Upzoned

Utah wants to override local zoning to boost housing supply, but allowed by right doesn't mean possible in practice. Abby and Edward dig into the hidden barriers — complicated permits, scarce financing, and broken systems — that stop housing from actually getting built.

• "Utah’s Governor Suggests Overriding Local Zoning. Could His Plan Solve—or Shatter—the State’s Housing Future?" by Allaire Conte, Realtor...

Who decides when community traditions change? Lafayette, Louisiana, recently rerouted its Mardi Gras parade. The goal was to improve public safety, but the change left neighborhoods, businesses, and long-standing customs in the lurch.

Guest host Norm Van Eeden Petersman sits down with Lafayette resident and former city staffer Carlee Alm-LaBar to explore how communities can navigate change while respecting culture and shared owners...

Last week, we heard how DC's outdoor dining regulations threaten local businesses. Today, urban designers Abby Newsham and Edward Erfurt explore how DC could course-correct. They share creative ways that cities can maintain safety while supporting local businesses and even improving the design of their streets.

• "After five years, D.C. streateries hit with higher costs and more rules" by By Tim Carman and ...

Washington DC is charging restaurants thousands of dollars to keep their streateries — outdoor dining areas built during Covid-19. Are these fees fair compensation for public space, or will they kill the local businesses they were meant to save?

Guest host Norm Van Eeden Petersman dives into this question with Carlee Alm-LaBar, a former city official who helped bring streateries to her own city.

• "After fi...

Abby is joined by Carlee Alm-LaBar, the chief of staff for Strong Towns, and John Reuter, advisory board member for Strong Towns. They discuss several stories of people across the country taking action to make their communities better, from building houses to painting curbs.

• It's Member Week at Strong Towns! Join the movement today!
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  • Strong Towns San Diego - Curb Chalking
  • Monte Anderson - R...

Elon Musk's company xAI is building massive data centers in Memphis, promising economic transformation. But at what cost? Abby is joined by Strong Towns Blog Editor and podcast host Asia Mieleszko to dissect the billion-dollar AI infrastructure boom and explore why cities keep falling for "shiny object urbanism."

• Hear more from Asia on the brand-new podcast Stacked Against Us!
• "Elon Musk Gambles Billions ...

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 activatin...

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.

• “A Town's Single Lar...

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.

• “Two Denver Suburbs Take Different Paths as Residents Face Housing Crunch: We Can Manage It, but ...

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.

• On October 24, Chuck will join...

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 Ee...

The Tulsa Remote program pays remote workers $10,000 to relocate to Tulsa for a year. A study found that, for every dollar spent, Tulsa sees $4.31 in economic benefits, including increased local spending, tax revenue, and job creation. Abby is joined by John Pattinson, Strong Towns’ community builder, discuss whether this kind of program is a smart way to boost the local economy.

• “The Economic Benefits of...

As baby boomers downsize, relocate, or pass away, millions of homes are projected to rejoin the housing market by 2030, potentially exceeding housing demand by 1 million homes. In today's episode, Chuck and Abby discuss how generational shifts affect the housing market, what an excess of supply could mean for cities' financial stability, and how a simple "build, build, build" mindset could cause serious problems down the line.

For years, investors and speculators shaped Canada's housing market. But now, people who actually live in those homes are beginning to have more influence. Today, Abby is joined by Norm Van Eeden Petersman, Strong Towns' director of membership and a Canadian, to discuss how this shift happened, how it'll affect Canada's housing market, and the implications for the rest of North America.

• “End-users, rather...

Several high-profile members of the government have been accused of committing mortgage fraud recently, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Today, Chuck and Abby explore how mortgage fraud distorts the housing market, why it happens so frequently — and why no one in the financial system is interested in stopping it.

• “Ken Paxton Claimed Three Houses as His P...

Join Abby and guest John Pattison as they dive into the benefits and drawbacks of "sponge cities," cities that incorporate natural features like wetlands into their stormwater management infrastructure. Is this method more resilient in the long term? Do the benefits outweigh the massive cost? How does this relate to the incremental, bottom-up approach? They’ll cover all this and more in today’s episode of Upzoned.

Data centers power everything from cloud computing to artificial intelligence, and they use a massive amount of electricity, sometimes even rivaling major cities. Watchdogs claim that tech companies aren’t absorbing the costs of this electricity use, causing rate payers’ electricity bills to spike as they’re forced to subsidize these data centers. Today, Edward and Abby discuss the far-reaching implications of this kind of land use...

Colorado's population is rapidly aging. Soon, one in five people in the state will be be over 65 years old. Limited housing stock means seniors are stuck in too-large homes that they can’t afford to maintain. In turn, that means there’s fewer large homes for younger families who need them.

Today, Abby is joined by Katy Clagett, an incremental developer originally from Colorado who’s working to develop infill housing options for sen...

In January 2025, wildfires swept across Los Angeles with record-breaking destruction. To encourage swift rebuilding, Governor Newsom suspended environmental regulations. But six months later, only a fraction of homeowners have even received permits, let alone started the rebuilding process. Chuck is joined by Edward Erfurt, Strong Towns’ chief technical advisor, to talk about why, as well as the deeper challenges of rebuilding in f...