Building Community: Mike Keen’s Journey of Urbanism and Sustainability

This week host Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Mike Keen, Founder of Hometowne Development LLC. Mike discusses his work in the Near Northwest neighborhood of South Bend, Indiana and the upcoming opening of Ward Baking Company. He shares his journey from being a college professor to becoming a small-scale developer and the principles of urbanism and sustainability that guide his work. Mike shares how incremental development and collaboration between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors create a thriving community. He also talks about the small-scale development movement and highlights the need for multifamily housing to address the affordability crisis.South Bend business owners and entrepreneurs, if you’ve been in business for five years or less reach out to us to be featured on the Rooted and Reaching Podcast!QUOTES"So what we find is that to make this small-scale development work, whether it's in our neighborhood across the city, or we now do consulting with other cities, you need to bring together a set of champions that come from these different sectors and who want to collaborate" -Mike Keen [06:29]“What I would say for anybody doing anything, and this includes small-scale development, is see if you can find yourself a mentor and begin to talk with them and find other people who have done it." -Mike Keen [08:57]TIMESTAMPS03:30 Renovating a flower shop07:39 Lessons learned: Take action and start small10:42 What Mike is most proud of in his work13:47 The need for increased housing density17:46 South Bend town makers group and supporting local businesses19:08 The South Bend Elkhart PartnershipRESOURCESSouth Bend Elkhart Partnership: https://southbendelkhart.org/ CONTACTNick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/ Mentioned in this episode:Proof of Concept Funding for South Bend & Elkhart RegionProof of Concept Fund