Next City

Join Lucas Grindley, executive director at Next City, where we believe journalists have the power to amplify solutions and spread workable ideas. Each week Lucas will sit down with trailblazers to discuss urban issues that get overlooked. At the end of the day, it's all about focusing the world's attention on the good ideas that we hope will grow. Grab a seat from the bus, subway, light-rail, or whatever your transit-love may be and listen on the go as we spread solutions from one city to the Next City .

Episodes

Revisiting Lexington - "This ‘Big Town’ Has Solutions for Cities Everywhere"

July 23, 2025 • 29 mins

This week, we’re revisiting an episode we released earlier this year, all about Lexington, Kentucky — a city where collaboration and creativity are transforming challenges into opportunities. In this episode, we highlighted how Lexington’s leaders are finding ways to foster nonpartisanship, boost civic engagement, and narrow the racial wealth gap.

We’re bringing this episode back now because it offers a window into the themes we exp...

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Creating Common Ground: The Value of Public Parks

July 16, 2025 • 25 mins

The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore® Index each year ranks the 100 largest U.S. cities on factors such as park access, investment, and equity. In this sponsored episode, we explore how cities have turned their ParkScore data into action—investing in green spaces to spark civic engagement and foster a genuine sense of belonging.

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How Community Development Is Responding To This Crossroads

July 9, 2025 • 32 mins

Community development in America is at a pivotal moment. Long-standing federal programs that fuel homeownership, support small businesses, and promote neighborhood revitalization—especially in communities of color—are now under threat.

But on today's sponsored episode, we’ll hear how the people working on the front lines of equitable development are adapting, organizing, and doubling down on their missions.

Guests on this episode in...

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Not My Narrative – “The Bootstraps Narrative” (Pilot Episode)

June 25, 2025 • 39 mins

This week, we’re trying something new: instead of our usual Next City episode, we’re sharing the pilot for “Not My Narrative,” an experimental mini-series that not only debunks harmful myths holding back progress but also elevates the counter-narratives driving positive momentum.

In this debut episode of Not My Narrative, Host Lucas Grindley, Executive Director of Next City, takes listeners on an examination of one of America’s most...

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Unlocking Housing Access: Why Tenant Screening Protections Matter

June 11, 2025 • 39 mins

In the U.S., approximately 3.6 million households are threatened by eviction each year, and for many, the consequences last long after the eviction itself. Even if individuals avoid losing their homes, eviction records can prevent them from securing future housing. This happens because landlords use tools that screen the rental, credit, employment, income and criminal histories of tenants—often without context or accuracy.

In this s...

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The Evolution of the Queer Women’s Gathering Space?

June 4, 2025 • 32 mins

Back in the 1980s, there were more than 200 lesbian bars across the United States. By 2022, that number had shrunk to 21. This year, a group of friends in Brooklyn joined a recent resurgence of such queer spaces—and set it up as a worker-owned coop, to boot.

Boyfriend Co-op is part cocktail bar, part coffee shop, part workspace. Designed to feel like “a queer living room,” it’s all about ethical, sustainable practices—from its coope...

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The Problem With Streets and Climate Disasters

May 21, 2025 • 21 mins

When fires swept through the wealthy L.A. enclave known as the Pacific Palisades, the images were chaotic: cars abandoned on Sunset Boulevard, people fleeing on foot. A bulldozer had to plow through the traffic just so firefighters could reach the flames.

Planners and researchers recognize the dangers of evacuating thousands at a moment’s notice and argue that our streets urgently need to be redesigned.

“In the event of a climate dis...

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One Way to Ensure ‘Altadena Is Not For Sale’

May 14, 2025 • 36 mins

When the Eaton Fire tore through the Altadena neighborhood in January, many homes were lost. But also at risk was history, culture and community in a neighborhood known for its uniquely high Black homeownership rate. In the aftermath, as displaced residents were overwhelmed, private investors have swooped in, offering to buy up scorched lots for eye-popping amounts of cash.

It's Altadena versus disaster capitalists, and residents ha...

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This “Unapologetically Black” Monument Is Already Changing Los Angeles

May 7, 2025 • 33 mins

In our fifth-ever episode of the Next City podcast, we spoke to Jason Foster of Destination Crenshaw, a monument to Black Los Angeles that had just broken ground. Four years later, that 1.3-mile monument to Black culture—set to be the largest Black public art project in America—has started transforming the city's Crenshaw corridor.

Construction is nearly complete on Sankofa Park, the project's “crown jewel,” which will feature 40,00...

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The Quiet Engine for Affordable Housing in Red and Blue States

April 30, 2025 • 32 mins

The CDFI Fund is a proven driver of affordable housing in every state—red and blue alike. But now, this vital source of financing is at risk of federal cuts. In this episode, we highlight a project in Nashville, Tennessee, made possible by BlueHub Capital, a community development financial institution based in Massachusetts.

In today's episode, we speak to Oscar Perry Abello, the author of "The Banks We Deserve," and with Karen Kell...

