Description

This is episode two of my three-part series with urban strategist Mike Hathorne, and we’re tackling the topic that sends entire towns to public hearings with pitchforks: density.Everyone’s heard it: “A high-density project is coming in…” And instantly, it’s kill the beast, shut it down, save the field next door. In this episode, Mike and I break down why density triggers such a visceral reaction—and why most of the time, we’re aiming our anger at the wrong thing.We dig into:

• Why people fear “density” even when they already live at 4 units/acre
• How the number (units per acre) gets blamed instead of the pattern and design
• Why you can have terrible low-density and magical higher-density
• How zoning and finance quietly create economic segregation (Dollar General, Walmart, Target, Nordstrom neighborhoods)
• Why suburban development often doesn’t pay for itself and functions like a Ponzi scheme
• How infrastructure costs (roads, sewer, utilities) explode when everything is spread out
• Why apartment complexes exist—and how institutional money shapes what gets built
• The difference between density and intensity, and why we should care more about the latter

By the end, we land on a simple but uncomfortable conclusion: density is not the enemy. The problem is the rules and systems that dictate what density looks like.If you’re a homeowner fighting a project, a council member making decisions, a planner, developer, or designer trying to do better work—this episode will give you language, insight, and a clearer way to think about density than just “more = bad.”This conversation sets the stage for episode three, where we dive into mixed use and how to actually solve the problems density is getting blamed for.