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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 episode features a Strong Towns advocate who is making positive change in their community.

Latest Episodes:

Your City Said It Wants Public Input, Now What? Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

Cities regularly ask residents for feedback, especially when budgets tighten or difficult tradeoffs approach. Norm and Mary Kate Norton look at what changes when people respond as an organized group instead of a collection of individual voices. They trace how Local Conversations grow from first meetings and small projects into groups that can communicate clearly, build relationships with public officials and take part in larger policy fights. A good idea may open the door, but organized local support gives it a better chance of surviving the meeting, carrying into the next discussion and becoming something the city can’t easily set aside.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Mary Kate Norton (LinkedIn)
Strong Towns Local Conversations (Map)
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

The Vacancy Problem Artists Can Help Solve Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

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 life. As co-founder of Zero Empty Spaces, Snow helps transform empty properties into affordable artist studios and cultural hubs. He explains why closed doors do not help property owners, downtowns, or neighborhoods, and why a temporary use can still give artists a lasting foothold outside the home studio. The model works because it keeps the first step small, giving artists affordable space while helping property owners show what a vacant storefront could become. Evan will also be speaking at the Civic Leader Summit in Pensacola, Florida later this year in October.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Evan Snow (LinkedIn)
Zero Empty Spaces (Site)
Local Recommendations:‍
Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Can Your City Answer This Sidewalk Question? Jul 07, 2026

Show notes

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 knowing where sidewalks, crossings and curb ramps actually are. Dr. Anat Caspi, director of the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology at the University of Washington, joins the show to talk about Open Sidewalks, a project that helps communities map pedestrian infrastructure in a shared, usable format. Her team has mapped hundreds of thousands of sidewalks, and now residents can help add the local details that determine whether a route actually works in daily life.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Dr. Anat Caspi (LinkedIn)
Open Sidewalks Connect Map (Map)
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Could These Parking Spaces Be Homes? Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

Fayetteville, Arkansas, is growing fast, and housing is getting harder to build. Clark Eckels and Nathan McCloskey of Fayetteville Strong talk about Rethink the Lot, a tactical urbanism pop-up that turned downtown parking spaces into small-scale housing people could walk through. The housing and parking debate can easily get stuck in zoning language, council meetings, and abstract trade-offs, but this project gave people a physical way to understand what those rules mean on the ground. Clark and Nathan explain what residents worry about, why parking minimums matter, and what changed when people stood inside a home where a car would usually sit.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Clark Eckels and Nathan McCloskey (LinkedIn)
Fayetteville Strong (Site, Instagram, Youtube Video)
Local Recommendations:‍
Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

A Student-Built Map Exposing New York's Worst Landlords Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

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 they live is so outdated that most renters never see them. Farid Sofiyev, a sophomore and co-founder of Civic Reset NYC, built an interactive map of 40,000 of those violations and published the names of the 25 worst landlords in the city. This episode gets into how the map works, what the data reveals about NYC's rent crisis, and the zoning choices that got the city there.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Farid Safiyev and Angelo Mazza (LinkedIn)
Civic Reset (Site, Instagram, Podcast)
Courtyard Urbanism: The Best of Both City and Suburb with Dr. Alicia Pederson (Podcast)
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

What Pickleball Revealed in a Rural Town Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

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 after a long career in law enforcement, he was facing vacant storefronts, deteriorating buildings, flood-damaged land, and a downtown that had lost traffic after the port of entry moved away from Main Street. In this episode, Dyer shares how Van Buren began putting buildings back into productive use, turning an underused ice rink into pickleball courts, growing trees for Main Street in a community greenhouse, and converting its old town office into a business incubator. Luke is also a graduate of the Strong Towns Cohort Program and applications are now open for the 2026-2027 class.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Luke Dyer (LinkedIn)
Local Recommendations:‍
Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Running for Office Without a Political Background Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

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, and he's running for county council because he thinks the people making decisions about that growth should actually be accountable to the people living through it. He's a former pastor running under the Forward Party, focused on flooding, housing, and development policy, and making the case that those issues don't have to break along party lines; they're the same things his neighbors on both sides of the aisle are worried about.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Dylan Thompson (Facebook, Site)
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

The Housing Choices Cities Are Missing Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

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 design, thoughtful tax policy, and a clearer vision for what good neighborhoods can become. He and Tiffany explore why many cities say they want more housing but still make the most useful housing types illegal or impractical. They also talk about compact cottages, missing middle housing, Atlanta’s affordability challenges, and the overlooked power of a simple box, a good porch, and a house people can picture on their own block.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Eli Smith (LinkedIn)
Kronberg Urbanists & Architects (Site)
Housing Catalogue (Site)
Local Recommendations:‍
- Little Tart Bakery
- Summerhill Neighborhood
Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Strong Towns and the Art of Repair Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

Before Strong Towns became a national movement, its ideas spread through conversations, conferences, friendships and people willing to make room for a difficult message. For Member Week, Norm talks with Founders Circle member Paddy Steinschneider about watching Chuck Marohn’s work gain traction and why the movement has always depended on more than one voice. Paddy reflects on the role members can play when a community realizes its streets, budgets, infrastructure or public life are not working. He describes Strong Towns members not as a strike force, but as people with a toolkit: ready to help when a community realizes its streets, budgets, infrastructure or public life are not working.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Paddy Steinschneider (LinkedIn)
Gotham Design & Community Development (Site)
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

The First Strong Towns Member Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

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 better questions about cities. Norm Van Eeden Petersman talks with him about the early days of Strong Towns, the ideas that first made the movement feel different, and what has changed as those ideas have spread across North America. This is a story about growth, but also about why the movement’s power still comes from people noticing what is broken nearby and doing the next small thing.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Nate Hood (LinkedIn)
Suburban Engagement Photos (Site)
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

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