The Messy City
The Messy City Podcast
Travel Lessons
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Travel Lessons

What can community-builders take away from foreign travel that goes beyond the obvious?

So-called “urbanists” tend to travel to foreign lands and come back with the obvious takeaways: foreign cities good, American cities bad. I get that. I understand the impulse. I’ve done it myself, so who am I to judge?

But let’s suppose for a minute we put that impulse on pause, and ask, what can we learn that can be applied quickly and inexpensively to American cities? If we look past the charm of thousand-year old human settlements, are there other lessons worth learning? I explore this, and have some quick thoughts on the IDA conference in Seattle as well.


Find more content on The Messy City on Kevin’s Substack page.

Music notes: all songs by low standards, ca. 2010. Videos here. If you’d like a CD for low standards, message me and you can have one for only $5.

Intro: “Why Be Friends

Outro: “Fairweather Friend


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The Messy City
The Messy City Podcast
Embracing change, uncertainty and local initiative for our cities and towns