Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Podcast

Talking Headways Podcast: Pattern Cities and the Bellbottoms of Urbanism

podcast icon logo

This week we talk to Mike Lydon of The Street Plans Collaborative and co-author of the recent book Tactical Urbanism. Based on his experience with tactical urbanism, Mike says you know an idea has "made it" when it gets co-opted for things that don’t fit the actual definition. We also discuss how to take a small planning idea and make it bigger, and whether urbanism goes through cycles like fashion, with ideas from the past coming back into style.

Tune in and get the scoop on tactical urbanism stories from Boston; Ponderay, Idaho; and Hamilton, Ontario. Hear what Mike has to say about the importance of having people interact with real places during the public planning process, and about pattern cities -- places that have spawned a good idea that other places have copied.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: How ‘Car Brain’ Warps the Way We See the World

How can we fix the brains distorted by car culture?

January 16, 2026

Friday’s Headlines Are the Best

People for Bikes named its top bike lane projects of the past year.

January 16, 2026

Talking Headways Podcast: The Lost Subways of North America

Author Jake Berman discusses transit histories through the lens of racial dynamics, monopolies, ballot measures and overlooked cities.

January 15, 2026

A ‘Demographic Time Bomb’ Is About To Go Off — And the Transportation Sector Isn’t Ready

A top firm is warning that the "silver tsunami" will have big implications for the climate, unless U.S. communities act fast.

January 15, 2026

Thursday’s Headlines Shoot for the Moon

What if the U.S. spent anything near what it spends on highways on transit instead?

January 15, 2026
See all posts