Shows / The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Bottom-Up Revolution features the stories of the Strong Towns movement in action. Hosted by Tiffany Owens Reed and Norm Van Eeden Petersman, it's all about how regular people have stepped up to make their communities more economically resilient, and how others can implement these ideas in their own places. We’ll talk about taking concrete action steps, connecting with fellow advocates to build power, and surviving the bumps along the way—all in the pursuit of creating stronger towns. Each…
Episodes
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Can a Coffee Truck Work Without Crowds?
What if a coffee truck could work with just a handful of customers in a neighborhood each morning? Juan Sanchez created Coffee in Your Community, a business…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
What Horror Movies Reveal About Our Cities
A haunted apartment might sound terrifying, but what if the rent is too good to pass up? Filmmaker Allan Piper turned that idea into Evil Sublet, a horror…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Why Changing Zoning Laws Isn't Enough
Massachusetts needs more housing, but getting permission to build it can take years, even when the zoning allows it. Housing advocate and researcher Jonathan…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The $96 Million Plan for Nine Blocks
What started as a temporary COVID closure on State Street has turned into a years-long debate over what the street should become. Sully Israel, leader of…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Experiment to Meet People Next Door
The people closest to your home are often the people you know the least. Samira Reyes, a physician and creator of Samira Unscripted, wanted to see whether a…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Can You Run a Town in This Board Game?
The decisions that look simple at the start of a board game can become the problems you spend the rest of it trying to solve. Nick Shrag, a video game…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
What If a House Took Five Weeks to Build?
A house can take years to plan and build, but Andy Dragt and his wife can finish one in about five weeks. Norm Van Eeden Petersman joins Firefly Tiny Homes…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
A Highway Fight Built on Learning and Doing
Allendale had already lost much of its population after one freeway cut through the neighborhood, and another highway project threatened to deepen the damage…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Why Are Memphis Streets So Dangerous?
Memphis is the deadliest metro area in the country for people walking, with 5.5 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 residents. Sheridan Harris nearly lost her life…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
What If Getting Involved Locally Was Actually Fun?
Getting involved in your city doesn’t have to feel like homework. Margaret Allen works at a bank and is part of Strong Des Moines, where meetings feel less…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The ADUs Built for Multigenerational Living
A small house in the backyard can solve a housing problem that changes several times over the life of a family. It might first give an aging parent a place…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
New Zealand’s Urban Nerds Start at the Pub
Daniel Basubas thought New Zealand would feel very different from the sprawling Southern California communities where he grew up. Instead, he found many of the…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
What If Vacant Lots Became Farms?
A lot in Fairfax, Virginia, sat empty for 25 years, long enough that neighbors barely noticed it anymore. Oren Falkowitz, founder of Area 2 Farms, sees places…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Floating Neighborhoods Coming to North America
Floating homes are already common in parts of Europe, and Jeff Kraatz thinks North American cities could use the same idea to create entirely new neighborhoods…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Missing Ingredient in Great Placemaking
A developer can check every box for parks and shared spaces and still create a place nobody wants to spend time in. Colby Cox has seen stormwater ponds, tiny…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Goldilocks Problem Behind City Taxes
When Calgary’s main water feeder line broke for the second time in two years, Nathan Hawryluk decided he needed to get more involved. He already had an unusual…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Co-Living Exchange Pairing Students and Seniors
What if an extra bedroom could make housing more affordable for a student while helping an older adult stay in their home? Alison Donnally founded Joey Co. to…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
They Want to Pave Old San Juan for Parking
Near El Morro, one of Puerto Rico’s most recognizable historic sites, a government road project called for cutting down 26 mature trees, widening a road…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
This Artist Is Secretly Fixing Potholes With Mosaics
After moving to Chattanooga, Lisa hit three potholes in three years and ended up buying five new tires. She knew people elsewhere had taken pothole repairs…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Website Mapping America’s Third Places
When Arec Ligon moved to Brownsburg, Indiana, he was frustrated by how few places nearby seemed worth lingering in. That frustration became Linger, a growing…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Local Change Doesn’t Require a Big Crowd
Anne Keehnen has spent years building relationships in Nacogdoches, Texas, one conversation and one local effort at a time. She’s run for city council, worked…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Sidewalk Joy Changing Portland’s Sidewalks
Most neighborhoods have an invisible boundary where public space ends and private property begins. Rachael Harms Mahlandt started questioning that boundary…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Unexpected Value of a Walking Tour
Somerset, Kentucky, had historical markers scattered around downtown, but Jody McRoberts suspected many people barely noticed them. Through Strong Towns…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
These Backyards Don’t Need Suburbia
Density is often pictured as a huge apartment building surrounded by pavement, while a yard is treated as something only suburbia can provide. Dr. Alicia…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The New Brutally Honest City Simulator
Most city-building games let players draw roads, place buildings, and watch a convincing skyline appear. Cristian Gonzalez kept noticing what was missing…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Who Pays When the Highway Gets Bigger?
A wider highway promises faster trips, new investment, and billions of dollars flowing into Houston. Susan Graham and Ally Smither have spent years asking who…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Why City Hall Is So Hard to Navigate
Residents are often told to get involved at City Hall, but first they have to figure out where to go, who has authority, and which committee will actually hear…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Can a Front Yard Bring the Village Back?
In most suburban neighborhoods, a corner store or small commercial space can feel years away, even when residents want places to gather and local businesses…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Car Ownership Versus the Promise of Convenience
Andrew Price spent nine years living without a car in Hoboken, New Jersey, where most daily trips could be handled on foot or by transit. Once he bought a car…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Where Did the Village Go?
