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.

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Sheila Foster

Sheila Foster is a leading scholar of cities, democracy, and the urban commons. Her work explores how communities share responsibility for the public spaces, institutions, and resources that shape everyday life—and how collective stewardship can make cities more equitable, democratic, and inclusive.

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Solar Commons

Turning sunlight into shared community wealth, Solar Commons uses community trusts to ensure that the economic benefits of solar energy support local priorities and collective decision-making.

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East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative

East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative is a community-owned real estate cooperative working to take land and housing out of the speculative market and place them under collective stewardship. Through cooperative ownership and investment, EB PREC offers an alternative to displacement—giving communities a direct role in shaping their neighborhoods and sharing in the benefits of development.

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Majora Carter

Majora Carter is an urban revitalization strategist, real estate developer, MacArthur Fellow, broadcaster, and author whose work focuses on creating opportunity within historically undervalued communities. Her approach connects economic development and talent retention to the belief that people should not have to leave their neighborhoods to find opportunity.