Upzoned

In New York City, a playful bracket about broken hoops and dumping sites turns routine maintenance into a citywide tournament. Carlee Alm-LaBar, Edward Erfurt, and Alexander Lazard explore what that reveals about complaint driven 311 systems, how priorities really get set, and which neighborhoods get left off the board entirely. Their conversation presses on whether mayors can turn one clever contest into lasting trust instead of a one week story.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "Mayor Mamdani Launches March Madness-style Competition for City Fixes" by Spectrum News Staff, NY1.com (March 2026)
• "Municipal Madness: Mayor Mamdani Performs Winning City Fix, Cleans Up Illegal Dumping in Soundview on Day 100" (Article)
• "Mamdani, Leaning Into ‘Sewer Socialism,’ Gets His Hands Dirty" (Article)
• Downzone:
  • "Mary Colter: Builder Upon the Red Earth" by Virginia L. Grattan (Book)
  • "The Image of the City" by Kevin Lynch (Book)
  • "How Big Things Get Done" by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner (Book)
  • Strong Towns National Gathering (Site)
• Carlee Alm-LaBar (LinkedIn)
• Edward Erfurt (LinkedIn)
• Alexander Lazard (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

Development cost charges are supposed to make growth pay for itself, but this conversation shows just how far that promise falls short. Norm Van Eeden Petersman, Michel Durand-Wood, and Dan Winer unpack Ontario’s deal to halve development charges, British Columbia’s per‑unit fee structure that punishes small infill, and Winnipeg’s court battle over impact fees. They reveal how these choices ripple into housing prices, municipal deficits, and whether existing neighborhoods ever see the gentle density and local services they’ve been promised.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "City Councillors Fear 'Devil in the Details' in Federal-Provincial Housing Fund" by Arthur White-Crummery, CBC.ca (March 2026)
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Dan Winer (LinkedIn)
• Dear Winnipeg (Site)
• You'll Pay For This! (Book)

• Articles mentioned and Downzone:

  • Readying B.C. to deliver more homes for people in communities (Article)
  • The Party Analogy (Article)
  • The Master and His Emissary, Ian McGilchrist (Book)
  • Murderland, Caroline Fraser (Book)
  • Shrill Season 1 (Prime Video)
  • An Inside Job, Daniel Silva (Book)

   

• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

A Massachusetts town budgeted $600,000 for snow and ended up spending $6 million clearing its streets. Norm Van Eeden Petersman, Daniel Herriges, and Gracen Johnson trace the links between winter operations, stormwater, supply chains, labor, and land use in cities facing serious snow. Starting with Boston’s overrun numbers, they widen the lens to Ottawa’s snow storage sites and Minneapolis’ potholes, asking what happens when seasonal extremes collide with tight city budgets.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "‘That comes with a price tag’: How snow removal is busting town budgets" by Kate Selig, Bostonglobe.com (March 2026)
• "The Cost of an Extra Foot" by Chuck Marohn
• "Transactions of Decline" by Chuck Marohn
• Downzone:
  • "Cost-Based Social Rental Housing in Europe" (Web PDF)
  • The Ink (Substack)
  • You'll Pay For This! (Site)
  • Criminal Broads (Site)
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Daniel Herriges (LinkedIn)
• Gracen Johnson (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

While Los Angeles gets ready for the Olympics and World Cup, residents watch trash pile up in the places tourists never see. Chuck, Norm, and Carlee trace the links between auto‑oriented growth, a strained city budget, and basic services that can’t keep up. Through one neighborhood organizer’s Saturday cleanups, they show how garbage exposes which streets are truly cared for.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "Talking Trash" by Alissa Walker, Torched.la (February 2026)
• Chuck Marohn (LinkedIn)
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Carlee Alm-LaBar (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

A multigenerational home addition sparked national attention and local outrage in Fairfax County, Virginia. Chief Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt sits down with guest host Norm Van Eeden Petersman to explore why legally allowed housing can still feel deeply disruptive — and what this reveals about zoning, design, and incremental change.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "Massive Multigenerational Home Addition Sparks Furious Debate in Virginia Community" by Julie Taylor, Realtor.com (November 2025)
• "The Monster House: Why a Change in Neighborhood Scale Isn’t a Bad Thing" by Emma Durand-Wood
• "Multigenerational Living Isn't Immigrant Culture, It's Human Culture" by Shina Shayesteh
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Edward Erfurt (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "Utah’s Governor Suggests Overriding Local Zoning. Could His Plan Solve—or Shatter—the State’s Housing Future?" by Allaire Conte, Realtor.com (November 2025)
• "Why State Housing Reform is Failing (and What We Can Do About It)" by Edward Erfurt
• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter)
• Edward Erfurt (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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 ownership.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "Residents, krewes, downtown businesses weigh in on Jefferson Street Mardi Gras parade route" by Stephen Marcantel, The Acadiana Advocate (November 2025)
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "After five years, D.C. streateries hit with higher costs and more rules" by By Tim Carman and Rachel Weiner, The Washington Post (November 2025)
• Painting of a food hall street (Passeig de l'Escultor Miquel Blay, Olot, Espana by Abby Newsham)
• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter)
• Edward Erfurt (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• "After five years, D.C. streateries hit with higher costs and more rules" by By Tim Carman and Rachel Weiner, The Washington Post (November 2025)
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

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.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• It's Member Week at Strong Towns! Join the movement today!
• Read more:
  • Strong Towns San Diego - Curb Chalking
  • Monte Anderson - Roommate House
  • Strong Towns Langley - Baffle Gates
  • Strong Towns Blono - Design Charette
  • Strong Towns Nanaimo - Eliminating Parking Mandates
• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter)
• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.