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Live with Living Cities
"Live with Living Cities" is a podcast that explores the work, impact, and partnerships driving inclusive economic growth in cities across the United States. Hosted by Living Cities, this series highlights innovative strategies, transformative policies, and community-driven solutions that expand access to capital and create a more inclusive economy.
Episodes introduce who we are, what we do, and feature insightful conversations with changemakers—from government leaders and nonprofit innovators to entrepreneurs and residents—working to remove barriers to financial opportunity. Through storytelling, expert analysis, and real-world case studies, Live with Living Cities uncovers the challenges and successes of building economic systems that work for everyone.
Listeners gain a behind-the-scenes look at initiatives that drive investment in undercapitalized communities, foster entrepreneurship, and help more people build long-term financial security. Whether discussing new models of capital deployment, public-private partnerships, or community-led investment strategies, this podcast provides actionable insights for those committed to driving meaningful economic change.
Join us as we amplify the voices of leaders, share lessons from the field, and explore what it takes to build cities where everyone has the resources and opportunities to thrive.
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Live with Living Cities
When Rent Counts
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Credit is one of the quiet systems shaping who gets to build a future in a city. It can determine whether someone can buy a home, start a business, move into a better apartment, recover from a setback, or access fair financial opportunities. And yet, for many renters, the largest bill they pay every month has historically done little to help them build credit.
In this episode of Live with Living Cities, host Justin Charles is joined by Madelaine Britt, Manager of the Office of Financial Empowerment for the City of Rochester, and Santiago Carillo, Assistant Director of Business Ownership at Living Cities, for a conversation about Rochester’s work to change what counts. Together, they explore how rent reporting can help address credit invisibility, why that invisibility disproportionately affects Black, Brown, and low-income communities, and what it means for a city to treat renters’ stability as an asset rather than just an expense.
Through both a systems lens and a city lens, this conversation looks at how Rochester is using policy, partnerships, and financial empowerment strategies to turn rent from a monthly burden into a bridge toward opportunity, belonging, and long-term economic mobility.