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.

Gig Harbor Boatshop (site)

Bring the conversation to your community by booking Norm as a speaker!

Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)

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.

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.

Local Recommendations:

Jack London Square

Oakland's Grand Lake Farmer's Market

See more from Kat:

We Should Get Together (site)

“We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships” (book)

1-on-1 coaching

Platonic Action Lab (course)

Downloadable tools: Better than Small Talk and the Better Conversations Kit

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. Click here to learn more about membership.

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.

More from Ashley:

“Cleaning Up Our Communities: Canada’s First Derelict Tax Subclass a Success”

“Will Edmonton Be the First Major Canadian City to Eliminate Parking Minimums?”

“Want more local businesses in your neighborhood? Then legalize ‘Accessory Commercial Units.’”

“The Bottom-Up Revolution is... Building Gentle Density and a Grassroots Campaign for City Council”

Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)

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.

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.

Local Recommendations:

Gelato Classico on Castro

Season's Noodles and Dumplings Garden

Ox9 Lanzhou Handpulled Noodles

California Street Complete Street

Bay Trail

Swyft Cities (site)

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. Click here to learn more about membership.

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.

Drawing by Leon Krier

6 housing reforms that could help make courtyard blocks possible.

Read more from Alicia:

Urban Courtyard (X/Twitter)

“Chicago’s affordable housing plan demands a courtyard block blueprint” Chicago Tribune

“The courtyard block solution to Chicago’s family flight problem” Chicago Tribune

“A better way to approach the challenge of Lincoln Yards” Crain’s Chicago Business

Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)

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.

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.

Local Recommendations:

Café 1369

Kendall Rooftop Garden

Greenline Bike Path

Burhan Azeem (site)

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. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.

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.

Strong Towns Fayetteville (Facebook)

Learn how to make your streets safer with the Crash Analysis Studio model.

Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)

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.

Linda Appel Lipsius is the executive director of Denver Urban Gardens, where she supports a network of over 200 gardens and food forests that produce 650,000 pounds of food annually. She also helps launch initiatives to help make Denver a greener, more food-resilient place.

Linda and Tiffany discuss the importance of nature in urban resilience and the benefits of community gardening, from access to healthy food to community building and mental health improvement. Linda explains how a permaculture design philosophy can help cities become more resilient.

Denver Urban Gardens

Local Recommendations:

Little Owl Coffee

The Kitchen

Museum of Contemporary Art

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. Click here to learn more about membership, including member-exclusive perks.

Wendy Nash is the founder of Get Around Caboolture, a grassroots transportation initiative in Caboolture, Australia. She and Norm discuss the group's efforts to promote more transportation options, including hosting the first Week Without Driving outside the U.S. Wendy emphasizes the importance of tailoring messages to different audiences and explains why she would like to see more comedy in advocacy.

Get Around Caboolture

Strong Towns Academy

Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)

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.

Brandi Thompson is the “accidental” co-founder and leader of Strong Towns ABQ, a Local Conversation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She’s lived in eight states and has worked as a rattlesnake wrangler, a grant writer, and a teacher. She currently works as a flight nurse, providing care to patients who need to be air-lifted to the hospital.

Today, Brandi sits down with Tiffany to discuss the strategies that have helped Strong Towns ABQ successfully advocate for zoning reform and against highway expansions.

Strong Towns ABQ (site)

Local Recommendations:

Old Town Plaza

Bike In Coffee

High and Dry Brewing

Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram)

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