The Bottom-Up Revolution

A filmmaker in Richmond, California, wrote a letter urging the owner of a vacant historic bank to do something with the building. To his surprise, the owner wrote back and offered to partner with him. Jayson Johnson, a self-taught filmmaker, now hopes to turn the property into a small film studio and community gathering place. But bringing the building back will require millions of dollars in repairs, and contractors have warned him to walk away. He's determined to continue, even as navigating city regulations proves more complicated than he ever expected. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Jayson Johnson (LinkedIn) Strike Five Films (Site) 530 Macdonald Avenue in Richmond (Site) Local Recommendations:‍ Masa Tamales CoBiz Richmond 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! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Fourteen years ago, Lindsey Meek found something in Strong Towns that helped make sense of her own experience designing subdivisions. A civil engineer by training and one of the movement's founding members, she's watched its ideas spread far beyond the people who first embraced them. Her involvement helped bring Strong Towns to Rochester, Minnesota, where speaking openly about development sometimes carried professional risks. Lindsey looks back on that experience and the encouragement she now finds in younger engineers who are willing to question conventional practices. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Lindsey Meek (LinkedIn) Can an Engineer Speak Out for Reform? (Article) 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! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

What if a coffee truck could work with just a handful of customers in a neighborhood each morning? Juan Sanchez created Coffee in Your Community, a business built around serving small groups of customers in the same Raleigh-area neighborhoods every week. His compact coffee trucks bring a local coffee shop experience to places where a permanent storefront might struggle to survive. With just one barista and a quick setup, the trucks can serve relatively few customers and still make financial sense. They've quickly become familiar fixtures in the neighborhoods they serve, opening up possibilities for other small businesses to find customers in places they might otherwise overlook. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Juan Sanchez (LinkedIn) Coffee In Your Community (Site, Instagram) Local Recommendations:‍ Aija Eats Brewery Bhavana 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! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

A haunted apartment might sound terrifying, but what if the rent is too good to pass up? Filmmaker Allan Piper turned that idea into Evil Sublet, a horror comedy about a couple willing to live with ghosts for an affordable home. His next film, Highway Gothic, explores another familiar nightmare: being trapped in traffic with no way out. Both stories draw on the ways people feel stuck in everyday life, particularly when housing and transportation leave them with few good choices. Piper reflects on why horror is such a natural fit for these frustrations and what our fears reveal about the places we've built. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Allan Piper (LinkedIn, Instagram) eVil Sublet (Site) Highway Gothic (Site) 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! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

Massachusetts needs more housing, but getting permission to build it can take years, even when the zoning allows it. Housing advocate and researcher Jonathan Berk examined six projects for his report, Delayed by Design, to understand why so many housing developments struggle to move forward. He found that lengthy permitting processes can saddle developers with costly requirements and years of uncertainty, making even modest projects difficult to pursue. Even if Massachusetts succeeds in reforming its zoning laws, Berk's findings suggest that the permitting system could prevent much of that housing from ever being built. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Jonathan Berk (LinkedIn) re:MAIN (Site) Delayed By Design Report(Site) Local Recommendations:‍ Notch Brewing Lulu's Bakery Coffee Time Bake Shop Maitland Farm, Kitchen, and Spirits 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! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.