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What Happens When Wildfire Relief Inspires Too Many Donations

April 23, 2025 • 27 mins

When wildfires hit Los Angeles in January, people did what they always do in a crisis: They stepped in to help. And many of them donated clothes. Lots and lots of clothes. Volunteers were quickly overwhelmed as bags of clothes began piling up at relief centers.

“What happens is the help that's being offered actually clogs the ability for those cities and the community to help, because it's a mismatch of what the community and the ci...

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The First Draft of Pandemic History

April 10, 2025 • 34 mins

Five years after the start of the COVID pandemic, we revisit journals from the nurses who lived through it. The stories are part of a first draft of history being remembered by the official Manhattan Borough Historian in his new book on New York’s essential workers, “When the City Stopped: Stories from New York's Essential Workers.”

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In Conversation with the Former NEA Chair on What’s Next for the Arts

April 2, 2025 • 30 mins

Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson is the former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, having resigned when President Trump took office. She talks about how the arts are shaping urban policy, including by “healing, bridging and thriving” in communities.

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A Proven Solution For Preventing Homelessness

March 26, 2025 • 35 mins

In this sponsored podcast episode with Results for America, learn how Santa Clara County helped thousands of Californians stay housed.

In 2024, homelessness surged by 18% nationwide, with 23 out of every 10,000 people living on the streets or in shelters. The costs of homelessness are enormous – not just to the health and well-being of those experiencing it, but also to taxpayers, as governments spend billions on housing and servic...

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So Many Land Trusts Launched in NYC That They Created A Map

March 19, 2025 • 33 mins

We talk about community land trusts, or CLTs, a lot at Next City. It's about ownership: The community owns the lands and stewards the land. That means that the buildings on the land – including housing and other spaces like storefronts – can made affordable to own or to rent, in perpetuity.

CLTs are also talked about a lot in New York City. That's how the city went from having just a small handful of CLTs in the early '90s to having...

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How We Get The Banks We Deserve

March 12, 2025 • 36 mins

Banks can be a force for good. It's an idea that's greeted with skepticism in some circles, given the endless list of inequities and disasters perpetuated by our country's leading financial institutions. But if you're a Next City reader, the idea that financial institutions can be part of the solution isn't foreign, given our senior economic justice correspondent Oscar Perry Abello's in-depth coverage of community development finan...

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Fixing the Housing Crisis Goes Beyond Building More Units

March 5, 2025 • 36 mins

The housing crisis isn’t just about supply. This episode explores innovative solutions like community land trusts, tenant protections, and expanded assistance programs that are making homes affordable — and keeping them that way.

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Inside the Fight to Save LGBTQ Landmarks and Culture

February 12, 2025 • 36 mins

Preserving the stories and spaces that define LGBTQ communities is an act of resilience and resistance. Hear from designers, historians, and activists about the vital work of safeguarding these cultural landmarks and ensuring their legacy endures.

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The Intersection of Philanthropy, Storytelling, and Racial Justice

February 5, 2025 • 34 mins

Stories shape how we see the world. In this episode, we bring together philanthropic leaders to explore how funders are relying on journalism to dismantle harmful narratives, amplify underrepresented voices and create equitable communities.

If you know Next City, it'll come as no surprise that we believe journalism can be a powerful vehicle for racial justice. Here in the nonprofit media world, we've seen countless examples of how p...

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Emergent City: A Decade-Long Fight Against Displacement

January 29, 2025 • 33 mins

What happens when a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on deep-pocketed developers? In this episode, we talk to the directors of "Emergent City" and the organizers who fought to preserve Sunset Park’s future.

“Emergent City” (emergentcitydoc.com) documents the 10-year saga of how Brooklyn's Sunset Park community came together to fight a rezoning wanted by deep-pocketed developers. Against all odds, residents won. Filmmakers were there from...

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Next City

Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Revisiting Lexington - "This ‘Big Town’ Has Solutions for Cities Everywhere"

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Creating Common Ground: The Value of Public Parks

How Community Development Is Responding To This Crossroads

Not My Narrative – “The Bootstraps Narrative” (Pilot Episode)

Unlocking Housing Access: Why Tenant Screening Protections Matter

The Evolution of the Queer Women’s Gathering Space?

The Problem With Streets and Climate Disasters

One Way to Ensure ‘Altadena Is Not For Sale’

This “Unapologetically Black” Monument Is Already Changing Los Angeles

The Quiet Engine for Affordable Housing in Red and Blue States

What Happens When Wildfire Relief Inspires Too Many Donations

The First Draft of Pandemic History

In Conversation with the Former NEA Chair on What’s Next for the Arts

A Proven Solution For Preventing Homelessness

So Many Land Trusts Launched in NYC That They Created A Map

How We Get The Banks We Deserve

Fixing the Housing Crisis Goes Beyond Building More Units

Inside the Fight to Save LGBTQ Landmarks and Culture

The Intersection of Philanthropy, Storytelling, and Racial Justice

Emergent City: A Decade-Long Fight Against Displacement

Popular Podcasts

Revisiting Lexington - "This ‘Big Town’ Has Solutions for Cities Everywhere"

Creating Common Ground: The Value of Public Parks