The Bottom-Up Revolution
185 episodes - English - Latest episode: 17 days ago - ★★★★★ - 31 ratingsThis podcast features stories of the Strong Towns movement in action. Hosted by Tiffany Owens Reed, it’s all about how regular people have stepped up to make their communities more economically resilient, and how others can implement these ideas in their own places. We’ll talk about taking concrete action steps, connecting with fellow advocates to build power, and surviving the bumps along the way—all in the pursuit of creating stronger towns.
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Episodes
Using Local Food to Build Community
July 17, 2019 21:42 - 35 minutes - 29.7 MBAndy Diaz—founder at Urban Acres in Peoria, Illinois—shares how you can use local food to build community in your neighborhood, including how to find the right investment for your neighborhood, how to embrace incremental development as you grow your investment, and why cities like Peoria and beyond need more $1,000 heroes to create strong towns.
Building Community Through Public Art
July 10, 2019 19:46 - 29 minutes - 24.5 MBGreta McLain—Artistic Director at GoodSpace Murals, a Minneapolis-based organization that promotes community development through public art—shares how you can use public art to build community in your own city or town, including how to create a tribe of public art advocates in your community, how to humble yourself as you share your partner with different neighborhoods, and how to turn stakeholders leery of public art into advocates.
Investing in Your Neighborhood
July 03, 2019 17:00 - 23 minutes - 18.4 MBRafa Wright—Detroit native, community leader, and soon-to-be owner of a new, Detroit-based neighborhood grocery—shares how you can make neighborhood-led investments in your community, including how to observe where people struggle, how to find the right investments for your neighborhood, and how to get your neighbors involved in the process.
Fostering Collaboration on a Local Level
June 12, 2019 17:00 - 33 minutes - 27.7 MBEd Morrison—author of Strategic Doing: Ten Skills for Agile Leadership—shares how city leaders can grow their economies by fostering collaboration on a local level, including how to find existing assets in your community, how to encourage existing organizations to focus on a shared goal, and how to incrementally pursue that goal.
Reviving Forgotten Alleyways
June 05, 2019 16:00 - 31 minutes - 26.1 MBPaul 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.
Taking the Strong Towns Movement to School
May 23, 2019 16:57 - 29 minutes - 52.6 MBIn 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 st...
Creating Healthy Communities
May 15, 2019 16:00 - 28 minutes - 53.7 MBDan 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.
Adding Elements of Play to Your Neighborhood
May 08, 2019 16:00 - 25 minutes - 47.9 MBMorgan 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.
Depaving Your Neighborhood
May 01, 2019 17:09 - 20 minutes - 38.7 MBAlix 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.
Proposing No Parking Minimums to Council
April 24, 2019 16:00 - 34 minutes - 64.7 MBJohn 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.
Starting a Neighborhood Grocery Co-Op
April 10, 2019 15:52 - 31 minutes - 59.3 MBJacqueline 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.
Reinventing the Rural Economy
April 03, 2019 16:00 - 32 minutes - 62.3 MBJeff 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.
Fostering a Local Music Scene
March 27, 2019 16:00 - 27 minutes - 52.9 MBJoanna 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.
Adopting Strong Towns Principles for Your Neighborhood Planning Firm
March 20, 2019 16:00 - 36 minutes - 71.2 MBRik 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.
Fostering Entrepreneurship in Your Community
March 06, 2019 16:50 - 30 minutes - 58.4 MBSkyler Yost — Ecosystem Builder for the city of York, PA — shares how you can foster entrepreneurship in your community, including how to assess the existing resources in your community, how to create an ecosystem in which entrepreneurs are supporting one another, and most important, how fostering an entrepreneurship in your community makes our cities and towns stronger.
Finding Your Community's True Essence
February 27, 2019 16:58 - 35 minutes - 68.1 MBRyan Short — CEO of CivicBrand — shares how you can find your community’s true essence, including how to engage with your community to ensure the creation of your brand is a grassroots effort, how to ensure your brand actually aligns with what your community offers, and how finding your community’s true essence makes your city or town stronger.
Making Your Local Business a Third Place
February 20, 2019 16:30 - 27 minutes - 53 MBKea Wilson — Communications Manager at Strong Towns — discusses what her time as a bookseller at Left Bank Books in the St. Louis taught her about making local businesses a third place, including what building a third place actually looks like, how third places are more economically resilient, and how you can make your local business a third place.
Connecting with Your Community on Foot
February 13, 2019 17:00 - 28 minutes - 52.6 MBDustin Ratcliff – founding member of Walk2Connect – shares how you can connect with your community on foot, including how to motivate your neighbors to form a walking group, how to use your walking group to influence how your city or town is develop, and how connecting with your community on foot makes our cities and towns stronger.
Breaking Down Silos in Rural Communities
February 06, 2019 17:00 - 25 minutes - 23.4 MBJordan Katcher – Community Development Specialist at the State of Utah with a focus on rural communities – shares how government employees can break down silos in rural communities, including how to choose who to get involved in the process, how to understand the needs of rural communities, and how breaking down silos can make our towns stronger.
