How America's Mayors Are Fighting Back Against Harmful Highways (Andy Schor)

The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast

Highways and other federal transportation investments have destroyed neighborhoods of color across America, even as the current presidential administration attempts to heal those wounds through grants like the Reconnecting Communities Program. But what is it like to actually be a local leader fighting to win that money — especially when the sheer volume of disconnected communities makes the competition dauntingly steep? On this episode of The Brake —and our first dispatch from Bloomberg Citylab 2024 — we sat down with Lansing, Mich. Mayor Andy Schor, who's going above and beyond to win his town the money it needs to address the harms caused by Interstate 496, whose construction claimed more than 800 homes and businessess and even the dirt on which they sat. And along the way, we talk about how local officials and advocates can play a bigger role in resisting bad highway projects, and how mayors are exchanging tools to help in the fight. Listen in, and read interviews with three other small-city mayors who are getting into the federal grant game with the help of experts at the Local Infrastructure Hub.