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title: This is what bottom-up change looks like
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In Vancouver, a local group transformed a bridge into a public plaza — starting with homemade benches and donated toys. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

| Shareable browser version In January 2025, a cyclist in Vancouver reached out to the leaders of the Local Conversation VanPOP (Vancouverites for People-Oriented Places) with a problem. The Woodland Bridge had been closed to regular car traffic, but aside from the barriers the city had placed at either end, nothing about the bridge's design had changed.   The bridge still looked like a mostly normal street, and people treated it as such. No one was spending time there, and the occasional driver would still cross the bridge despite the barriers. VanPOP had been wanting to do a hands-on project, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Group co-leader Kip Santos sketched out what the bridge could become: a colorful public space with planters, seating and art. It was an ambitious idea, but VanPOP knew they didn't need to build it all at once. They just needed to figure out the next smallest step they could take toward that vision.   They reached out to the community, and their neighbors embraced the idea. People donated toys, outdoor games, chalk, volunteer labor, and wooden pallets that VanPOP turned into benches.   In March 2025, the group brought it all to the bridge. Despite its slightly janky appearance, the pop-up plaza did its job well. People started using the bridge as a gathering space and told VanPOP that it felt far safer and better used than it did before. Their small experiment was working.   Then things started to disappear.  Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it for free.  Subscribe Shortly after the installation, the benches, toys and other items the community had donated began vanishing from the bridge one by one. VanPOP learned that 311 reports were being made about the space and city cleanup crews were removing the parts of their homemade plaza. It was frustrating to watch their efforts be thrown away, but the experiment had already accomplished something important: people were paying attention.   The project connected VanPOP with city staff who, it turns out, had also been thinking about turning the bridge into a pedestrian plaza.   "The data we collected from the community and the overall positive feedback was the extra support the city needed," Kip said. One year after Kip first presented his vision for the plaza, the Woodland Bridge became an official pilot in Vancouver's Neighbourhood Plazas program. Soon, the bridge had higher-quality picnic tables and concrete dividers — a major upgrade from DIY benches and barricades, but one that wouldn't have been possible if VanPOP hadn't taken that first step. Another part of Kip's original vision was taking shape, too. Through the city's Community Placemaking Program, VanPOP partnered with the local organization Community Marks to create an mural on the bridge. Over the next several months, they held workshops where residents shared images and ideas about what made their neighborhood feel like home. Those contributions helped shape the final design. In July, more than 200 community members came together to paint it. The plaza today looks remarkably similar to the picture Kip drew back in January 2025. But the first step toward that vision didn't.   It was a couple of homemade benches, some donated toys and whatever else VanPOP could pull together. It worked because that first attempt didn't need to be the finished product. It just needed to move them closer. That's the Strong Towns approach: observe where people are struggling, identify the next smallest step to address that struggle, do that thing right away, and repeat. Do you have a vision for your community? What's the next smallest step you could take toward it?  — Mya at Strong Towns   P.S. The Woodland Bridge Plaza started as Kip's project for the 2024–25 Strong Towns Cohort. This 8-month program gives participants the chance to work through a challenge in their own community alongside peers and Strong Towns staff. Applications for this year are closed, but you can sign up here to be notified when they open again. Did you like this email? Strong Towns is a member-powered movement for change. A national nonprofit, media organization and bottom-up movement, we tell stories that inspire people to take the future of their neighborhoods, towns and cities into their own hands.   💛 Become a Member  Strong Towns, 1001 Kingwood Street, Studio 116, Brainerd, MN 56401, US, 844-218-1681 Unsubscribe  Manage preferences |
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