Daniel Bloemker is a Strong Towns member and Local Conversation leader from Bellingham, Washington. He joins Norm to discuss his work advancing parking reform, housing, and community spaces. (Transcript included.)
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Lorelei Bailey is a Strong Towns member and Local Conversation leader from Artesia, California. Her story proves that you don’t need to be an expert to lead change—you just have to care enough to act.
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What if you could look at your city’s finances and understand what’s going on—not just this year, but over the long haul? Meet the Strong Towns Finance Decoder.
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What if you could see where your city makes money—and where it quietly loses it? That’s what a group of residents in Langley, British Columbia set out to do.
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A deadly hit-and-run in Fayetteville, North Carolina sparks urgent calls for safer streets and stronger action from city leaders.
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Kip Santos is a trained civil engineer and construction manager who quit his job to build Local Conversations full-time. Now he splits his time between the U.S. and Canada, nurturing the groups he's founded and building missing middle housing. (Transcript included.)
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Cities thrive when residents actively participate in conversations about their future. Whether through public comment or the written word, speaking up isn’t just an act of protest—it’s an act of stewardship. Here’s how one Albuquerque resident advocated for more housing in his city.
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Tiffany is joined by Montana Gau, a Local Conversation leader in Denver. They discuss how Gau built the group into a registered nonprofit with several hundred members and how his role shifted from advocating “on the ground” to creating a space where others can more effectively advocate. (Transcript included.)
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David Jenkins is a city councilor and Local Conversation leader in La Plata, Maryland. He joins Norm to discuss his work with the city’s budget, particularly his efforts to share financial information in a simple way that lets residents participate in the budgeting process. (Transcript included.)
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In this Bottom-Up Short, Norm is joined by Christian Schick, a Local Conversation leader from Virginia. His group has built a lot of momentum in the past year, and Schick talks about how they did that in a productive and helpful way, particularly while juggling local elections. (Transcript included.)
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In this episode, Norm is joined by Andrew and Anna Carley, Local Conversation leaders from Michigan. They discuss how they became one of the go-to groups that city officials turn to when they’re considering policy changes.
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Here’s how Strong Towns Chicago is making its neighborhoods safer, more pedestrian-friendly and more inviting.
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In this episode, Local Conversation leader Michael Bassili explains how his group created a parking campaign that convinced their city council to eliminate parking mandates in their downtown.
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Fletcher Williams was hit by three cars in a 13-month period — all within a half-mile radius in Bradenton, Florida. And he’s only one of many crash victims. The design of these streets is inhumanely dangerous and must be changed.
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In this episode, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Jake Loftis, a pastor and Local Conversation leader. They discuss the ways that North America’s built environment can lead to social isolation and how Loftis used his local paper to combat that isolation.
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In Blair, Nebraska, Jake Loftis and his Local Conversation are turning the idea of New Year’s resolutions into a powerful tool for community transformation.
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In this episode, host Tiffany Owens Reed is joined by Chloe Groome and Aaron Feldman, co-leads of the Local Conversation group Strong Towns Chicago, to discuss the initiatives their group is working on and their coalition strategy for driving change.
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In this episode, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Sully Israel, a Local Conversation leader, to discuss his group’s efforts to keep their city’s main street closed to cars.
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In this episode, host Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Julie Emery, a Local Conversation leader, to discuss how her group started their bus bench building program and how it’s evolving.
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Here’s how advocates in Omaha, Nebraska, got their Department of Public Works to complete a quick-build street safety project so fast that “it felt like waving a magic wand.” (Hint: Find out if your community has a business improvement district, stat.)
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