Engineers have feelings, too!

In this episode, AJ and Kevin sit down with Mike McKay, Assistant City Engineer for Lubbock, Texas, for a wide-ranging discussion on the past, present, and future of the engineering profession, and its role in the way we’ve built our cities.

Some of the ground we cover in this episode:

The relationship between engineers and planners—how it could improve, and what each side should understand about the otherWhat it means for our cities to be sustainable, and whether we’re on the right track in any meaningful waysWhether street standards and specification should have flexibilityWhat the ideal Capital Improvement Plan looks likeLong-term maintenance costs, and whether engineers tend to consider them when evaluating new developmentThe overemphasis on auto-based mobility, and where that leaves planners and engineers who want to make life easier without a carHow to increase support for additional infrastructure funding when cities are struggling to find the moneyWays to modify design approaches to be more considerate of long-term maintenance costs and to minimize up-front construction costsHow the different staff members in a city’s development process can better collaborateAdvice for cities in the early stages of growthLessons learned from Mike’s long engineering career

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(Music in this episode is from No Future, Custodian of Records, & Gary Numan.)

verdunity.com/podcast/episode-44