Sometimes, a hot new story will cross our desks that we need to talk about right away. That's where Upzoned comes in. Join Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn, Carlee Alm-LaBar, Norm Van Eeden Petersman, and other guests to talk in depth about one big story from the week in the Strong Towns conversation, right when you want it: now.
Episodes
4 days ago
4 days ago
What happens when the American Dream stops meaning “doing better than your parents” and starts meaning “just not falling behind”? Norm Van Eeden Petersman sits down with Andrew Burleson and Ryan Puzycki to untangle why stability feels so fragile, even in “booming” cities. They trace how zoning turns housing into a rigged game of musical chairs, how some places face strangling exclusion while others slide into rolling blight, and how missing bottom rungs on the housing ladder and remote work push rising costs — and workers — farther out. They connect these pressures to a new American Dream: finding a stable home that won’t vanish with the next lease.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
- "The American Dream Meant Upward Mobility. Now, it Means Stability." by Rachel Barber and Veronica Bravo, USAToday.com (March 2026)
- Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
- Andrew Burleson (LinkedIn)
- Ryan Puzycki (LinkedIn)
- Articles Mentioned and Downzone:
- Adaptive Code (Article)
- Remote Isn't Working (Article)
- The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien (Audiobook)
- The Social House Will Not Reopen (Article)
- Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast (Site)
- Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.
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