Norm Van Eeden Petersman

Norm Van Eeden Petersman is the Director of Movement Building at Strong Towns. He is a skilled communicator of the Strong Towns message and a community builder. He leads DelPOP, a land use reform and housing advocacy group in Delta, British Columbia, and is a leader of the Strong Towns Toastmasters Club.

Norm has a Master of Divinity and a Bachelor in Political Studies. He spent 10 years pastoring churches in Canada as a preacher, teacher, and leader. He worked in communications for the second-largest city in British Columbia and carried out infrastructure-related stakeholder outreach for Canada's Minister of Health and Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario in Ottawa, ON.

Norm has published articles on housing, transportation, faith, and culture and his writing appears regularly on the Strong Towns site. You can connect with him on Twitter at @normvep or on LinkedIn.

Articles by Norm Van Eeden Petersman

Chop or Adapt? 6 Ways To Fix Sidewalks Without Losing Urban Trees

Here are six proven techniques that allow communities to preserve mature trees while restoring sidewalks to safe, walkable condition.

Streets
Chop or Adapt? 6 Ways To Fix Sidewalks Without Losing Urban Trees
If John Locke Pulled Up to the Curb and Found No Space

John Locke’s 17th-century proviso can help us understand the tangled web of private property rights, public space, and parking rules in North America today.

Parking
If John Locke Pulled Up to the Curb and Found No Space
2 Ways Edmonton Is Tackling Property Speculation And Neglect

Edmonton is proving that communities don’t have to accept neglect as inevitable. Here’s how it’s turning derelict properties from liabilities into catalysts for renewal.

Housing
2 Ways Edmonton Is Tackling Property Speculation And Neglect
The Intersection of Waste and Opportunity

An intersection redesign in Fairbanks, Alaska, proves that road projects are not always improvements—and that DOT priorities are often out of touch with reality.

Highways
Accounting
The Intersection of Waste and Opportunity
Student Journalist Goes "All Out" to Spotlight Car Dependency and Spark Change

Student journalist William Donofrio is part of a growing group of changemakers who are noticing, documenting, and sharing the struggles their places face.

Student Journalist Goes "All Out" to Spotlight Car Dependency and Spark Change