Why Do Vacant Storefronts Stay Vacant?

Why Do Vacant Storefronts Stay Vacant?

Author: Strong Towns June 17, 2026 Duration: 50:41
A decade ago, a row of North Park storefronts was cleared for a university housing project that never came. The businesses are gone, the buildings are mostly empty, and neighbors are still pushing Northeastern Illinois University to act. Norm Van Eeden Petersman is joined by Bernice Radle, an incremental developer in Buffalo, and Alex Montero of Strong Towns Chicago to ask why places like this get stuck. What begins as the story of one vacant block turns into a deeper question: once a place has been cleared for a future vision, what happens when that future never arrives? The conversation explores why smaller, incremental approaches can succeed where larger plans stall, and what gets lost when neighborhoods are left waiting. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "Northeastern University Fought To Take Over A North Park Block. 10 Years Later, It’s Still Vacant" by Millie DeVore, Blockclubchicago.com (May 2026) Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn) Bernice Radle (LinkedIn) Alex Montero (LinkedIn) Articles Mentioned and Downzone: The Corner Side Yard (Substack) Cerrone (Spotify) Brittania Mine Museum (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.

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
When a Town's Biggest Taxpayer Becomes Its Biggest Problem [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:39
What do you do with 720,000 square feet of dead mall? Towns across America are struggling to find the answer as their malls shut down, leaving budget craters and infrastructure nightmares in their wake. Abby is joined by…
2 Towns, 2 Responses to the Housing Crisis. Which Will Succeed? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:21
Littleton, Colorado, wants to ban everything other than single-family homes. The neighboring town of Lakewood wants to allow more housing variety. Norm and Abby dive into what's driving these radically different response…
Public Transit Will Collapse in a Year. Should We Save It? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:44
By the end of 2026, many U.S. cities could see large parts of their public transit systems crumble under a lack of federal funding and a development pattern that was never designed to support it. In this episode, Chuck M…
LA Just Avoided 1600 Layoffs. Is That a Good Thing? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:14
The city of Los Angeles recently announced that it saved 1,600 jobs that were at risk of being cut to balance its $1 billion budget deficit. But did it actually fix anything, or is it just shuffling money around to hide…
Tulsa Offers Remote Workers $10K To Move. Is It Paying Off? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:49
The Tulsa Remote program pays remote workers $10,000 to relocate to Tulsa for a year. A study found that, for every dollar spent, Tulsa sees $4.31 in economic benefits, including increased local spending, tax revenue, an…
Housing Supply Is About to Exceed Demand. Now What? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:30
As baby boomers downsize, relocate, or pass away, millions of homes are projected to rejoin the housing market by 2030, potentially exceeding housing demand by 1 million homes. In today's episode, Chuck and Abby discuss…
Can a Tax on House Flipping Stop Canada's Housing Crisis? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:26
For years, investors and speculators shaped Canada's housing market. But now, people who actually live in those homes are beginning to have more influence. Today, Abby is joined by Norm Van Eeden Petersman, Strong Towns'…
How Mortgage Fraud Makes the Housing Market More Expensive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:00
Several high-profile members of the government have been accused of committing mortgage fraud recently, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Today, Chuck and Abby explore ho…
Are Sponge Cities the Flood Control Fix We Need? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:12
Join Abby and guest John Pattison as they dive into the benefits and drawbacks of "sponge cities," cities that incorporate natural features like wetlands into their stormwater management infrastructure. Is this method mo…
Why Data Center Electricity Use "Scares Me to the Bone" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:33
Data centers power everything from cloud computing to artificial intelligence, and they use a massive amount of electricity, sometimes even rivaling major cities. Watchdogs claim that tech companies aren’t absorbing the…