The Bottom-Up Revolution

In this episode of the Bottom-Up Revolution Podcast, we talk with Sam Nabi, a business owner, urban advocate, and more who lives in Kitchener, Ontario.

Sam talks about a process he worked on to transform a downtown street into a pedestrian-friendly public space.  This conversation walks you step-by-step through the journey Sam and his neighbors undertook to make this happen. He highlights the importance of building coalitions and meeting everyone on their terms, understanding their values and concerns in order to work together to strengthen their city. Sam also discusses the need to choose your battles carefully, to test things out before making permanent change, and to ask for feedback from neighbors at every step along the way.

This should be a very educational conversation for anyone who’s looking to make streets more welcoming to people on foot and improve public spaces in their cities. We know that these sorts of steps create more economically productive communities—where local businesses thrive, where people develop civic pride, and where public resources are put to their best use. 

Additional Show Notes

• Sam Nabi’s website, featuring his writing, music, croissant reviews and lots more interesting projects

• Gaukel.ca website, all about this pedestrian street

• Send us your own voicemail about the small (or big) thing you’re doing to make your town stronger. Just record a voice memo on your phone and email it to rachel@strongtowns.org.

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