Upzoned

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• On October 24, Chuck will join the author of today's article, Jarrett Walker, for a member-exclusive deep dive into transit. Become a Strong Towns member to join in!
• “Should We Let Public Transit Die?” by Jarrett Walker, Bloomberg City Lab (September 2025)
• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).‍‍
• Chuck Marohn (Substack)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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 Eeden Petersman in this episode of Upzoned.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “Mayor Bass says layoffs averted after labor negotiations, "creative solutions" for next year city budget” by Chelsea Hylton, CBS News (September 2025).
• Finance Decoder
• Become a Strong Towns member to access weekly Ask Strong Towns Anything sessions.
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Do you know someone who would make for a great The Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “The Economic Benefits of Paying Workers to Move” by Rthvika Suvarna and Fola Akinnibi, Bloomberg CityLab (May 2025).‍
• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).‍‍
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “Forget YIMBY. The housing shortage could disappear on its own.” by Robert Showah, The Washington Post (September 2025).‍
• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).‍‍
• Chuck Marohn (Substack)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “End-users, rather than investors, expected to drive Vancouver housing market higher” by Kerry Gold, The Globe and Mail (September 2025).‍
• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).‍
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)‍
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “Ken Paxton Claimed Three Houses as His Primary Residence, Records Show” by Pooja Salhotra, The New York Times (July 2025).

• “Mortgage-Fraud Accusations Are Trump’s New Political Weapon” by Gina Heeb and Brian Schwartz, The Wall Street Journal (August 2025).

• Chuck Marohn (Substack)

• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).

• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “‘Sponge City’: Copenhagen Adapts to a Wetter Future” by Paul Hockenos, Yale Environment 360 (July 2025).

• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).

• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “As electric bills rise, evidence mounts that data centers share blame. States feel pressure to act.” by Marc Levy, AP News (August 2025).

• Want to bring the conversation to your community? Book Edward as a speaker.

• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).

• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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 seniors. They discuss what Colorado’s situation means for communities and how we can reshape housing to be more adaptable to the needs of all age groups.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “As Colorado ages, seniors are colliding with the housing crisis” by Brian Eason, The Colorado Sun (June 2025).

• Learn how to create a more flexible housing market.

• Katy Claggett

• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).

• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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 fire-prone areas.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “Why it’s taking LA so long to rebuild” by Umair Irfan, Vox (July 2025).

• Want to bring the conversation to your community? Book Chuck or Edward as a speaker.

• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).

• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.