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Strong Towns

The Bottom-Up Revolution

Memphis, Tennessee, was ranked the #1 most dangerous metro area by Smart Growth America in 2024. That’s not stopping Kelsey Huse, a safe streets advocate and grad student studying city and regional planning. She’s tackling the problem head-on by analyzing car crash sites, helping launch a city-wide advocacy coalition, and raising awareness for safer infrastructure online.

Today, Kelsey joins Tiffany to share the inside scoop on Memphis’ dangerous design and how she’s working to change it.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Local Recommendations:
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Lulu’s Cafe
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Overton Park
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Follow Kelsey on Instagram at Memphis Urbanism
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Learn more about the Memphis Crash Analysis Studio.
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Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
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Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!
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This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.

Fighting for Safe Streets in America’s Most Dangerous City

Eva López Chávez is a city council member in Salt Lake City, Utah. Eva has been involved in many layers of local government, including working as a city staffer and construction project manager. Today, she and Norm discuss how she became a city councilor and how she’s building prosperity in her city.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Connect with Eva:
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Instagram
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LinkedIn
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City Council (site)
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Bring the conversation to your community by booking Norm as a speaker!
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Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
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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.

The Young Voice Shaping Salt Lake City's Future

Ashley Thornton is the founder of Waco Walks, an organization devoted to promoting walkability in Waco, Texas. She was inspired to start the organization after spending a year with walking as her primary form of transportation.

Ashley and Tiffany discuss the design choices that make Waco difficult to walk in and how Waco Walks is working to change that.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Local Recommendations:
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El Conquistador Mexican Restaurant
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Dubl-R Burgers
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Cameron Trading Company
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Helados La Aztecas on 25th
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Waco Walks (Facebook)
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Act Locally Waco (site)
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Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
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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.

How Taking a Walk Can Make Your City Stronger

Mark Hoppen is a former city manager and Strong Towns member who’s been quietly strengthening communities in Washington state for decades. In this Bottom Up Short, Norm and Mark talk about why someone should pursue a career in city management, what real priorities look like in that role, and how to lead with both care and practicality.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Gig Harbor Boatshop (site)
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Bring the conversation to your community by booking Norm as a speaker!
 • 

 • 

Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
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 • 

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.

This Is Local Leadership Without the Ego

Adult friendships are difficult. A big part of that is our built environment, which is often designed in a way that stifles social connection instead of supporting it. Kat Vellos is an author, facilitator, and connection coach who’s working to change that. She and Tiffany discuss the importance of community building, ways to redesign our built environment, and other steps residents and local leaders can take to help their community thrive.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Local Recommendations:
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Jack London Square
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Oakland's Grand Lake Farmer's Market
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See more from Kat:
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We Should Get Together (site)
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“We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships” (book)
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1-on-1 coaching
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Platonic Action Lab (course)
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Downloadable tools: Better than Small Talk and the Better Conversations Kit
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Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
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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.

Beating the Loneliness Epidemic, One Step at a Time

Ashley Salvador is a city councilor in Edmonton, Alberta. She’s a national leader in housing reform, zoning modernization, and urban revitalization. Ashley joins Norm on this Bottom-Up Short to discus one of her recent initiatives, which focuses on reducing the number of derelict and dangerous properties in the city. Ashley shares how she helped bring Canada’s first Derelict Tax Subclass into effect and how it’s driving revitalization.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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More from Ashley:
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“Cleaning Up Our Communities: Canada’s First Derelict Tax Subclass a Success”
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“Will Edmonton Be the First Major Canadian City to Eliminate Parking Minimums?”
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“Want more local businesses in your neighborhood? Then legalize ‘Accessory Commercial Units.’”
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“The Bottom-Up Revolution is... Building Gentle Density and a Grassroots Campaign for City Council”
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Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
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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.

How To Use Property Taxes to Clean Up Your Community

Jeral Poskey is the founder and CEO of Swyft Cities, a California-based tech company that's spearheading a totally new transportation system. Jeral explains his unique approach to creating realistic transportation innovations. He describes the transportation system Swyft Cities has created and how it could address the issues that many cities face — like traffic, land wasted on parking, and difficulty with infill development.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Local Recommendations:
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Gelato Classico on Castro
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Season's Noodles and Dumplings Garden
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Ox9 Lanzhou Handpulled Noodles
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California Street Complete Street
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Bay Trail
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Swyft Cities (site)
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Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
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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.

Will This Transportation System Be More Popular Than Cars?

Dr. Alicia Pederson is a writer and advocate who encourages cities to adopt courtyard urbanism, a style of development where mixed-use buildings surround a shared courtyard. Today, she joins Norm to explain the benefits of this development style and how to advocate for it.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Drawing by Leon Krier
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6 housing reforms that could help make courtyard blocks possible.
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Read more from Alicia:
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Urban Courtyard (X/Twitter)
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“Chicago’s affordable housing plan demands a courtyard block blueprint” Chicago Tribune
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“The courtyard block solution to Chicago’s family flight problem” Chicago Tribune
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“A better way to approach the challenge of Lincoln Yards” Crain’s Chicago Business
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Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
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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.

Courtyard Urbanism: The Best of Both City and Suburb

Meet Burhan Azeem, a city councilor in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A graduate of MIT, he’s the youngest councilor in the city’s history and has a special focus on housing affordability and street safety.

Burhan has successfully expanded zoning for affordable housing, removed parking minimums, and helped build bike lanes throughout the city. He also helped found a nonprofit that impacts housing policy on the state level. Today, he and Tiffany sit down to discuss how he got to this point and what he’s working on next.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Local Recommendations:
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Café 1369
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Kendall Rooftop Garden
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Greenline Bike Path
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Burhan Azeem (site)
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Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)
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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.

This City Councilor Is Making Cambridge Safer and More Affordable

What happens when a city’s design puts lives at risk—and someone decides to speak up?

In this episode, you’ll meet Army Master Sgt. Ben Hultquist, one of the leaders of Strong Towns Fayetteville, a Local Conversation in North Carolina. After a string of preventable deaths, Ben testified in city hall. Now, that testimony is helping turn the conversation in Fayetteville toward people-first design and safer streets.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

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Strong Towns Fayetteville (Facebook)
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Learn how to make your streets safer with the Crash Analysis Studio model.
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Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
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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.

Courtyard Urbanism: The Best of Both City and Suburb

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