What Pickleball Revealed in a Rural Town

What Pickleball Revealed in a Rural Town

Author: Strong Towns June 25, 2026 Duration: 1:02:44
Van Buren, Maine, had a problem no town wants: it owned more than half of its downtown buildings through tax acquisition. When Luke Dyer became town manager after a long career in law enforcement, he was facing vacant storefronts, deteriorating buildings, flood-damaged land, and a downtown that had lost traffic after the port of entry moved away from Main Street. In this episode, Dyer shares how Van Buren began putting buildings back into productive use, turning an underused ice rink into pickleball courts, growing trees for Main Street in a community greenhouse, and converting its old town office into a business incubator. Luke is also a graduate of the Strong Towns Cohort Program and applications are now open for the 2026-2027 class. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Luke Dyer (LinkedIn) Local Recommendations:‍ Acadian Village Tasty Food Restaurant Northern Maine Kolache York's Kitchen Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram) 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! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

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: 50

The Bottom-Up Revolution
Podcast Episodes
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…
How Madison Turned Small Experiments Into Safer Streets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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…
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…
Inside West Allis's Playbook for Stronger Local Economies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:02
Steve Schaer and Patrick Schloss share how landlocked, eleven‑square‑mile West Allis, Wisconsin has become one of metro Milwaukee’s most business‑friendly cities by growing from within after major factory closures. They…