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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.
Episodes
18 minutes ago
18 minutes ago
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:
- 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.
2 days ago
2 days ago
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.
4 days ago
4 days ago
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.
Thursday Jun 11, 2026
Thursday Jun 11, 2026
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 everyday community spaces. He explains how his team helps congregations understand their property, imagine specific projects, and gain the language and tools they need to work with developers, lenders, and local officials. Eli and Tiffany dig into the tension between commuter churches and a more rooted parish model, and why thoughtful design often leads congregations beyond a standard apartment block toward pocket neighborhoods and shared spaces.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
- Eli Smith (LinkedIn)
- Faith-Based Housing Initiative (Site)
- What I've learned from faith-based housing (Substack)
- 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.
Tuesday Jun 09, 2026
Tuesday Jun 09, 2026
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 — a dense, locally-owned corridor that doubles as a commuter shortcut during rush hour. The intervention they proposed cost a fraction of what the city had budgeted, took two weeks to implement, and ran as a two-month trial. Josh breaks down what made the argument land with city staff and commissioners, and what happened after the results came in.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
- Strong Towns Madison (Site, Instagram)
- Josh Olson (LinkedIn)
- Counting Cranes (Substack)
- 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.
Thursday Jun 04, 2026
Thursday Jun 04, 2026
In Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, housing debates are tied to favorite trees, familiar views, flood scars, and whether younger residents can afford to stay. Planning commissioner and neighborhood organizer Taylor Lightman talks about what it’s like to rewrite zoning in the same place you grew up. He explains how a housing committee rallied around ADUs, why they rolled back strict parking and owner‑occupancy rules, and how they worked through worries about students, flooding, and change itself. The conversation paints a detailed picture of housing reform in a small town that wants to welcome more neighbors without losing its character.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
- Taylor Lightman (LinkedIn)
- Not Just Bikes & Strong Towns Youtube Playlist (Youtube)
- 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.
Tuesday Jun 02, 2026
Tuesday Jun 02, 2026
Evan Clark and Natalie Eger are college students studying sociology in Lexington, Virginia, and they came back from the 2025 National Gathering in Providence, RI fired up to do something. In the past year they've built a thriving local conversation group, turned a city council member into a regular at their monthly meetings, and had a broken sidewalk fixed fourteen days after they flagged it. They walk through how they started from scratch, made real change at the local level, and kept people showing up month after month.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
- Strong Towns Lexington Introduces Community Planning Initiative to City Council (Article)
- Strong Towns Lexington (Site, Instagram)
- Evan Clark (LinkedIn)
- Natalie Eger (LinkedIn)
- 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.
Thursday May 28, 2026
Thursday May 28, 2026
Mary Kate Norton, Strong Towns’ Mobilization Coordinator and Trainer, came to advocacy through other people’s stories: campus workers juggling multiple jobs, family members stuck without safe transportation options, and neighbors trying to find housing they could afford. Those experiences shaped how she sees local change now: as something rooted in attention, trust, and the willingness to let a place tell you what it needs. In this episode, Mary Kate reflects on how personal stories become public work, why successful local groups begin by listening, and how advocates can build movements that fit their own communities instead of copying someone else’s model.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
- Mary Kate Norton (LinkedIn)
- Strong Towns Local Conversations (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.
Tuesday May 26, 2026
Tuesday May 26, 2026
Before the car took over, Spokane, Washington ran an extensive streetcar network that shaped its neighborhoods. Sarah Rose and Erik Lowe of Spokane Reimagined are working to recover that spirit through a bus system that has already surpassed pre-pandemic ridership, a zoning reform that opened the city to missing middle housing, and hand-built benches placed in all 29 neighborhoods, each painted by a local artist. Their city motto is "In Spokane, we all belong" and they're putting in the work to prove it.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
- Erik Lowe (LinkedIn)
- Sarah Rose (LinkedIn)
- 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.
Tuesday May 19, 2026
Tuesday May 19, 2026
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. Mayor Jonas Anderson describes the shock of that night and the neighborly response that followed, but the story does not begin or end with disaster. Cave City had already been investing in its own center, moving City Hall to Main Street and supporting a new wave of local activity downtown. This conversation looks at how a small town’s existing relationships shaped its recovery and strengthened the work already underway.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
- Jonas Anderson (LinkedIn, Site)
- City of Cave City Arkansas (LinkedIn)
- 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.