What are two of the greatest trends in shopping?

From Governing Magazine, “The two greatest trends in shopping, it seems, are thrift and togetherness. As one urban planner put it, ‘These days, you either go [shopping] for the experience… or you go to Wal-Mart for the discount.’ Enclosed malls occupy a middle ground, being neither cheap nor fun.” Those malls also require 200 acres, and that’s way too inflexible for our evolving customer-driven economy.

Togetherness refers to retail

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Why are cities infatuated with Starbucks and Cheesecake Factory’s?

The more they are, the less you’ll see one-of-a-kind places like this cafe that tech-star Moby opened in Manhattan.

Why are cities so infatuated with attracting them?  It’s not about job creation or tax revenue, as you can only buy so much coffee and furniture.  It’s about the kind of customers they lure - creative, professional, hip - the kind of people that boost both the city’s economy and its innovative self

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Why are CoolTowners so fit?

They’re ‘intrinsic exercisers’ - that is, they exercise because that want to, not because they have to.  The key?  Unstructured exercise, or as I refer to it, exercise you’re not even aware of.

In The Intrinsic Exerciser: Discovering the Joy of Exercise, author Jay Kimiecik cites several studies that three 10-minute ‘exercise sessions’ are the same as one 30-minute session.  What this means is, if you just motivate yourself to move a bit more during the day,

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What is the coming demand for walkable communities?

30-55%. That’s the projected demand by 2010 for denser, more walkable neighborhoods (compact cities) according to a USC study.

The summary, funded by the Fannie Mae Foundation, is highlighted and illustrated in a brochure by the Congress for the New Urbanism.

In a nutshell, it takes a 17% overall home buyer preference for these types of communities (which is the same suburban-biased survey revealed in yesterday’s blog), along with a

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Beware the national housing survey!

Here’s another reason why new communities are often so undesirable: opportunistic surveys by the nation’s home building association, which in turn guides what is built in the future.  Their 1999 survey concludes that only 9% of 25-34 year olds want to buy a townhouse in a neighborhood like the one on the left (Glenwood Park, Atlanta GA), whereas 91% prefer a single-family home in suburbia with a longer commute to work.

Hello?

Maybe it’s because they

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Why are communities so ill-designed? Credentialing vs. Educating

Why don’t we design and build places like this anymore?  Listen up, to anyone interested in contributing to the field of urban planning and development!  Focus on getting an education, not credentials!

In the legendary Jane Jacobs’ latest book, Dark Age Ahead, she describes how the Great Depression inspired a system to ensure employment: credentialing.  Become a doctor with an MD, an architect with an AIA, or a manager with

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Walk-in theater

As drive-in theaters continue to close down, walk-in theaters (often on big lawns) are becoming more and more common, like Washington DC’s Screen on the Green, playing tonight (and throughout the summer) on the Washington Mall.  Here’s my favorite example in Switzerland.  Why the popularity?

Here’s a comparison:

Cost:
Drive-in theater: Same as a movie theater
Walk-in theater: Free, usually sponsored by the City or arts group
Fresh air, space:
Drive-in theater: No …

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The CoolTown satellite office

What is a satellite office?  One definition:  A type of telecommute using office locations typically operated by and for a single employer that are away from the employer’s primary work site.

What is a CoolTown satellite office?  A satellite workplace that excites employees.

The image is from the Future@Work exhibit in Seattle, a demonstration of integrated design and management approaches for modern workers.  Notice the diversity of workplaces in one area,

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When should company employees work at home?

More and more government and company employees are working at home or in satellite centers, at least part-time.  Why?

- Companies don’t have to pay for office space.
- Employees don’t have to commute
- Technology is allowing people to collaborate virtually
- Satellite offices bring workplaces closer to more people.  In other words, one giant company campus is close to a few, and far away for many.  Several company offices (satellite centers)

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‘Live-above’ live-work units for the rest of us

Wouldn’t it be great to live above your own business, just like each of the people who own ‘live-above’ units as in the image, located in Kentlands, Gaithersburg MD?

Got $400,000?

Maybe that’s why the live-above type of live-work unit just isn’t in most of our fields of future vision, and perhaps why urban loft live-work units are.

It doesn’t have to be that way though, not unless you’re one of the early buyers (or better yet, a beta

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Prepping a CoolTown for technology - think gazelles

A CoolTown needs a world class invisible technology system to feed the voracious entrepreneurial appetite of its population.  That essentially means ultra-high-speed wireless internet - everywhere.

Currently, municipalities are a little behind the wave, focused too much on providing the infrastructure rather than what to do with it.  For instance, there are many policies promoting the construction of cell phone networks, wifi hot spots

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Baltimore Sun: Kids and the City (registration needed)

Federal Hill in Baltimore, MD is well known for attracting the creative class, but who knew kids (and their parents) would think it’s cool too?

The number of Federal Hill children under age 4 grew by 16% between 2000 and 2003 while the neighborhood’s overall population increased just 7%.  Why?  The main reason is that the parents who make up the creative class are… well, creative.  Here are some of the reasons why their kids are so

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