Using (and Understanding) Open Data
January 30, 2019 17:00 - 51 minutes - 41 MBIn this episode, Jacob chats with three local leaders in open data—Kyle Taylor, Jesse Hamner, and Habib—share how open data works, including how you can use open data to act on your ideas, how you can encourage your elected officials to adopt open data policies, and how open data can make your city or town stronger.
Investing in the Youth
January 23, 2019 16:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBLatoya Wilson — founder of the Rebuild Workforce Consultancy — shares how you can invest in the youth in your community, including how to understand the learning landscape for youth, how to create programs that are beneficial for students, and how to make your investments last throughout a student’s time in primary school and beyond.
Deciding What to Do First
January 16, 2019 19:00 - 18 minutes - 34.1 MBJenna Jarvis – environmental engineer out of St. Louis, Strong Towns member, and winner of our Why I Joined Strong Towns fall member drive contest – discusses how to navigate your neighborhood-boosting ideas and decide what to do first, including how to start small, how to get your peers involved, and how to keep the momentum going as you plan new actions.
Starting a Successful Pop-up Shop
January 09, 2019 19:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MBCaroline Dobbins Hurteau—staff member at the Albion Reinvestment Corporation—shares how you can start a successful pop-up shop, including how to pitch the idea to your downtown organizations, how to find merchants, and, most important, how to make it an incremental yet lasting success for your city or town.
Spreading the Strong Towns Message Locally
January 02, 2019 19:00 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBJordan Deffenbaugh — primary organizer of Local Conversation Strong Towns Sioux Falls — shares how you can spread the Strong Towns message locally, including how to spread the vision among your neighbors, how to give your neighbors a sense of ownership in the process, and, most important, how to get into the nitty-gritty of making your city or town stronger.
Getting Ideas for Making Your Neighborhood Stronger
December 05, 2018 19:00 - 37 minutes - 72.4 MBStrong Towns's own Chuck Marohn shares how you can get ideas to make your neighborhood stronger, including how both the concerned citizen and the public official can act on ideas, how to share them with your tribe, and how to take the next incremental step in making your neighborhood stronger.
Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit
November 28, 2018 19:00 - 24 minutes - 40.9 MBCaitlin Bigelow – founder of Maxable Space – discusses how you can build an accessory dwelling unit, including how to check the required zoning, encourage your peers that ADUs are strong way to strengthen your neighborhood, and how to discover the benefits—beyond passive rental income.
Boosting Historic Business Districts with Gamification
November 07, 2018 19:00 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MBDarren Smith - co-founder, President, and CEO of Traipse, a gamification platform for historic business districts - shares how you can boost your historic business district with gamification, including how to use gamification to boost tourism, get more traffic for merchants, and make your historic business district the destination it deserves to be.
Starting a Bike Advocacy Group
October 31, 2018 19:00 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBAubrey Byron – Staff Writer at Strong Towns and President of the Monthly Cycle, a St.Louis-based bike advocacy group – shares how you can start your own bike advocacy group, including how to act on the idea, spread the message, and have an impact on bike policy in your town.
Providing Healthy Food in Our Urban Neighborhoods
October 24, 2018 19:00 - 23 minutes - 44.6 MBBreanna Hawkins – Policy Director at the Los Angeles Food Policy Council – discusses how you can provide healthy food in our urban neighborhoods, including how to recognize food deserts, encourage existing establishments to carry produce, and grow your own food.
Crowdfunding Your Ideas
October 17, 2018 20:00 - 21 minutes - 20.4 MBBill Huston – co-founder of Our Crowd Rocks and top crowdfunding consultant according to Inc. Magazine – discusses how you can build a crowd to get funding for your big ideas, including how to find your crowd, share your message, and get people behind your big ideas.
Documenting Your City
October 10, 2018 07:00 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBAlissa Walker – urbanism editor at Curbed – discusses how you can create change by documenting your city, including how to find your voice, choose your platform, and get people behind your ideas.
Innovating in Local Government
October 03, 2018 20:00 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MBNick Kittle – author of the book Sustainovation: Building Sustainable Innovation in Government, One Wildy Creative Idea at a Time – shares how local governments can begin innovating to create meaninful change
Starting a Neighborhood Association
September 26, 2018 19:00 - 41 minutes - 78.5 MBGet the wisdom and encouragement you need to start a successful neighborhood association – including how to motivate people to join and make real change in your neighborhood – from Denton Main Street Association President Glen Farris.
Loving Where You Live
September 19, 2018 19:00 - 42 minutes - 39.2 MBMelody Warnick – author of the book This is Where You Belong: Finding Home Wherever You Are – discusses why Americans move so much, how to take small yet powerful steps to feel attached to your community, and, most important, how to love where you live.
Running for City Council
September 12, 2018 04:03 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBLearn the essential information you need to run for city council – including how to run a successful campaign and get people behind your ideas – from former six-year Denton city councilperson Kevin Roden.