Who Killed the Starter Home? Podcast By Marina Rubina cover art

Who Killed the Starter Home?

Who Killed the Starter Home?

By: Marina Rubina
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About this listen

 Have you seen any starter homes for sale lately? Neither have we. In this podcast, we speak with experts and try to figure out why this humble first home is going extinct. We’ll be exploring if it is the politicians, wielding zoning laws like a murder weapon who killed the starter home? Or maybe the scaredy-cat planners and designers? Or the developers, armed with cookie-cutter plans and corporate indifference? Is it our convoluted tax policy that subsidies homeownership, but puts every tax penalty in the way of creation of the starter homes. Spoiler alert: it’s probably a little of everything. We’ll be peeling back the layers of bureaucracy, bad faith, and bad planning, with stops along the way for affordable housing scandals, ADU success stories, and a passionate plea for building code updates. Join us for a conversation that’s part policy deep-dive, part therapy session for frustrated builders, and entirely a love letter to cities that deserve better.Copyright 2025 All rights reserved. Art
Episodes
  • What is your American Dream? Conversation with Christian Calderon

    What is your American Dream? Conversation with Christian Calderon
    May 16 2025

    In this episode, I spoke with Christian Calderon. Unlike our other guests, he isn’t working to build starter homes—he’s trying to buy one. Christian shares a powerful immigrant story and an unwavering belief in the American Dream. We were also joined by Chris Costa from Stevens & Lee, who helped shed light on the technical challenges Christian faced in the process of purchasing his home.
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    42 mins
  • Is Sustainable Affordable? Conversation with Matt Kaplan

    Is Sustainable Affordable? Conversation with Matt Kaplan
    May 9 2025
    In this episode, I spoke with Matthew Kaplan, Cofounder and CEO of ReVireo, an energy efficiency and green building services company based in New Jersey. Matt and his team live and breathe sustainability as it relates to buildings. As a leader in the field, he shed light on how sustainable projects are approved and delivered—what’s not working, and what could be improved. We would like to hear what you think about this conversation or if you have any ideas for how to bring the starter homes back from the brink of extinction, send us a note at starterhomepodcast@gmail.com
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    45 mins
  • Legalizing Cities: Conversation with Burhan Azeem

    Legalizing Cities: Conversation with Burhan Azeem
    May 2 2025
    This is one of the most inspiring conversations I have had. In this episode, I spoke with Burhan Azeem. He is the youngest city councilor in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Burhan worked tirelessly to remove costly parking minimums and expand zoning for 100% affordable housing projects. He is laser focused on legalizing multifamily housing up to six stories throughout the city, ensuring that Cambridge remains an affordable and accessible place to live for all its residents. For those who are familiar with the work or Abundant Housing Massachusents or Ezra Klein's and Derek Thompson book, Abundance, Burhan's work is the real life implementation. We would like to hear what you think about this conversation or if you have any ideas for how to bring the starter homes back from the brink of extinction, send us a note at starterhomepodcast@gmail.com
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    1 hr and 25 mins
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