From Service Cuts To Understanding City Insolvency

From Service Cuts To Understanding City Insolvency

From The Strong Towns Podcast by Strong Towns

March 23, 2026 · 1h 4m · Episode 694

About this episode

The episode discusses Michel Durand-Wood's journey from observing local service cuts to understanding the structural insolvency of his city.

The conversation follows Michel Durand-Wood's path from noticing small local cuts—closed pools, rising taxes—to understanding his city as structurally insolvent. Along the way, he and Chuck talk about grants, debt, Canadian and U.S. examples, and why efficiency alone hasn’t fixed anything. Additional Show Notes Dear Winnipeg (Site) You'll Pay For This! (Book) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you!

People in this episode

Host: Chuck Marohn

Guest: Michel Durand-Wood

Topics covered

  • city insolvency
  • local government
  • public services
  • debt
  • efficiency
  • grants
  • comparative analysis

Keywords

  • city insolvency
  • service cuts
  • local government
  • debt
  • efficiency
  • grants
  • Canadian examples
  • U.S. examples

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Strong Towns, Substack

Books & works: Dear Winnipeg, You'll Pay For This!

More episodes of The Strong Towns Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Strong Towns Podcast podcast page.