How Madison Turned Small Experiments Into Safer Streets

How Madison Turned Small Experiments Into Safer Streets

Author: Strong Towns March 23, 2026 Duration: 17:54
After repeated crashes into a beloved coffee shop, residents in Madison, Wisconsin pushed for a fast, inexpensive lane change instead of another long, consultant‑driven process. Josh Olson explains how neighbors gathered speed data, won a two‑month trial, and helped make the change permanent. Along the way, he shares how that work fed into broader safety goals, housing reforms, and a shift from “why don’t we” to “how can we.” ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Vote for Madison in the Strongest Town Contest! Strong Towns Madison (Site) Strong Towns Madison(Instagram) Madison Property Tax Value Per Acre (Site) Counting Cranes (Substack) Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn) Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you!

There’s a quiet shift happening in neighborhoods and city halls across the continent, a push to rethink what makes a place thrive. The Bottom-Up Revolution, from the team at Strong Towns and hosted by Tiffany Owens Reed, dives into that shift by sharing real stories from within the movement. Instead of grand top-down plans, this podcast focuses on the tangible, often overlooked work of everyday people who are rolling up their sleeves to foster economic resilience right where they live. Each conversation explores the practicalities-how someone identified a small, solvable problem in their community, the steps they took to rally their neighbors, and the challenges they faced turning an idea into reality. You’ll hear about the messiness of local advocacy, the importance of building connections to create lasting influence, and the personal lessons learned along the path to a stronger town. It’s a resource for anyone who believes change starts on their own street, offering not just inspiration but a sense of shared struggle and possibility. Tune in for a candid look at the grassroots work that’s quietly reshaping our cities and towns, one concrete action at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Bottom-Up Revolution
Podcast Episodes
Why Public Spaces Fail After the Ribbon Cutting [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:33
Well-designed public spaces often look promising at opening, then slowly lose energy and use. Max Musicant explains how that decline comes down to what happens after construction—who maintains the space, how it’s program…
Ohio’s Traffic Granny Takes On Dangerous Neighborhood Streets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:31
Barbara Didrichsen, known locally as “Traffic Granny,” describes how everyday walks filled with close calls in her Pleasant Ridge neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio pushed her to start documenting crashes and traffic probl…
Rethinking New Neighborhoods Between Big Plans And Incremental Change [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:30
Using Woodbury in Moscow, Idaho as a case study, this conversation digs into how one master-planned neighborhood pursues walkability, mixed use, and everyday community life on the edge of a small town. Builder Levi Wintz…
Becoming the Sidewalk Lady in Athens Ohio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:22
In Athens, Ohio, stroller struggles on broken sidewalks and a sea of parking lots pushed Stevie Hunter to become the city’s “sidewalk lady.” She joins Norm to talk about mapping every parking lot in town, auditing rebuil…
Defying Deficit Narratives with Youth Pilot Projects [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:29
In this episode, Uthish Ganesh tells the story of returning to teach in the neighborhood where he grew up and refusing to accept his school’s bad reputation. From a boys’ group with a perfect graduation rate to a student…
Tree Canopies, Safe Speeds, and a Council Seat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:30
Emma Durand-Wood never planned on public office. But what began as challenging a pawn shop, planting trees, and pushing for safer speeds in her Winnipeg neighborhood grew into coalitions and, eventually, a successful run…
Why Cities Need Community Led Crash Analysis Studios [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:51
Most crash analysis studios didn’t start inside City Hall—they were sparked by local members, neighbors, and conversation leaders who refused to accept dangerous streets as normal. Instead of waiting on the next grant cy…
Restarting a Strong Towns Local Conversation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:47
In this episode, Josh Olson reflects on how he and others helped bring a Strong Towns local conversation group back to life in Madison, and kept it going with simple habits like reserving the same library room each month…
From ADUs To Improv Chicago Builds Stronger Streets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:10
Chicago organizers Ellen Steinke and Dr. Chloe Groome walk through the fight to re-legalize ADUs, fix single-family zoning, and head off a looming transit fiscal cliff. They recount the campaign to save transit funding,…
From Parklets To Pilots, Sheboygan Reclaims Its Streets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:19
Brian Kelly and Braden Schmidt went from curious residents to leaders helping redesign streets, modernize zoning, and unlock safer, more affordable neighborhoods in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. In this conversation, they share…