In downtown Los Angeles, the Social District may have found the perfect face for a neighborhood: Pico, their beloved canine mascot and “Chief Experience Officer.”

In this Small Block, Chip talks with Nolan Marshall about mascots, place identity, community connection, and how a little joy can help make a big city feel human-scale.

In this New Year’s episode of The Sidewalk Ballet, Chip is joined by Josh Yeager of Bright Brothers Strategy Group, a thoughtful practitioner and generous champion of community work, to talk about what he’s seeing on the ground across cities right now. That conversation anchors a broader reflection on the season, translating guests’ hopes for their cities into practical, local practices — simple ways of showing up, working together, and strengthening community where it actually happens.