The Water Crisis That Left a Small Town Abandoned

The Water Crisis That Left a Small Town Abandoned

Author: Strong Towns August 12, 2026 Duration: 45:23
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.

Each week, Upzoned takes a single, pressing story from the world of urban development, municipal policy, and community economics and holds it up to the light. Hosts Abby Kinney and Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns, sometimes joined by a guest, don't just skim the headlines. They dig into the nuances of a specific zoning decision, a new infrastructure project, or a shifting demographic trend, asking what it reveals about how we actually build our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. The conversation is grounded in the practical, bottom-up philosophy of the Strong Towns movement, making complex topics accessible and immediately relevant. This isn't a broad news recap; it's a focused, thoughtful dissection for anyone curious about why their community looks and functions the way it does. You'll hear informed debate, critical analysis, and a persistent questioning of conventional wisdom, all aimed at understanding how we can create places that are financially resilient and genuinely enriching for the people who live in them. Tune in for a deeper, more substantive take on the stories that shape our shared spaces.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Upzoned
Podcast Episodes
Why Colorado Is Facing a Senior Housing Crisis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:30
Colorado's population is rapidly aging. Soon, one in five people in the state will be be over 65 years old. Limited housing stock means seniors are stuck in too-large homes that they can’t afford to maintain. In turn, th…
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Duration: 43:08
In January 2025, wildfires swept across Los Angeles with record-breaking destruction. To encourage swift rebuilding, Governor Newsom suspended environmental regulations. But six months later, only a fraction of homeowner…
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Duration: 50:20
In Lincoln County, South Dakota, a growing agriculture company is being charged $50,000 annually for wear and tear on township roads caused by the company's trucks and machinery. Abby and Edward discuss the balancing act…
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Duration: 53:40
Sunbelt cities like Phoenix, Dallas, and Atlanta have long prided themselves on having affordable and abundant housing. However, they’re now seeing stagnation in housing construction and rapidly rising costs. Today, Abby…
How To Stop Slumlords and Protect Urban Spaces [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:43
Today, Abby is joined by Bernice Radle, a small-scale developer and historic building preservationist from Buffalo, New York. They cover two developing stories: First, a new bill was proposed that would give the Buffalo…
A Strong Towns View of the New SpaceX Company Town [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:36
Residents of Boca Chica, Texas, have voted to turn their community into a new official city called Starbase. This new municipality is tightly controlled by SpaceX leadership and most residents are SpaceX employees, which…
California Universities Face a $17 Billion Growth Ponzi Scheme [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:57
As of the 2023-24 academic year, the University of California faces $9.1 billion in deferred maintenance, while California State University faces $8.3 billion. In today’s episode, Chuck and Abby explore how this problem…
Will Privatizing Mortgages Fix the Housing Market? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:37
President Trump has proposed the privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, organizations that back the majority of mortgages in the U.S. and have been under a government conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis…
Can We Take Community Wealth Back From Walmart and Kroger? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:57
In this Upzoned episode, Abby is joined by Strong Towns Chief Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt to discuss the emergence of food deserts in the United States. In the 1980s, the U.S. government stopped enforcing price discr…