Episode Description: Dave Cairns used to sell downtown towers. Then he left the city—and the real estate orthodoxy behind. In this episode, the former poker pro turned office space contrarian explains why remote work is not a trend but a paradigm shift, how most cities are clinging to outdated myths, and why the real challenge isn't return-to-office—it's return to relevance.

We talk about: – Why cities must now earn our presence – Atlassian and Pinterest as models for modern work – The slow death of co-working (and the lie of flexibility) – How mental health, AI, and autonomy are reshaping value – What Canadian cities still get wrong

Architect and urban planner Naama Blonder didn’t set out to be a suburban revolutionary. She’s raised her kids in a condo, doesn’t own a car, and rides her bike everywhere. But now she’s challenging the idea that suburbia has to be bad—and that density has to be boring.

In this episode, we dig into her award-winning Sub-Divillage project, why charm is a strategic tool (not a luxury), and how even transit-oriented developments suffer from car-first thinking.

We also cover:

• Why Toronto’s biggest TODs feel like vertical suburbs
• The myth that midrise is always the best compromise
• Why towers aren’t the problem—it’s what we do at street level
• How to push bold designs through a system built to say no
• The emotional energy tax of public consultations
• What Naama would do with a magic wand (hint: it’s about speed)

“Even people who love driving still appreciate walkability.” “We don’t have a charm crisis—but we’ve stopped even asking for charm.”

This is a conversation about better tactics, not just bigger ideas. Because if you want people to live with less, you’d better give them more to love.

https://smartdensity.com/subdivillage/

If you’ve ever tumbled down a YouTube rabbit hole about public transportation, chances are you’ve come across Reece Martin — the sharp, relentless mind behind RMTransit. With over 1,000 videos filmed across dozens of cities, Reece has quietly become one of the most insightful, entertaining, and occasionally exasperated voices in the transit world.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why North America — and Toronto in particular — keeps getting transit so wrong
• The difference between places that treat transit like infrastructure vs. places that treat it like an expensive hobby
• How insecure leadership stops smart people from fixing obvious problems
• Why signage, governance, and shelters are more broken than you think
• What we can learn from Singapore, Germany, and even the SkyTrain in Vancouver
• The one change Reece would make if he was handed a magic wand

We also cover Reece’s personal journey — how a COVID-era side project became a global platform — and the two RMTransit videos he’s still most proud of.

This is a conversation about imagination, urgency, and doing the damn thing.

Because at some point, you have to stop planning and start building.

Watch Reece’s Vancouver video: I Went to Every SkyTrain Station in Vancouver

Explore RMTransit on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RMTransit