Do We Have A Housing Crisis? Two Perspectives from behind the front lines Plus our Tribute to Sly Stone & Brian Wilson
Release Date: 07/09/2025
New England Equity Collaborative Transforms Lives One Neighborhood at a Time
Are We Here Yet Podcast
is a realtor who recently donned the hat of a developer and non-profit leader. What makes this remarkable is the model of her new venture, . The NEEC is targeting families across a wide spectrum of backgrounds for co-living in pocket neighborhood developments combining services like art and music therapy with a more affordable and desirable place to live. Listen in if you are a non-profit leader looking to discover how to refine your model. Listen in if you are a new urbanist looking for an intentional design to a pocket neighborhood. Listen in if you care about innovation...
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Hypnotic Boogie: Re-discovering the Hill Country Blues
Are We Here Yet Podcast
The Hill Country Blues is, in effect for many of us, a form of early american music that is hiding in plain site. Take one part, fife and folk from the british isles,another part west african polyrhythms. Mix european balladeering with caribbean hypnotic rhythms. What begins as drum and fife music deep in the hills of northern Mississippi and Alabama blended with other blues from the region then heavily influenced the likes of Rock legends like Bo Diddley. We're re-discovering what Hill Country blues is all about. I'm joined by 2025 Massachusetts beat poet...
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Our 200th Episode
Are We Here Yet Podcast
Robert Reich wrote on his substack for September 16, One study found that of Americans expect a second civil war to happen “in the next few years,” even if the specifics vary according to one’s politics and imagination. On the other hand, unlike the Civil War of 1861-1865, no particular issue — like slavery back then — pulls the nation apart. While immigration, crime, abortion, and LGBTQ+ rights are controversial, none of these seem to elicit the anger and passions that might generate civil war. Nor are we enduring an economic calamity, pandemic, world war, or other national...
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A Housers Report from Rural New England
Are We Here Yet Podcast
Darren Sherburne is Associate Broker of Four Seasons Sotheby’s Fairlee VT office and an active houser developing a variety of properties in the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont. Darren reports on the current housing challenges in his region and gave us plenty to think about regarding how to get more of your housers started, where the funding can come from, what policy measures could improve our situation in Vermont and Northern New England. You’ll appreciate Darren’s focused intent on successful building, successful housing.
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For the Small Scale Developer In Your Life
Are We Here Yet Podcast
Andrew Overton is a founding member of , where he partners with small developers and communities to make sense of the real estate process. From acquisitions and zoning to community outreach, my daily goal is helping others feel supported—especially those stepping into development for the first time. I’ve spent years coaching new developers, breaking down regulatory hurdles, and building education programs to empower people, because real success comes from informed decision-making that benefits both clients and neighborhoods. Today we’re speaking directly to you, small scale or...
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Getting in the Zone: Make or Break Your Cities Recovery
Are We Here Yet Podcast
I’m joined this week by Ed Bove, the Planning Director for my hometown of Rutland, Vermont, USA. A year into his tenure Ed is leading the effort to refine our cities zoning regulations to reflect an effort to build 1000 units of housing in five years. We discussed the inner workings of the ongoing regs themselves, what changes are needed and why and the vision for what our community desires for results. We discussed the shortcomings and challenges for building middle market housing in Rutland and solutions for proliferating projects and small-scale developers who...
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Sticking to the Plan
Are We Here Yet Podcast
The city of North Adams, MA is a great locale these days if your passion is transforming downtowns. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is slated to fund a complete reversal of urban renewal’s worst mid-century mistakes by eliminating the Route 2 overpass. There are myriad other improvements in the works, too. That’s why the folks who care the most about their city reinvigorated the North Adams Partnership, who is brushing off the dust on an otherwise vibrant long-term plan for the city’s next chapter and hired Jenny Wright to lead the effort. If you are a...
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Build with Purpose: Proptimal’s Lilian Chen
Are We Here Yet Podcast
We’re joined this week by tech founder and Real Estate professional Lilian Chen. She founded in order to provide foundational knowledge for investors and developers who generally don’t get the attention they deserve from firms focused on established clients. We talked about the inherent challenges in serving smaller clients and on the importance of your underlying analytical processes. Lilian guides clients to ensure their focused on the right processes based on their clear goals. Not about right or wrong, good or bad. But about can you work with the right context...
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Rural Spotlight: 1Berkshires Ben Lamb
Are We Here Yet Podcast
I’ve wanted to interview Ben Lamb for a few years now and he did not disappoint. We spoke on diversifying revenue streams for his organization's regional work and whether the rapid federal funding changes are having an effect. We also spent considerable time on housing challenges and what it could look like using a growing housing sector to improve the regional economy. We made an argument against de-populating western MA (in fact, Berkshire county is re-populating) and we took a close look at the state of the region’s micro markets, some behind 2000 units or...
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Our Debate and Report on the State of Artificial Intelligence
Are We Here Yet Podcast
The Innova802 crew sat down to take stock together on where we stand on Artificial Intelligence: Its effect on politics, creativity, industry, labor, culture and the possibility of global destabilization. Have no fear, rather than simply complaining as to the side effects of an inappropriately deployed plan by the tech sector for AI, we delve into each of our insights on how a beneficial future could be wrought through the use of AI. This could be a highly informative episode for our listeners coming on the heels of the United State’s WHite House report, Resources...
info_outlineI had the distinct pleasure to sit down with two leading voices from the Congress for New Urbanism this past spring for a frank conversation on our current housing crisis. Their different ages and life experiences offer us a wealth of perspective to learn from and leverage. Let’s dive right in to learn together in order to better each of our efforts to solve the issues of housing in America.
Todd Zimmerman and his partner Laurie Volk founded Zimmerman/Volk Associates four decades ago, to address the walkability and economic viability of cities and towns throughout the United States. They developed over that time their own methodology for completing the work they performed. Both got their start as journalists and like so many of us who came to development from a non-traditional background, leveraged their skills to bring fresh ideas to the realm of the built environment.
Carlos Sainz Caccia is a Mexican born Urban planner living and working in Boston Massachusetts for the leading firm Utile. His perspective particularly caught my attention in the fall of 2024 as I participated in a debate on the merits of CNU’s voice in solving the current housing crisis during CNU’s regional conference in Providence, RI.
We start our discussion with Carlos’s take on what’s driving housing’s unaffordability. These conversations often quickly stream into the social, financial, cultural and other worlds that contribute to the problem but inform possible solutions. We then move to a broader look at the issues contributing with Todd.
We’re going to present these conversations over several episodes. Thanks for our friends at the Congress for New Urbanism for suggesting these interviews and introducing us to Carlos and Todd. We hope you enjoy.