Culdesac and Towerside - a session from

What happens when you start a neighborhood from scratch and put transit — not cars — at the center? Go deep into two ambitious case studies: Culdesac in Tempe, AZ, and the Towerside Innovation District in Minneapolis–Saint Paul.
Speakers:
**Moderator: Akasha Lawrence Spence, Chief Executive Officer, Fifth Element, Portland, OR
*Stephen Klimek, Executive Director, Towerside Innovation District, Minneapolis, MN
*Ryan Johnson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Culdesac, Tempe, AZ

00:00 Welcome Akasha Lawrence Spence
03:43 Stephen Klimek - about Towerside Innovation District
13:00 Ryan Johnson - about Culdesac
20:44 TOD and challenges with housing and sense of place
24:50 How do these projects integrate with existing communities?
27:40 Social housing and long term affordability
32:52 How are you thinking of other pieces - schools, roads and more?
35:25 Nerdy question: zoning codes and the regulatory environment
38:43 Access to transit
39:53 Access to other modes of transportation
43:05 How Towerside brokers relationships
46:26 Towerside and the land bank
49:40 Technological advances and future vision
51:46 Navigating uncertainty
55:04 How can small businesses take root in these spaces?
01:02:04 Creating community wealth
01:06:33 Portfolio approach to TOD - scalable?
01:08:36 How do we do this with less than 8 acres?
01:10:57 Where's the money coming from?
01:20:15 Audience Qs
What can we do as planners, policy makers and thinkers to help?
What were ordinance changes or zoning changes needed?
Getting around in difficult weather?
Was the multimodal system already present or did you curate it?
How are residents connecting and becoming active?
How is Towerside staffed?
How does Culdesac work in older, car-centric places?
How are geothermal systems fit into development plan?
Are you selling the smallest units - if not, why not?
How do I convince developers they don’t need structured parking?

This is a recording of a session at the Mpact Transit + Community conference in Portland, OR, October 26-29, 2025. To find out more about the conference, visit: https://www.mpactmobility.org/confere...