What turns a busy crossroads into a place where people want to linger, meet friends, and connect with strangers? Julie Stein, executive director of the Union Square Partnership, joins Carol Coletta and Mark Wallace to explore how public space builds community and strengthens a neighborhood’s economy. From quieter streets and pedestrian plazas to the Greenmarket, lunchtime jazz, and a simple movable chair, Julie shares what makes Union Square welcoming—and how partnerships can turn temporary experiments into lasting improvements. A conversation about giving people reasons to come, reasons to stay, and opportunities to connect.
CLOSER is a conversation about the strategies that make cities more social and why that is the smartest investment in the urban toolkit.
25 Sept 2026
Can Public-Private Partnerships Raise the Ambitions of Public Parks? — Tony Sorrentino of Fairmount Park Conservancy
In this episode of CLOSER, Carol Coletta and Mark Wallace talk with Tony Sorrentino, President and CEO of Fairmount Park Conservancy in Philadelphia. Tony explains how the Conservancy supplements the city’s resources through fundraising, planning, ecological restoration, historic preservation, and public programming.
The conversation explores who should pay for beauty and innovation in public space, why clear roles and constant communication are essential to successful public-private partnerships. Tony also offers practical advice for anyone creating a conservancy: respect the public partner, embrace some ambiguity, never surprise one another, and approach the work with humility and a spirit of public service.
CLOSER is a conversation hosted by Carol Coletta and Mark Wallace about the strategies that make cities more social and why that is the smartest investment in the urban toolkit.
18 Sept 2026
How Walking Brings a City Closer - Laura Conley of Urban Paths in Houston
Can a simple walk change how we see our city and one another?
In this episode of CLOSER, Carol Coletta and Mark Wallace talk with Laura Conley, founder of Urban Paths. For 15 years, Laura has led walks across Houston that bring people together through movement, nature, public art, connection, and the practice of noticing.
Laura explains how group walking can do more than support physical and mental well-being. In the relaxed rhythm of moving together, strangers begin to connect, assumptions soften, and small shifts in perception accumulate. Laura discusses a recent research pilot and how small nudges can help strangers to meet each other.
CLOSER is a conversation about the strategies that make cities social, and why that’s the smartest investment in the urban toolkit. New episodes are released every Thursday.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Contact Closer with Carol Coletta and Mark Wallace
Guest appearances
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