Norm Van Eeden Petersman from Strong Towns speaks to local group of city leaders, citizens, and small business owners. January 22, 2026 - Photo Credit - Steven B. Studios
Last month, we were fortunate to welcome Norm Van Eeden Petersman to Lafayette for a conversation about our city’s future. Norm represents Strong Towns, an organization which promotes practical, citizen-led action in small incremental steps that helps strengthen communities over time.
We held our event at The Scoop, which Norm described as the best location he’s ever held an event! Owner, Alex Teece, was the perfect host providing ice cream, matcha, and the perspective of a small business owner in town. We had great list of attendees including members of City Council, City Management, current and prospective small business owners, LPIE, Lafayette Chamber, and more.
The conversation was positive and focused on exploring the possibilities for Lafayette, anchored on our three pillars:
Strengthening economic development
Creating a safe path from the Lafayette-Moraga Trail to our commercial core
Establishing a true gathering space Downtown
A key theme was action. How do we avoid years-long studies that lead to little change? How do we test ideas instead?
“The biggest takeaway was simple: instead of asking what big project will fix everything, ask what small step we can take this month. That mindset builds momentum and reduces risk.”
We discussed tactical urbanism, the practice of trying small, less expensive experiments and watching behavior before making permanent commitments.
Other discussions centered around an experimental downtown pop-up park, strategies to activate vacant storefronts, learnings from other cities such as the non-profit SF New Deal, and clearer support from the City for small businesses looking to drive foot traffic and visibility.
Alex Teece, owner of The Scoop, introduces Norm from Strong Towns. Photo Credit - Steven B. Studios
The biggest takeaway was simple: instead of asking what big project will fix everything, ask what small step we can take this month. That mindset builds momentum and reduces risk.
It’s important that we don’t think of local government as the lowest level of government, it’s the place where real change can happen.
If you missed the event, we have posted Norm’s presentation for everyone interested in learning more. If you’d like to be involved in helping Vibrant Lafayette, you can sign up for our newsletter below.
Thanks for all who joined and for the great discussion!
Local residents have informal Q&A with Norm Van Eeden Petersman after the session. Photo Credit - Steven B. Studios