In this episode of Downtown Depot, host Austin Meek speaks with J.B. Smith, Staff Writer at The Waco Tribune-Herald. Smith talks about the development he's seen in Waco since he started covering the city in 1997, the highlights of his two decades at The Trib, and his aspirations for Waco's future. Meek also covers the Cotton Belt Bridge, a public structure whose future is undecided, and the opening of a new entertainment option downtown called Waco Escape Rooms.

Inside the Episode:

Dowtown Depot host Austin Meek with J.B. Smith

0:40: What to do with the Cotton Belt Bridge?

3:19: Waco Escape Rooms opens downtown

5:25: J.B. Smith's Waco history

6:45: What sold him on the city

7:55: A blank slate

8:33: Two types of journalists

10:15: Hired to cover City Hall

11:01: Breaking the West Chemical Fertilizer story

12:48: Waco as a "news town"

14:02: A typical day on the beat

14:41: Advice to young journalists: cultivate sources

15:42: Interviewing techniques

17:01: "This is the time to be covering downtown"'

17:35: Downtown living in the 90s

19:37: Changes he'd like to see: more walkability, fewer parking lots

22:49: Thoughts on Kyle Deaver as Mayor

23:15: Unprecedented unity on City Council

23:59: Highway 84 landfill debate

24:45: Limits of dualistic thinking