Historic Bridge Battle: Will 1 Town Profit While the Other Pays?
Two towns, two states, and two historic bridges that nobody wants to pay for. Brattleboro, Vermont, wants to reactivate two historic bridges with a pedestrian greenway. Hinsdale, New Hampshire, worries about increased crime and being saddled with the majority of maintenance costs while getting fewer returns. Abby and Norm discuss this dilemma, comparing it to similar bridge projects and identifying possible next steps for activating this underutilized infrastructure.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
"Can Two Towns Preserve the Bridges That Connected Them?" by Alan Wirzbicki, The Boston Globe (September 2025)
Abby Newsham (X/Twitter)
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
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When a Town's Biggest Taxpayer Becomes Its Biggest Problem
What do you do with 720,000 square feet of dead mall? Towns across America are struggling to find the answer as their malls shut down, leaving budget craters and infrastructure nightmares in their wake. Abby is joined by Carlee Alm-LaBar, Strong Towns' chief of staff and a former city staffer, to explore whether the answer is a grand redevelopment plan — or thinking radically smaller.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
“A Town's Single Largest Taxpayer Is Also Its Biggest Headache” by Jim Zarroli, The New York Times (June 2025).
Click here to listen to The Bottom-Up Revolution episode about the 24 Hour Citizen Project.
Abby Newsham (X/Twitter)
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
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2 Towns, 2 Responses to the Housing Crisis. Which Will Succeed?
Littleton, Colorado, wants to ban everything other than single-family homes. The neighboring town of Lakewood wants to allow more housing variety. Norm and Abby dive into what's driving these radically different responses to the housing crisis and what happens when cities try to exempt themselves from change.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
“Two Denver Suburbs Take Different Paths as Residents Face Housing Crunch: We Can Manage It, but Just Barely.” by John Aguilar, The Denver Post (October 2025).
Abby Newsham
Painting Instagram
X/Twitter
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
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Public Transit Will Collapse in a Year. Should We Save It?
By the end of 2026, many U.S. cities could see large parts of their public transit systems crumble under a lack of federal funding and a development pattern that was never designed to support it. In this episode, Chuck Marohn and Abby Newsham explore why transit can’t survive as a charity and how localized funding and smarter land use could create systems that actually work.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
On October 24, Chuck will join the author of today's article, Jarrett Walker, for a member-exclusive deep dive into transit. Become a Strong Towns member to join in!
“Should We Let Public Transit Die?” by Jarrett Walker, Bloomberg City Lab (September 2025)
Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).
Chuck Marohn (Substack)
Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.
This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.
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LA Just Avoided 1600 Layoffs. Is That a Good Thing?
The city of Los Angeles recently announced that it saved 1,600 jobs that were at risk of being cut to balance its $1 billion budget deficit. But did it actually fix anything, or is it just shuffling money around to hide the problem? What role do unions play? And what should cities actually do when facing a major budget deficit?
Strong Towns Chief Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt dives into these questions with guest host Norm Van Eeden Petersman in this episode of Upzoned.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
“Mayor Bass says layoffs averted after labor negotiations, "creative solutions" for next year city budget” by Chelsea Hylton, CBS News (September 2025).
Finance Decoder
Become a Strong Towns member to access weekly Ask Strong Towns Anything sessions.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
Do you know someone who would make for a great The Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!
Sometimes, a hot new story will cross our desks that we need to talk about right away. That's where Upzoned comes in. Join Multistudio's Abby Newsham, Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn, and other guests to talk in depth about one big story from the week in the Strong Towns conversation, right when you want it: now.
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