#11 Thomas Dougherty: Infill Development; Smaller Scale & Vibrancy; Humanism

Today, I have friend and colleague Thomas Dougherty on the podcast. Last year Tom joined the Building Culture team as our lead Urban Designer. He studied architecture and urban design at Notre Dame and focused on inner block development and has become known as the "alley-guy" for his expertise in creating spaces in these areas. It's a great conversation focused on the centralization of capital in real estate and how that affects decision making, how we prioritize profits over people and most importantly what we can do differently to try and solve these issues. We chat about smaller scale development and the creation of smaller grained places that are essential for vibrant communities, as well as how our current infrastructure is unsustainable financially and how we will see the effects in the next few decades. We discuss infill development, local investment and rethinking the way we raise capital, and finally we dive into the potential for infill development like creating streets as spaces that can really create beautiful, wonderful places. People really can be enriching forces on our built environment and are capable of immense good and immense beauty- hope you enjoy the conversation!

• Takeaways

  TAKEAWAYS - The centralization of capital in real estate development leads to decisions that prioritize maximum returns over human flourishing. - Smaller-scale development and the creation of smaller grained places are essential for building vibrant communities. - Current infrastructure is unsustainable and requires financial innovation to address its high costs. - Financing new urbanist projects is challenging due to the changing landscape of real estate finance. - Infill development offers opportunities for incremental growth and the revitalization of existing communities. - Local investment empowers individuals and strengthens communities. - Capital plays a significant role in shaping development and should be aligned with the values of creating human-scaled places. - Recognizing the potential of infill development and building streets as public spaces can create inviting and reflective environments.

• References

  REFERENCES https://ioncommunity.com/

• Connect with Thomas Dougherty

  CONNECT WITH THOMAS DOUGHERTY https://www.innerblock.org/about

• Connect with Building Culture

  CONNECT WITH BUILDING CULTURE https://www.buildingculture.com/ https://www.instagram.com/buildingculture/ https://twitter.com/build_culture https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-tunnell-2a41894a/ https://www.facebook.com/BuildCulture/ https://www.tiktok.com/@buildingculture

• Connect with Austin Tunnell

  CONNECT WITH AUSTIN TUNNELL https://www.instagram.com/austintunnell/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-tunnell-2a41894a/ https://twitter.com/AustinTunnell https://linktr.ee/austintunnell https://playbook.buildingculture.com/p/ready-fire-aim

• Chapters

  00:00 Introduction and Background
  01:04 Becoming Known as the Alley Guy
  05:01 The Concept of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
  07:08 The Potential of Alleys for ADUs
  09:05 The American Alley Hidden Resource
  12:26 The Impact of Experiencing Human Scale
  19:34 Reimagining Suburbs as Villages and Market Towns
  30:04 The Limitations of Subdivisions
  33:37 The Importance of Language and Advocacy
  38:32 Empowering Individuals in Shaping the Built Environment
  39:31 The Centralization of Capital
  41:25 The Importance of Small-Scale Development
  43:20 The Unsustainability of Current Infrastructure
  45:52 The Need for Financial Innovation
  47:23 The Difficulty of Financing New Urbanist Projects
  50:15 The Potential of Infill Development
  52:20 The Power of Local Investment
  55:51 The Role of Capital in Development
  57:19 Recognizing the Opportunities in Infill Development
  59:52 Building Streets as Public Spaces

01:06:04 listen