New in 2026, we’re rounding up apps, opps, top tips, and things that should be on your radar in a quick-hitting speed round called “Topical Tidbits” to bring you stubs and slugs of not-to-be-missed, noteworthy news! So before you scroll down or “mark as unread” to revisit on your potty break (umm, maybe coffee break is the better choice here), don’t miss these BIG bullets as you roll into Q1 this week:
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We’re poddy-mouthed. Our co-founder Josh sat down with the Sidewalk Ballet podcast and talked trends, tippling, and what to expect from 2026. Listen today on all major platforms!
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Grants Galore! Main Street America has two immediate grant funding opps with the Amex-funded “Shop Small” grants offering up to $20K each for your ratepayers, due on January 16th — as well as up to $50K for you, if you’re a small or rural district grace à T-Mobile, due March 31st of this year. Get at it!
- It’s ULI time! If you manage markets, small biz or micro vendors, or business programs for street vending and IRL markets (farmers, night-…etc.), consider throwing your hat into the ring with our co-founder, Josh, on this awesome Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) for the City of Philadelphia “Vending & Market Study” in March. Applications are due Friday, January 16th.
Bars have been getting a bad rap lately. Tons of reportage points to the fact that younger cohorts aren’t drinking socially anymore, tariffs are causing chaos in pricing for imported liquors, and even candy bars have come under fire for shrinkflation downsizing. But there’s hope for the bar scene, and we’re not surprised to see the upswing coming in the form of “experiential” out-of-home pursuits that may just aid in the ever-consuming loneliness epidemic. And by this we mean, two recent pops outta Philadelphia, including this round-up of trendy listening bars, that combine two of our fave pastimes: guzzling while grooving out to music. Clearly, it’s easier to connect with locals culturally with a glass or two of handcrafted liquid courage in ya.
Side bar (see what we did there?!?), this cool, homespun provisioner of all things fun and Philly (this, friends, is also what we mean when we talk about “leaning into local”!) is seemingly a simple retail storefront for those who love the “City of Brotherly Shove”. And while they source and sell an amazing assortment of clothing, books, knickknacks and more — the shop itself, named after local linguistic vernacular for “tomato sauce” — a Philly Sunday tradition, Red Gravy Goods is positioning itself as a … wait for it … Hat Patch Bar! Leave it to Philly to lean into bar culture and innovate experiential retail and hospitality. All we can say is Go Burds! 🥴
Photo credit: Nick Fewings on Unsplash
… that Google launched a new feature to mansplain where all your fire hydrants are? Behold! Ask Google Earth can now pinpoint your stop signs, manholes, and splinter-inducing utility poles using Street View imagery and BigQuery magic. It’s like playing infrastructure bingo, except the prize is “data-driven decisions” instead of actual money to fix anything.
Google promises this will help cities “streamline workflows” and “optimize” their way to better planning. Translation: You can now generate extremely detailed spreadsheets documenting exactly how broke you are! Need to budget for road sign repairs? Great — now you’ll know precisely how many signs you can’t afford to fix.
This comes at a time when infrastructure has tumbled to fourth place on mayors’ priority lists (down from top two), probably because — plot twist — they’re out of money. Tariffs, bond issues, and the IIJA funds drying up have cities tightening budgets faster than you can say “C-grade national infrastructure”. But hey, at least you’ll have gorgeous satellite imagery of your crumbling storm drains. Very aesthetic. Much efficient.
Photo credit: Zoshua Colah , Ussama Azam and Steven Van Elk on Unsplash
It’s probably the best PR-stunt / public activation / community engagement / place brand-building intervention we’ve seen in ages, and we absolutely love the sweet results! Last month the Downtown DC BID held a doozy of a mass make-out sesh that beats all prom night tourneys of “Seven Minutes in Heaven” and “Spin the Bottle” combined, in human history. We’re talking, of course, about the fact that the BID made “Kiss-Story” and earned a well-merited mention in the Guinness World Records for organizing (what would’ve been considered a “superspreader event” five years ago) and turning it into an accolade and badge of honor. A whopping 1,438 couples locked lips under the National Mistletoe for the record-breaking event, and we have to give props where they’re due. It’s hard to get nearly 3,000 people on the same page about anything, let alone a highly visible, public spectacle that cements your district’s brand in the nation’s mind. Kudos to Ebony Walton, Gerren Price, and the entire Downtown DC for making history once again in our nation’s capitol. Now go gargle with mouthwash, apply a deep layer of Burt’s Bees, and watch the news coverage here. SWAK!
It may seem so abject to our paradigm to think that the US may finally be getting past its love affair with the automobile. Fact is, as we plummet ever-forward into the 21st century (clear throat, ahem, we’re now into the 2nd quarter of it, gasp!), there are many indicators in the urban fabric pointing towards an anti-auto trend here. One year in, NYC is celebrating the tangible impacts of its Congestion Pricing program supported by Governor Kathy Hochul. In 2025 alone, the program, which charges a $9 fee to automobiles entering lower Manhattan (anywhere below 60th street) resulting in nearly 24 million fewer vehicles congesting city streets, significant increases in speed of transit on city streets for motorists and busses, plus massive decreases in pollution (-22%), crashes (-7%) and traffic-related injuries, also down 8% for last year. Meanwhile, despite fewer cars “blocking the box” in the Big Apple, (which you might think would decrease pedestrian activity and sales) — Manhattan saw the best year for office leasing in 23 years, AND both foot traffic has increased, while sales tax receipts are up 8% over 2024! All this, combined with an anticipated $548.3 million generated through last calendar year (their goal was a mere $500M), that is now being applied to fund infrastructure and transpo upgrades locally. Hooo, doggy! That’s a big chunk of stats for naysayers to swallow! And the trend doesn’t stop there.
It’s not just “The City That Never Sleeps” that’s poo-pooing and eschewing long-entrenched car culture. From Downtown Houston to Kansas City, MO, to Detroit (Motor City) and San Francisco — six U.S. cities have slated pedestrian zone reclamation of their streets in 2026. Ten years ago, when we entered this industry, we asked one leader about pedestrianization of city streets, and the response was “those never work”. But with the past decade of unending upending of our 20th-century mores and norms, we’re finally starting to see more adoption of human scale on streets stateside, which would make the likes of Jan Gehl and our Godmother Jane Jacobs roll in their graves (in a good way)!
Photo credit: Josh McCausland on Unsplash
You may ask yourself, “Why doesn’t Bright Brothers ever feature our work in their Bulletin,” and that’s because you haven’t sent us anything! Wanna get in front of other eyeballs in the place management / DMMO game? Shoot us a message and please boast, brag, and share your wins, accolades, awards, events, plus fun and impactful placemaking initiatives. We want to hear from YOU, our readers, and give props when due, so tip us off today!
