The Sidewalk Ballet Field Guide
The Sidewalk Ballet Field Guide is a growing collection of people, organizations, projects, books, ideas and ongoing conversations about cities and the people who shape them. It grows out of the podcast, but extends well beyond it—connecting the people doing the work, the places where it’s happening, and the ideas, experiments and resources worth carrying forward. Think of it as part reference library, part trail of breadcrumbs: a way to follow the conversation wherever it leads.
Explore by type, browse alphabetically or by date, or search for something specific. Follow the tags to discover connections—or explore the map to see where the people, projects and ideas in the Field Guide take us.
Cara Courage
Cara Courage is a researcher, writer, curator, and practitioner whose work explores placemaking, public space, arts and culture, and community participation. A leading voice in the international placemaking field, she has written and edited extensively on how creative practice and citizen-led approaches can shape more inclusive, connected, and meaningful places.
Effortless City
Effortless City creates inclusive neighborhood and sidewalk guides designed around a simple idea: knowing where you want to go isn’t enough—you also need to know what it will take to get there. Designed for walkers, rollers, and strollers, its guides document the details conventional maps often leave out, including steps, ramps, sidewalk conditions, terrain, restrooms, and potential obstacles.
Youth Led Libraries of the Future
Youth-led Libraries of the Future is an Urban Design Forum project exploring how young people can help shape libraries as spaces for learning, connection, creativity, and belonging. Working directly with teens, the project developed an arts-based curriculum, a zine archive, and nine youth-led design guidelines—reimagining libraries not simply as places for young people, but as civic spaces created with them.
Jay Pitter
Jay Pitter is an award-winning placemaker and author whose work explores belonging, cultural memory, equity, and public joy. Through planning, policy, teaching, and storytelling, she advances the idea that joyful public space is not a luxury, but essential urban infrastructure and a human right.