Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

Talking Headways Podcast: Pattern Cities and the Bellbottoms of Urbanism

podcast icon logo
Meal delivery is one service of Project Roomkey. Photo: LAHSA

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 Los Angeles

Santa Monica Parking Enforcement Vehicles to Use AI Cameras to Ticket Bike Lane Violations

Similar to on-bus AI cameras for bus lanes, but with two new wrinkles: cameras will be on city cars, and will detect bike lane blockers

January 16, 2026

Friday’s Headlines

ICE, Metro vs. SB79, Olympics, Santa Monica parking, homelessness, Koreatown, Santa Clarita, Malibu, car-nage, and more

January 16, 2026

Monrovia’s ‘Haiku Park’ is Now Open

Satoru Tsuneishi Park honors the acclaimed poet once incarcerated in an internment camp.

January 15, 2026

Thursday’s Headlines

LAPD, potholes, green bike lanes, Metro policing, L.A. River, car-nage, and more

January 15, 2026

Metro Committee Approves Sepulveda Rail Alignment, Postpones Torrance Rail Approval

Plus: Metro announces a testing snag which means a likely delay for the D Line opening, and supports Foothill A Line extension to Claremont

January 14, 2026

Wednesday’s Headlines

ICE, LAX roadway expansion, Sepulveda subway, MLK parade, Pasadena, car-nage, and more

January 14, 2026
See all posts