Video Interview: Aaron Lubeck on Southern Urbanism

I'm starting a weekly video series for subscribers

Hey readers,

Here’s my plan: I’m going to start posting weekly video interviews with various city-makers — elected officials, nonprofit leaders, thinkers, writers, developers, designers, and planners — every Friday.

These are going to be casual, 30-minute conversations. Over time I will probably make these videos more sophisticated by adding graphics and editing. But to keep the process simple for now, I’m Zooming and posting… and really trying hard not to overthink the who, what, and why for now.

Pocket neighborhood design; Aaron Lubeck

I asked Aaron Lubeck to be my initial guinea pig — thank you, Aaron! You may know Aaron from his Substacks, On Housing and Southern Urbanism. I think he’s got a great perspective on reimagining the single-family home and adding incremental density to cities and suburbs. I wanted to hear some more of his fresh takes on urbanism in the South, so I asked him to chat.

In the video, you can learn about:

• Durham’s zoning reform that allows a duplex and an ADU (three homes!) on lots near downtown, and how that zoning helps Durham build starter homes of under 1,200 square feet

• How developers are thinking about creating pocket neighborhoods of 8-12 homes on a shared lot in suburban settings

• How ADUs are contributing to walkability in southern cities

• The new walkable developments going up in red states

Note: my plan is make these videos just available to subscribers. Please support this work and upgrade to paid!