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.
Ice Cream Tour of California
Don Lane’s month-long celebration of ice cream, small pleasures, and the places that create them. During July 2026, he traveled across California visiting nearly 100 independent ice cream shops—not to rank them, but to celebrate everyday sources of joy in communities across the state.
Jane’s Walk
Jane’s Walk is an annual festival of free, community-led walking conversations inspired by Jane Jacobs.
On the first weekend of May every year, Jane’s Walk festivals take place in hundreds of cities around the world.
Bowl Plaza
Bowl Plaza in Lucas, Kansas, turns the public restroom into roadside attraction, public artwork, and community project all at once. Covered in elaborate mosaics and shaped with a healthy sense of humor, it offers an exuberant answer to a rarely asked city-making question: why shouldn't the bathroom be memorable?
Curious Claire
Claire Salter, better known as Curious Claire, is a London-based travel writer and blogger with a particular affection for the quirky, unexpected, and easily overlooked things that give places their character.