In 2016, I launched the editorial program for Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet company that helped cities address their biggest challenges using technology. I oversaw all external publications and owned media channels until the company was absorbed into Google in early 2022.

VISION DOCUMENTS
I served as lead writer and editorial director for the company's main vision explorations into the future of cities, specifically the Sidewalk Toronto project that aimed to create a sustainable and inclusive development along Toronto's eastern waterfront. These efforts included Sidewalk's winning response to a 2017 Request for Proposals for an innovation and funding partner, and the 1,500-page Master Innovation and Development Plan released in June 2019.

SIDEWALK TALK BLOG
I launched the Sidewalk Talk Medium blog and edited or wrote all stories published on it from 2016-2021. Here are some of my favorite or most popular pieces:

  • Is it time to end single-family zoning? (link) - covered by Politico

  • Buffalo ended parking requirements. What did developers do next? (link) - cross-posted by Streetsblog

  • The most important bike technology is … street design (link) - cross-posted by Streetsblog

  • The troubling tie between bigger cars and pedestrian deaths (link) - cross-posted by Streetsblog

  • Why the 1918 flu hit some cities harder than others (link)

  • What Pittsburgh 1918 teaches us about easing pandemic measures too soon (link)

  • The latest evidence that bike lanes are good for business (link)

  • The latest evidence that city neighborhoods impact personal health (link)

  • The strongest evidence yet that parking spaces cause more driving (link)

  • Less parking can mean more housing. Here’s how. (link)

  • 5-Minute Explainer: How factory construction can help housing affordability (link)

  • How an economic crisis impacts innovation: lessons from the Great Depression (link)

  • Reviving the economy means reviving transit. Here are 9 ideas to help (link)

  • Why minimum lot sizes are a growing affordability problem (link)

  • Climate change and inequality led to this ancient city’s demise. What can we learn from looking back? (link)

  • This Mesopotamian city was a hotbed of innovation — and a cautionary tale (link)

  • For minorities, housing discrimination limits access to clean air (link)

  • Q&A: The real benefits of real-time transit data (link)

  • Q&A: Why Europe’s parks and playgrounds are so much more active than America’s (link)

  • Q&A: A vision of city transportation, circa 2043 (link)

  • SERIES: 15 Innovations That Shaped the City (link)

"CITY OF THE FUTURE" PODCAST
I launched and co-hosted the popular "City of the Future" podcast with the super talented pod pro Vanessa Quirk. Throughout its four seasons, CotF consistently ranked in the top 5 percent of all Libsyn podcasts, with hundreds of thousands of annual downloads. You can listen here: