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Upzoned: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Strong Towns
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.
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 5 days ago43 min
When Fixing Property Taxes Just Adds Another Tax
A New York condo sold for $238 million, but the city assessed it at just $15.5 million. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has framed his new pied-à-terre tax as a way to “tax the rich,” but a recent article by Ken Girardin, “The Sheer Absurdity of New York’s Pied-à-Terre Tax,” argues that the bigger problem sits underneath it. Chuck Marohn talks with Urban Three founder Joe Minicozzi and land economist Lars Doucet about how classifications, assessment caps, and decades of special rules can shift the tax burden away from high-value property. If the system is already distorted, does adding another tax make it fairer or just harder to fix? ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "The Absurdity of New York City’s Pied-à-Terre Tax" by Ken Girardin, Theatlantic.com (September 2026) Chuck Marohn (LinkedIn) Joe Minicozzi (LinkedIn), URBAN3 (Site) Lars Doucet (LinkedIn), Center for Land Economics (Site) Articles Mentioned an Downzone: DALT: Depreciation-Assisted Land Value Tax (Substack) Moneygpt: AI and the Threat to the Global Economy by James Rickards (Site) Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less by Leidy Klotz (Site) Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Site) Book Review: The Natural Dividend (Site) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- 1 weeks ago45 min
What Happens When Malls Start Charging for Parking?
What happens when something people have always treated as free suddenly gets a price tag? A USA Today article, “Shopping Malls Are Charging for Prime Parking. It’s Not Going Well,” looks at what happens when a long-standing free amenity suddenly has a visible cost. Carlee Alm-LaBar talks with Parking Reform Network founder Tony Jordan and developer Monte Anderson of Neighborhood Evolution about what changes when shoppers are asked to pay directly for that convenience. For owners, “free” parking has never actually been free: the lot still has to be paved, repaired, cleaned, secured, and eventually rebuilt, even when much of it sits empty. If the land is expensive to maintain, could it be doing something more useful? ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "Shopping malls are charging for prime parking. It's not going well" by Jessica Guynn, Usatoday.com (August 2026) Downzone: The Urban Climate Solution (Site) Civic Leader Summit (Site) Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (Site) Carlee Alm-LaBar (LinkedIn) Tony Jordan (LinkedIn), Parking Reform Network (Site) Monte Anderson (LinkedIn), Options Real Estate (Site) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- 2 weeks ago44 min
This Tiny Backyard Home Cost $600,000
A Los Angeles couple set out to build a 400-square-foot backyard home for about $300,000, only to watch the final cost climb to $600,000 in a project recently profiled by Lisa Boone in the Los Angeles Times. Norm Van Eeden Petersman talks with Tamara White of Small Housing and Mary Coddington, founder of 12 Incorporated, about what pushed the cost so high. The couple chose an ambitious design and built on a difficult site, but they also had two major advantages many small housing projects never get: they already owned the land, and they were allowed to build. If the land and permissions were already in place, what made the price skyrocket, and how much of that complexity could actually be removed? ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "A compact ADU built on a dramatic ridgeline ‘floats’ over L.A. and its Midcentury neighbor" by Lisa Boone, Latimes.com (August 2026) Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn) Tamara White (LinkedIn) Mary Coddington (LinkedIn) Articles mentioned and Downzone: 'She couldn’t afford L.A. rent after law school. Her parents’ ADU came to the rescue' (Article) Courtenay Cohousing (Site) A Voter’s Guide to Asking Candidates about Housing (Site) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- 3 weeks ago38 min
When Did Lettings Kids Play Outside Become a Crime?