Modern family life offers mothers an endless supply of services meant to make isolation more manageable, but Lauren Penn began wondering why so much support…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Your City Said It Wants Public Input, Now What?
Cities regularly ask residents for feedback, especially when budgets tighten or difficult tradeoffs approach. Norm and Mary Kate Norton look at what changes…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Vacancy Problem Artists Can Help Solve
Vacant commercial space can drag down a street, but Evan Snow sees something else: a chance to make room for local artists, small businesses, and community…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Can Your City Answer This Sidewalk Question?
When Washington state asked which residents had access to frequent transit, it ran into a surprisingly basic problem: that question is hard to answer without…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Could These Parking Spaces Be Homes?
Fayetteville, Arkansas, is growing fast, and housing is getting harder to build. Clark Eckels and Nathan McCloskey of Fayetteville Strong talk about Rethink…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
A Student-Built Map Exposing New York's Worst Landlords
In New York City, the average rent is $4,700 a month and climbing. Over 500,000 housing violations are on file in the city, but the government database where…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
What Pickleball Revealed in a Rural Town
Van Buren, Maine, had a problem no town wants: it owned more than half of its downtown buildings through tax acquisition. When Luke Dyer became town manager…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Running for Office Without a Political Background
Horry County, South Carolina has grown so fast that the median household can no longer afford the median home. Dylan Thompson has lived there his whole life…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Housing Choices Cities Are Missing
Zoning reform matters, but Eric Kronberg says it is not enough on its own. Cities also need useful building types, realistic development math, better street…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Strong Towns and the Art of Repair
Before Strong Towns became a national movement, its ideas spread through conversations, conferences, friendships and people willing to make room for a…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The First Strong Towns Member
Nate Hood was the first person to donate to Strong Towns, back when the movement was still a blog, an irregular podcast, and a small circle of people asking…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Building Community On Church Land Again
Eli Smith, director of the Faith-Based Housing Initiative, joins the show to talk about churches turning underused land and aging buildings into housing and…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Lane That Kept Bringing Crashes
A car had crashed into the same Madison coffee shop three times. That was enough for Josh Olson and Strong Towns Madison to push for a change on Willie Street…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Small‑Town Housing, Big Feelings
In Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, housing debates are tied to favorite trees, familiar views, flood scars, and whether younger residents can afford to stay. Planning…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Students Who Got a Sidewalk Built in 14 Days
Evan Clark and Natalie Eger are college students studying sociology in Lexington, Virginia, and they came back from the 2025 National Gathering in Providence…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Listening Your Way Into Local Change
Mary Kate Norton, Strong Towns’ Mobilization Coordinator and Trainer, came to advocacy through other people’s stories: campus workers juggling multiple jobs…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Spokane, Washington Is Betting on Buses, Benches, and Fourplexes
Before the car took over, Spokane, Washington ran an extensive streetcar network that shaped its neighborhoods. Sarah Rose and Erik Lowe of Spokane Reimagined…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
When a Tornado Hit Main Street
On March 14, 2025, an EF3 tornado hit Cave City, Arkansas, directly, something the town of about 2,000 people had never experienced in more than a century…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
The Missing Middle Has a Missing Industry
Alkarim Devani has built over 1,000 homes in Calgary — fourplexes, row houses, a 212-unit heritage restoration — and noticed something strange: people kept…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Rerun: Breaking Down Barriers to Local Food
It’s farmers market season, so we’re revisiting this conversation with Shelby Wild, whose work in Lompoc shows how a weekly neighborhood market can reshape a…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Walk Your Neighborhood Like Jane Jacobs
In Portland’s Hollywood district, a neighbor-led walk inspired by Jane Jacobs helps people see a familiar street in a new way. Strong Towns PDX organizer…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Can Safer Streets Start With a Video Game?
A traffic jam in a video game changed how Bryan Kelly saw his city. He traces the path from playing City Skylines and watching Not Just Bikes to noticing…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Lancaster’s Locals, Newcomers, and Streets Working Together
Strong Towns organizer Nick Dennis shares how, once he hosted a simple meetup, he discovered a whole network of already active people in Lancaster…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Why Public Spaces Fail After the Ribbon Cutting
Well-designed public spaces often look promising at opening, then slowly lose energy and use. Max Musicant explains how that decline comes down to what happens…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Ohio’s Traffic Granny Takes On Dangerous Neighborhood Streets
Barbara Didrichsen, known locally as “Traffic Granny,” describes how everyday walks filled with close calls in her Pleasant Ridge neighborhood in Cincinnati…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Rethinking New Neighborhoods Between Big Plans And Incremental Change
Using Woodbury in Moscow, Idaho as a case study, this conversation digs into how one master-planned neighborhood pursues walkability, mixed use, and everyday…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Becoming the Sidewalk Lady in Athens Ohio
In Athens, Ohio, stroller struggles on broken sidewalks and a sea of parking lots pushed Stevie Hunter to become the city’s “sidewalk lady.” She joins Norm to…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Defying Deficit Narratives with Youth Pilot Projects
In this episode, Uthish Ganesh tells the story of returning to teach in the neighborhood where he grew up and refusing to accept his school’s bad reputation…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Tree Canopies, Safe Speeds, and a Council Seat
Emma Durand-Wood never planned on public office. But what began as challenging a pawn shop, planting trees, and pushing for safer speeds in her Winnipeg…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Why Cities Need Community Led Crash Analysis Studios
Most crash analysis studios didn’t start inside City Hall—they were sparked by local members, neighbors, and conversation leaders who refused to accept…
- The Bottom-Up Revolution
Restarting a Strong Towns Local Conversation
In this episode, Josh Olson reflects on how he and others helped bring a Strong Towns local conversation group back to life in Madison, and kept it going with…