The Bottom-Up Revolution

Matt Harder is the founder of Civic Trust, a participatory budgeting company that provides technology infrastructure, communications and process methodology to help citizens participate in their governments’ budgeting process.

In this episode of The Bottom-Up Revolution, Harder joins host Tiffany Owens Reed to discuss participatory budgeting, a method of getting resident input on how a city’s budget is spent. They talk about the three phases of participatory budgeting, the benefits and challenges to implementing this method, and real-world examples of where it’s been implemented.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Transcript available on our site.

• Local Recommendations:

  • Pearl Street Mall.

  • Verde Burritos.

  • Chautauqua Park.

• Civic Trust (website).

• Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram).

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

In this special episode of Bottom-Up Shorts, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Edward Erfurt, chief technical advisor for Strong Towns, to discuss a transformative 4-step approach to public investment.

They explore real-world examples of this approach in action, including the inspiring stories of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Chisholm, Minnesota. These stories illustrate the power of starting small, focusing on what's possible today, and engaging local energy to build something truly transformative over time.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Read more about the incremental approach to public investment:

  • “The Strong Towns Approach to Public Investment” (article).

  • “Starting a Local Business Can Be As Easy as Setting Up a Chair” (article).

  • “Learn the 4-Step Process for Public Investment” (Academy course).

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

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

In this episode of Bottom-Up Shorts, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Jake Loftis, a pastor and leader of the Local Conversation group Strong Towns Blair. They discuss the ways that North America’s built environment can lead to social isolation and how Loftis used his local paper to combat that isolation and encourage engagement in his community.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Transcript available on our site.

• Read more about Loftis and Strong Towns Blair.

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

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

In this episode of The Bottom-Up Revolution, host Tiffany Owens Reed is joined by Chloe Groome and Aaron Feldman, co-leads of the Local Conversation group Strong Towns Chicago.

They discuss the initiatives that Strong Towns Chicago is working on, including legalizing fourplexes throughout the city and getting city officials involved in tactical urbanism. They also talk about the challenges the group faces and their strategies for overcoming those difficulties, including building a coalition with other advocacy groups.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Local recommendations:

  • The winter Christkindlmarket

  • Summer streetfests.

  • Four Moon Tavern.

  • Live music concerts.

  • Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria.

• Strong Towns Chicago (Instagram).

• Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram).

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

In this episode of Bottom-Up Shorts, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Joshua Hopkins, the newly elected mayor of Chugwater, Wyoming. They discuss Hopkins’ path to becoming mayor and how he created a rodeo ring that provides a third place for his community and supports local businesses and walkability.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Tri-County Mercantile.

• Read more from Strong Towns about Chugwater.

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

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

Sara Studdard is a community engagement and communications expert. She’s also a partner at City Thread, a nonprofit consulting firm that specializes in helping city governments design and implement active mobility plans.

Studdard joins this episode of The Bottom-Up Revolution to explore how having a variety of mobility options (walking, biking, public transit, etc.) benefits communities, as well as the importance of effective messaging and communication.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Local recommendations:

  • Nowhere Coffee.

  • Westwood Neighborhood.

• City Thread (site).

  • “Communication Strategies That Work” (blog).

  • “How to Activate Local Support Through Messaging” (blog).

  • Case Study: Providence, Rhode Island.

• Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram).

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

In this episode of Bottom-Up Shorts, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Sully Israel, leader of Strong Towns Santa Barbara, a Local Conversation group. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Barbara’s main street was closed to car traffic, which revitalized the area. Now, Israel and his group are working to keep the street closed to cars and address the community’s other needs in the public realm.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• See more from Sully on his YouTube channel Sullyville or connect with him on LinkedIn.

• Strong Towns Santa Barbara (site).

• Local coverage of efforts to keep State Street car free.

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

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

• Subscribe to The Bottom-Up Revolution on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Podbean or via RSS.

In this episode of Bottom-Up Shorts, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Ken Kunka, a consultant and coach for small-scale developers. A former building and permitting manager, Kunka helps others develop their craft as builders of stronger communities, with a focus on infill development. Here’s how he does it.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

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

Jaime Izurieta is an architect, designer and author from Montclair, New Jersey, who focuses on the interaction between users and the built environment. He’s also the founder of Storefront Mastery, an award-winning creative agency that works with place management organizations to design and activate interactions between local businesses and their community.

This week, Izurieta joins host Tiffany Owens Reed to discuss the importance of designing experiences, instead of just buildings, and how local leaders can shift their perspectives of downtowns to make them more successful.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Local recommendations:

  • Le French Dad Bakery.

  • Local Coffee Montclair.

  • Watchung Booksellers.

  • Tino’s Artisan Pizza.

• Storefront Mastery (site).

• Check out Jaime Izurieta’s book, “Main Street Mavericks.”

• Learn more about the Storefront Renaissance League.

• Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram).

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

In this episode of Bottom-Up Shorts, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Julie Emery, one of the leaders of Strong Milwaukee, a Local Conversations group. Emery and her group are helping to make their community stronger by building bus benches. Here’s how they started their program and how it’s evolving.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).

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