbus Crew's stadium location, and how to walk, bike, or transit there.


• The best cities for biking in the U.S. (Note: the weather is not a deterrent).

Connecting with me, Brad:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On Instagram.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On TikTok⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠


• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On LinkedIn⁠⁠.