Mike Lydon is Principal of The Street Plans Collaborative. Mike leads many of the firm’s street design, bicycle and pedestrian master plan, and research projects. Before launching the firm in 2009, Lydon worked for Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company (DPZ), an international leader in the practice of smart growth planning, design, and research techniques. At DPZ Mike worked extensively on Miami 21, the recipient of the American Planning Association’s 2011 National Planning Excellence Award, and contributed to several other research initiatives and smart growth projects.
As a planner, writer, and advocate, Mike’s work has appeared in or been featured by NPR, The New York Times, CNN Headline News, Planetizen, The Atlantic Cities, Next American City magazine, Salon, Planning Magazine, and Streetsblog. Mike collaborated with Andres Duany and Jeff Speck in writing The Smart Growth Manual, published by McGraw-Hill in 2009, and honored by Planetizen as one of the top ten planning books of 2010. Mike is also the creator and primary author of The Open Streets Project and Tactical Urbanism: Short-Term Action, Long-Term Change (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2), which was named by Planetizen as one of the top planning trends of 2011 - 2012.
Mike received a B.A. in American Cultural Studies from Bates College and a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. Mike is a CNU-Accredited Professional who encourages you to trade four wheels for two.
