The Bottom-Up Revolution

Emma Durand-Wood, a community organizer turned Winnipeg city councillor who led Trees Please Winnipeg and Safe Speeds Winnipeg. She tells how a pawn shop fight sparked neighborhood organizing. Short scenes cover planting and pruning city trees. Other highlights: grassroots campaigns for lower residential speeds and the jump from local activism into elected office.

Edward Erfurt, Chief Technical Advisor for Strong Towns and creator of the Crash Analysis Studio approach, builds community-led crash investigations. He discusses origins and spread of the studios. He explains barriers inside city hall and how small, rapid pilots at dangerous intersections build data and support. He outlines what cities must commit to for successful adoption.

Josh Olson, co-coordinator of Strong Towns Madison and author of the Counting Cranes blog, is active in local housing and street-safety advocacy. He recounts reviving a recurring local conversation with steady habits. The chat highlights projects like safer-streets trials, Parking Day, crash-analysis studios, and grassroots tactics for quick municipal wins.

After repeated crashes into a beloved coffee shop, residents in Madison, Wisconsin pushed for a fast, inexpensive lane change instead of another long, consultant‑driven process. Josh Olson explains how neighbors gathered speed data, won a two‑month trial, and helped make the change permanent. Along the way, he shares how that work fed into broader safety goals, housing reforms, and a shift from “why don’t we” to “how can we.” ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Vote for Madison in the Strongest Town Contest! Strong Towns Madison (Site) Strong Towns Madison(Instagram) Madison Property Tax Value Per Acre (Site) 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!

Brian Kelly and Braden Schmidt went from curious residents to leaders helping redesign streets, modernize zoning, and unlock safer, more affordable neighborhoods in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. In this conversation, they share how modest first steps—showing up to meetings, testing a parklet, repurposing old materials—grow into city‑wide change. Their story traces the path from tentative beginnings to a community that’s learning, iterating, and steadily becoming stronger. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Vote for Sheboygan in the Strongest Town Contest! Sheboygan Active Transportation (Instagram) Sheboygan Active Transportation (Facebook) 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!

Chicago organizers Ellen Steinke and Dr. Chloe Groome walk through the fight to re-legalize ADUs, fix single-family zoning, and head off a looming transit fiscal cliff. They recount the campaign to save transit funding, including a sketch-driven show that turned insider debates about the Road Fund into something regular Chicagoans could act on. The episode follows their blend of detailed policy work, neighborhood organizing, and improv-rooted comedy. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Vote for Chicago in the Strongest Town Contest! Strong Towns Chicago (Site) Strong Towns Chicago (Instagram) 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!

Steve Schaer and Patrick Schloss share how landlocked, eleven‑square‑mile West Allis, Wisconsin has become one of metro Milwaukee’s most business‑friendly cities by growing from within after major factory closures. They trace the community’s path from brownfields and aging corridors to adaptive reuse, new housing, and lively main streets filled with independent shops, coffee houses, and breweries. Along the way, they highlight zoning shifts, creative financing tools, arts events, transportation academies, and on‑the‑ground outreach that together have changed the city’s trajectory. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Vote for West Allis in the Strongest Town Contest! 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!

Graham McBain, founder of Hey Neighbor and creator of a 10-step block party program, shares how he turned a street of houses into a living neighborhood. He recounts knocking on doors, Lawn Olympics, and handing event ownership to neighbors. Stories include kids roaming freely, planning parties, and scaling local connections into lasting community.

Most parents worry about safer routes to school but can’t track every plan or attend every meeting. In Lafayette, Kirk Wandy and Brian Parsons help lead Vibrant Lafayette in doing the legwork—digging into projects like the School Street path, meeting with staff, and then giving busy families clear, targeted ways to show up when it matters most. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Vibrant Lafayette (Site) Vibrant Lafayette (Instagram) 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!

Instead of waiting for permission or a grand plan, Preston Ross III started picking up trash on his own block—and kept going. Learn how that simple habit evolved into a nonprofit, a workforce program for unhoused neighbors, and a practical playbook for taking action in your town. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Local Recommendations:‍ A Place At The Table Tapyard Raleigh Lake Johson North Carolina Museum of Art The Great Raleigh Cleanup (site) The Great Raleigh Cleanup (Instagram) 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!