In this episode of the Bottom-Up Revolution podcast, we’ve got another fantastic, inspiring duo: Strong Towns members Alex Rodriguez and Danny Lapin. Together, they’re part of a historic preservation, revitalization, community building, business incubating project in the town of Lexington, NY, called Lexington Arts and Science.
It all starts with Alex beginning to fix up a historic property called Lexington House. That turned into providing pop-up space for local businesses, room for local arts creation and a vision for a renewed community hub in this historic town. Danny, who’s an environmental planner and representative on the Otsego County board near Lexington, got plugged into Alex’s project, and he’s bringing his knowledge of local regulations to help with the process—and hopefully clear some of those regulations away so this project can flourish.
What you’ll hear in this conversation is Alex and Danny’s deep dedication to taking small bets and incrementally strengthening their community. They’re tapping into the history of their place, while also building on the strength and passion of their neighbors here and now.
Whether you’re interested in supporting local business growth, revitalization historic spaces or investing in community development—these are all key aspects of building Strong Towns. And Alex and Danny are approaching this work with a bottom-up mindset, rooted in their place. Like all of our guests on this show, Alex and Danny are people who genuinely care about their town and stepped up to make it stronger.
Additional Show NotesLexington Arts and Science website
Lexington Arts and Science on Instagram
Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity by Charles Marohn
Advice, case studies and tools for ending parking minimums in your town
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Introducing Your New Host for The Bottom-Up Revolution!
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Norm Van Eeden Petersman: Speaking Up to Build Strong Towns
Emma Durand-Wood: Planting Street Trees and Neighborhood Connections
Spencer Gardner: Moving from Planning to Action
Lindsey Meek: An Engineer who ”Saw the Light”
Amy Stelly: Campaigning to Get Rid of an Urban Highway
Steph and Sean Tuff: Starting an Electric Bike Company
Danny Schaible: Creating a Street Design Team
Ari Feinsmith: Helping More People Get Out and Bike!
Montavius Jones: Celebrating Your City and Helping it Grow Better
Jen Stromsten and Alex Beck: Welcoming New Americans and Building up a Rural Economy
Jonathan Curth: Ending Parking Minimums and Seeing the Results
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