The Bottom-Up Revolution

Alyssa Lee and Kay Crumb are leaders of Strong SacTown, one of the largest and most successful groups in the Strong Towns Local Conversations program. Based in Sacramento, California, the group has 140 engaged members, balances multiple ongoing initiatives, and successfully collaborates with city staff.

In this Bottom-Up Short, Alyssa and Kay share their advice for building and sustaining a successful Local Conversation.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Strong SacTown (site)

• Alyssa Lee discussed this topic in more depth at the 2025 Strong Towns National Gathering. You can check out her presentation slides here.

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)

• Do you know someone who would make for a great The Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

Craig Cassar is a first-term city councilor in Hamilton, Ontario. Prior to serving in public office, he acquired nearly 25 years of private sector leadership experience. Craig is a believer in the Strong Towns philosophy of city building, an advocate for active and public transportation, and a passionate environmentalist.

Today, Craig and Tiffany discusses the challenges Hamilton faces and the progress the city has made. They also talk about the importance of a holistic approach to city building, including creating synergy between urbanism and environmentalism.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Craig Cassar (site)

• Local Recommendations:

  • Tiffany Falls

  • Dundas Valley Trail System

  • James Street North Art Crawl

• Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)

• Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

Jesse Russell is a small-scale developer and Strong Towns member from Bend, Oregon. He joins Norm to discuss the ways he’s helping create more attainable homes in his hometown. He also explains how he works with the community and city officials to remove barriers to good development.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Hiatus Homes (website)

• Bend made it to the Final 4 in this year’s Strongest Town Contest. There are many great lessons that cities of all sizes can learn from their hard work. Click here to read more about their progress.

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

• Do you know someone who would make for a great The Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.

Eric Higbee is a landscape architect and writer who teaches university courses on community engagement at the University of Washington Department of Landscape Architecture. He works on community design and planning projects through his award-winning landscape architecture practice, Convene.

Today, Eric joins Tiffany to discuss the importance of community engagement, why attempts at this kind of engagement often fail, and how to succeed at it.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Read more from Eric in his Substack, The Answer is Community

• Convene (site)

• Local Recommendations:

  • Third Place Books

  • Café Vitta

  • UpGarden

  • Columbia City Business District

• 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. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.

In today’s Bottom-Up Short, Norm is joined by Kevin McDonnell, the mayor of Petaluma, California, and Dave Alden, co-leader of Petaluma Urban Chat. Kevin and Dave discuss their Know Before You Grow initiative, a community-driven effort focused on smart, financially strong development. They share how this initiative has helped direct attention toward building housing in Petaluma’s downtown, where services already exist and infrastructure is more financially viable.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Petaluma Urban Chat (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. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.

Dr. Patricia Tice has been an transportation engineer, planner, researcher and self-proclaimed geek for nearly 30 years. She spent the first decade of her career doing hundreds of traffic impact studies. In 2011, she started her own consulting firm and, a few years later, completed a PhD in transportation engineering.

In this episode of The Bottom-Up Revolution, Patricia talks about her research into human behavior, as well as the role of human interaction and LEGO in urban design.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Read more from Patricia on her Substack ProFound City Insights

• Local Recommendations:

  • Winter Garden Farmers Market

  • Way Chocolate and Coffee

  • Scoops Old Fashioned Ice Cream

  • Market to Table Restaurant

• Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)

• Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

Vignesh Swaminathan is an engineer, transportation planner, and content creator. Formerly the the CEO of a civil engineering firm, he now works as a project engineer and has over 1.7 million followers on TikTok, where he discusses urban infrastructure and transportation planning.

Tiffany and Vignesh discuss how transportation planning affects other aspects of cities such as housing. Vignesh explains how he works with quick-build projects, intersection design, and social media to make cities stronger.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• See more from Vignesh:

  • At the National Gathering!

  • On TikTok

  • On Instagram

• Local Recommendations:

  • Downtown San Jose

  • Bay Trail

  • San Pedro Square

  • CalTrain

• Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)

• Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

Danny Wind is a Local Conversation leader and Regional Transportation Commission member from Lake County, California. In this Bottom-Up Short, Danny discusses their Open Street Map Project, which gives people a space to share photos and descriptions of the everyday challenges they face. Danny explains how this method of humbly observing where people struggle is a powerful force for change and how it intersects with their Regional Transportation Commission work.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Read more about Danny: “A Love That Helps Your Place Live Up To Its Full Potential”

• Learn more about the Strong Towns approach to public investment.

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

• Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

Noah Roth is the founder of Streetcraft, a platform that uses visual storytelling and urban design to explore and improve the built environment. He joins Tiffany to talk about what led him to this form of advocacy, how visualizations can bring people on board with a project, and what he’s learned since starting his platform.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Want to hear more from Noah? Get your National Gathering tickets today!

• Streetcraft (YouTube)

• Local Recommendations:

  • Sleeping Bear National Dunes

  • The Flying Noodle

  • Farm Club

• Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)

• Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

Danny Lapin is a revitalization specialist with the New York State Department of State. He and Norm discuss the ways that New York state is encouraging bottom-up community development, as well as Danny’s strategies for getting buy-in from communities that are wary of state programs or intervention.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Danny Lapin (LinkedIn)

• Read more about Danny: “A Strong Towns Voice in State Government”

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

• Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!