The Bottom-Up Revolution

Paul Fast—Principal Architect at HCMA, a Canadian architecture and design firm—discusses its More Awesome Now project and how listeners can revive neglected alleyways in their own neighborhoods, including how to assess the needs of the neighborhood, how to measure the success of the revitalization, and how to consider all members of the community in its design.

In this special member drive episode of It's the Little Things, Community Builder Jacob Moses converses with Kevin Leier—social studies teacher at Rugby High School—plus three of his students about how the Strong Towns movement inspired them to create a community building class. You'll learn how the classmates used Strong Towns principles to educate their peers and make Rugby a strong town, how Kevin introduced incrementalism to the students, how the students used Strong Towns concepts to strengthen their town.

Dan Burden—Director of Innovation and Inspiration at Blue Zones—shares how yow you can start building a healthier place in your community, including how to decide what to do first, how to partner with local leaders to create a shared vision, and how Blue Zones can help throughout the process.

Morgan Leichter-Saxby—co-founder at Pop-Up Adventure Play—shares how you can create low cost, low risk places to play in your neighborhood, including how to pitch the idea to your neighbors, how to commit to an incremental approach, and how Pop-Up Adventure Play can help throughout the process.

Alix Taylor—Manager of Water Programs at Green Communities Canada— shares how to depave neglected concrete in your own neighborhood, including how to get your neighbors involved in the process, how to pitch the idea to city leaders, and how to find sites in your neighborhood optimal for depaving.

John Reuter—board member at Strong Towns and former councilperson at the City of Sandpoint, Idaho—shares how you can propose no parking minimums to your council, including how to tell a compelling story, how to find data that enhances your story, and how to build community support for removing parking minimums.

Jacqueline Hannah—assistant director at the Food Co-Op Initiative—shares how you can start a neighborhood grocery co-op in your town, including how to pitch the vision to community members and elected officials, how to translate your enthusiasm into action, and how the Food Co-Op initiative can help through every step of the process.

Jeff Eidson—founder of Explore Elkin—shares how listeners can encourage residents to "buy in" to make your town stronger, including how to find and pitch a shared vision to residents, how to motivate residents stuck in a psychology of decline towards their town, and how to use the funds generated towards small bets.

Joanna Jurgens—Head of Business Affairs at Sofar Sounds—shares how you can foster a local music scene in your community, including how to awaken that DIY spirit that’s so essential to kickstarting a local music scene, how to identify low risk strategies for creating a venue, and how to get local elected officials involved in the process.

Rik Adamski, Principal at Ash+Lime, a neighborhood planning firm, shares how you can adopt Strong Towns principles for your neighborhood planning firm, including how to identify low risk, high return projects for a city, how to encourage city leaders to embrace the next increment of development, and most important, how adopting Strong Town principles for your neighborhood planning firm makes our cities and towns stronger.