Oh thank heaven, it’s not 7-11
Fresh ‘N’ Friends? So the name may be a little corny, but then again, it’d be a foreign language to its patrons (which is otherwise cool) because it’s located in Berlin, Germany. So what makes it different,
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Paris being remixed for the next generation
redefining streets the way we’re redefining buildings (green), food (organic), and the music industry (crowdsourcing), here’s a sample of that shift on a city scale… a slow city, green city, city 2.0, organic city, remixed city, authentic city if you will.
Paris’ mayor vowed in 2001 to reduce car traffic/congestion by 40% by 2020. It’s the kind of thing auto-oriented generations see as a travesty of driving freedom (which ironically it’s anything but
…Friday, July 27, 2007
New terms for pedestrian-only streets (2 of 2)
crowdsourcing…
Realizing the need for a new generation of terms for pedestrian-only streets, what better process than to ask groups of creatives for suggestions, both virtually and in person. Here’s their starting list of informal creative class market driven terms that they feel communicate a shift in how we think about streets:
Slow streets - There’s the slow food movement, the anti-fast food campaign promoting taste,
…Thursday, July 26, 2007
New set of terms needed for pedestrian-only streets
crowdsourcing), and more so, words that have taken on a
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
“How can I keep chains out of my neighborhood?”
![Ybor City, Tampa, FL”</a> </p><h3>“How can I keep chains out of my neighborhood?”</h3>
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It’s a familiar refrain from <b>urban creatives</b>, such as the following one from a progressive developer, <i>“How can you legally do this? Keep out the chains and corporate company’s like Starbucks, the Gap, TGI Friday’s, McDonalds, HARD ROCK CAFE’S! They are all part of the whole “Generica” movement, you could be anywhere in the country and not no where you are based on your surroundings. I want [our neighborhood] to be something you can’t just get</i></p> … <p class='rmore'><a href='http://www.cooltownstudios.com/2007/07/25/how-can-i-keep-chains-out-of-my-neighborhood'>read more…</a></p>
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• Retail Entertainment Districts |
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Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Paris launches world’s largest bike sharing system
Velib (short for velo libre, “free bike"), after one week? 45,000-trips-a-day’ popular, and that’s just the beginning.
The basic facts:
- 10,000 bikes, 20,000 by the end of 2007
- 300 stations, 900 by the end of 2007
- 17,000 annual passes sold after one week
- 45,000 trips/day, with a goal of 250,000 trips/day
- $40/29 euros for an annual pass
- $1.40/1 euro for a half-hour trip, and the price increases over time to
Monday, July 23, 2007
triple-bottom-line bank, Friday, July 20, 2007
How South Beach became popular (before it became too popular)
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• Cool Places |
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
The preeminent event for art and technology
This (Hatchfest) (profiled yesterday) looks really cool! But for us who don’t live in the states… do you know if there are any similar things going on in Europe?”
That would easily be the Ars Electronica Festival showcasing art and technology, which has had a major economic and cultural impact on its annual host city, Linz, Austria.
Not only was Linz a declining steel town that knew it had to transition to the information economy to survive,
…Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Film, music, writing, fine arts, fashion, photography, architecture, design…
Hatchfest.
Held annually in Bozeman since fall 2004 and for the first time in Asheville in spring 2008, students from around the world participate in competitions and exhibitions while being
…
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• Economic Gardening
• Entertainment & Arts |
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007
‘Best (big) cities for young professionals’
Best Cities for Young Professionals to help you decide based on the following criteria:
- Where the graduates of top universities ended up 10 years later (only counting those who moved right after graduating to discount any ‘unfair advantages’, as well as adjusting for population);
- Where the best business opportunities exist (based on Forbes’
Monday, July 16, 2007
Neighbors form their own development firm to do it right
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Friday, July 13, 2007
Time for indie tenants to meet real estate investors halfway
"time for real estate investment to catch up to the market”, it’s also time for local independent tenants to make it easier for developers to lease to them. The simple reason why an overwhelming majority of new developments prefer leasing out to national chains rather than local independent businesses is because chains can pay more rent, and that’s because they have an established patronage once they open. This is why
Posted by Neil Takemoto in
• Investment
• Retail Entertainment Districts
• Retail Venue Development |
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Thursday, July 12, 2007
Time for real estate investment to catch up to the market
GlobeSt.com, the de factor real estate investors website, and you’ll see the problem. In the now outdated industrial economy, it didn’t make any sense to build one customized widget when you could mass produce thousands for a lot less.
With investment it’s the same - all your pension and insurance payments are sourcing a tremendous pool of capital that has to
…Wednesday, July 11, 2007
NY follows France’s lead with bike sharing
France, started in Lyon and recently adopted by Paris with 10,000 bikes at 750 stations.
Today is the last day you can pilot the system during a test run of 20 bikes with a few stations. As described in our profile of the overwhelmingly successful French model, the first half an hour is free and you can leave the bike
…Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Using wikinomics to enliven your neighborhood
Yesterday we took a look at the rising need to capture a community’s collective brilliance, which happens too randomly and ubiquitously to be of any use in today’s rigid business processes. Enter Wikinomics, the wikipedia approach to business.
With collaborative tools like wikis, many progressive organizations will utilize much smaller, decentralized teams, whose primary role will be to monitor creative input rather than directly provide it.
…Monday, July 09, 2007
Rise of the wiki community
Wikinomics by
Friday, July 06, 2007
Attainable urban live-work flex housing
Terra Land Group. So they’ve decided to supply what has been one of the strongest, most ignored demands in the market - attainable, entry-level downtown housing for Generation X, Generation Y, and “black-collar creatives.”
“These younger buyers are just what a community with a downtown needs. When a place to live costs a great deal
…Thursday, July 05, 2007
Pittsburgh’s Cool Space Awards 2007
Cool Space Locator, which finds office space for companies in the ‘coolest’ neighborhoods, as they say. If you’re seeking meaningful examples of cool workplaces, check out their annual Cool Space Awards (winners pictured), where you can get full profiles of the projects outlined below:
Reflect
Blacksmith Studio - Painstaking historic physical/cultural restoration (third right).
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
What makes a ‘Fast City’?
The 30 Fastest Cities to Work, Live and Play around the world, but what makes them fast, or does being a fast city even mean? The term comes from Fast Company magazine, and is essentially a city that attracts, well, fast companies, defined as the most creative, smartest, effective, innovative and as a result, fastest growing in single and triple-bottom line impact terms.
So, what makes a Fast City? According to Fast Company it takes
…Monday, July 02, 2007
‘The 30 Fastest Cities to Work, Live and Play’
Fast Company magazine to list the fastest cities in 2007. Here’s their Fast Cities 2007, with category, city, population and primary reason it’s fast in its respective category:
Creative Class Meccas
Shanghai, China: 14.5M; investment
New York: 18.8M; income per capita
San Francisco Bay Area: 4.2M; technology
Buenos Aires, Argentina: 12.6M; university
Global Villages
Toronto, Canada: 5.1M; diversity/immigration
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