A six-year-old rides his scooter to a playground a quarter mile from home. Two days later, Child Protective Services is at his family’s door. His case is one of several in a recent New York Times article asking whether letting children play outside alone has effectively become a crime. Chuck Marohn talks with Lenore Skenazy, founder of the Free-Range Kids movement and president of Let Grow, and planner and pedestrian-safety advocate Angie Schmitt about “worst-first thinking,” neglect laws, and the decline of walking and biking to school. Parents are expected to raise capable, independent kids while also keeping them under constant watch, while the built environment often makes even short walks to school or the playground harder for children to navigate on their own. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "Should Letting Children Play Alone Outside Be a Crime?" by Ian Frisch, Nytimes.com (August 2026) Chuck Marohn (LinkedIn) Lenore Skenazy (LinkedIn), Let Grow (Site) Angie Schmitt (LinkedIn), Love of Place (Substack) Downzone: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (Site) The Wisdom of Not Knowing: Discovering a Life of Wonder by Embracing Uncertainty by Estelle Frankel (Site) A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by YSophie Elmhirst (Site) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Aug 19, 202656 min
L.A.’s 8-Mile Bike Path Is Now a $1 Billion Project
An eight-mile gap keeps Los Angeles from having a continuous river bike route through the heart of the city. Voters approved hundreds of millions of dollars to help close it, but years of planning have pushed the project toward a possible billion-dollar price tag. Carlee Alm-LaBar is joined by transportation advocate Dave Snyder, Pasadena city councilmember and longtime local government leader Rick Cole, and Strong Towns chief technical advisor Edward Erfurt to examine how a straightforward connection became a megaproject. Flood control, emergency access, environmental concerns, neighborhood connections, labor requirements, and long-term reliability have each added something defensible to the plan. Meanwhile, a simpler path could reportedly close the entire gap with the money already available. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "The eight-mile gap in the L.A. River bike path downtown has a billion-dollar problem" by Mack Baysinger, Latimes.com (August 2026) Downzone: Start Your Farm: The Authoritative Guide to Becoming a Sustainable 21st-Century Farmer, by Ellen Polishuk and Forrest Pritchard (Site) the Movement Newsletter (Substack) Carlee Alm-LaBar (LinkedIn) Dave Snyder (LinkedIn) Rick Cole (LinkedIn) Edward Erfurt (LinkedIn) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Aug 12, 202645 min
The Water Crisis That Left a Small Town Abandoned
Hartman, Colorado, reached a point where it could no longer function as a town. Its water system was unsafe, every member of the town board had resigned, and no one remained with the authority to hold an election or sign the agreements needed to fix the water. Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Joshua Hopkins, mayor of Chugwater, Wyoming, and Strong Towns executive director John Reuter to look past the political infighting and ask what happened before the final collapse. The question facing places like Hartman and Chugwater is increasingly basic: How much town can a very small community actually afford to maintain? ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "Colorado declares town abandoned amid water and leadership crisis" by Ramon Antonio Vargas, Theguardian.com (August 2026) Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn) Joshua Hopkins (LinkedIn, Instagram) John Reuter (LinkedIn) Articles mentioned and Downzone: How a Rodeo Arena Can Strengthen A Rural Community (Bottom-Up Short Episode) Don’t Give Up on Your Small Town (Article) Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher? How Government Decides and Why by Donald Savoie (Book) Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini (Book) Chugwaterite (Instagram) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Aug 5, 202638 min
What If NIMBYs Were Paid to Say Yes?
What if the easiest way to overcome opposition to new housing was simply to pay people to accept it? A recent article in The Atlantic argues that after state laws, packed public meetings, and economic appeals have failed to overcome local resistance, cash payments might succeed where persuasion has not. Chuck Marohn is joined by John Reuter, executive director of Strong Towns, and Dr. Chloe Groome, treasurer of Strong Towns Chicago, to test that idea against what they’ve seen in real neighborhoods. Their discussion turns to what happens when new neighbors are framed as a burden, and whether cash can do the work that persuasion, trust, and local relationships have failed to do. "A Perfectly Crude Solution to America’s Housing Shortage" by Rogé Karma, Theatlantic.com (July 2026) Chuck Marohn (LinkedIn) John Reuter (LinkedIn) Dr. Chloe Groome (LinkedIn), Strong Towns Chicago (Site) Articles Mentioned and Downzone: The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt (Site) Farm To Taber (YouTube Channel) Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran by Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin (Site) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
- Jul 29, 202640 min
When Boomers Don’t Downsize, What’s Left for Everyone Else?
What happens when one generation holds much of the country’s housing wealth and has little reason to give it up? Chuck Marohn talks with Strong Towns board chair Andrew Burleson and historic property renovator Richard Rumrill about boomers buying bigger homes, even as younger families wait for those houses to come back onto the market. The generational frustration is easy to understand, but the expected handoff assumes older homeowners will be ready to leave. What happens when the people expected to move have nowhere they want to go, and everyone behind them is still waiting? ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "Boomers Were Supposed to Downsize. They Are Buying Bigger Homes Instead." by Rachel Louise Ensign, Wsj.com (July 2026) Chuck Marohn (LinkedIn) Andrew Burleson (LinkedIn), Free Range City (Substack) Richard Rumrill (LinkedIn), Strong Towns RVA (Site) Articles Mentioned and Downzone: Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (Site) Kids Over Cars (Substack) #42 Charles Duff: North Atlantic Cities - The Forgotten Blueprint for the Future Building Culture (Podcast) The North Atlantic Cities by Charles Duff (Site) Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
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About Upzoned
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.
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