Is investing in the arts, as it relates to placemaking, profitable? Try this quote, coming from a real estate development organization (ULI), “There is a growing body of evidence that thoughtful investment in arts and culture initiatives can generate significant economic benefits for cities large and small. Looking at data collected across numerous studies, along with the broad array of recent arts and culture plans and projects, one will likely conclude that the right strategy and

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So, you’re South Africa and hosting the biggest event in the world, throwing the biggest party in the world via its Fan Fest... what kind of destination do you provide to embrace it all? That’s the Fan Walk, a 1.6 mile/2.6 km pedestrian promenade linking downtown Cape Town to its Green Point Stadium (pictured). In fact, it’s so successful, city leaders are looking to make it permanent.

You can’t ask for a more entertaining walk, or rather, experience. What’s more, it’ll be a cultural showcase

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We often ask creatives, ‘what’s missing in your city or town that you would crowdsource?‘ Well, I think a lot more of them would be inspired by the following…

The folks in Arlington County, Virginia are not only looking to sponsor a $10 million, 55,000 s.f. urban creative center in one of their key downtown areas (Rosslyn), they’re looking to crowdsource it.  From the Washington Post article, Dreaming of a Rosslyn Renaissance: At the Old Newseum Building, Arlington County Plans Again to

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Creatives know art has the power to transform, but not when it’s only confined to enclosed galleries. The creatives in Grand Rapids, Michigan have taken this to heart, initiating two stellar art-transforming programs that cultivate artistic expression throughout the city.

One ongoing program, ACTIVESITE, hosts art/sculpture exhibits and shows in empty buildings within revitalizing neighborhoods in partnership with real estate developers and multiple university and college art programs.

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Can you visualize buzz? Elizabeth Currid, author of The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art, and Music Drive New York City and the must-read article, The Economics of a Good Party and Sarah Williams, director of the Spatial Information Design Lab at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, think so.

In their The Geography of Buzz study (shown above, Manhattan, New York City on top, Los Angeles below), social cultural hot spots are diagrammed based on the frequency and draw of

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We’ve had public art cows in Chicago, fish in Baltimore, pandas in Washington DC... at long last we have something more permanent and actually practical - public art bike racks.

Cities across the U.S. from Louisville, Kentucky (pictured left) to Austin, Texas to Sioux Falls, S.D are paying artists to sculpt more creative destinations for people to park their bikes. Longmont, Colorado and Portland, Oregon are also participating. Regular racks cost from $200 to $500, and artists are paid $2000

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When artist and avid cyclist David Byrne, former lead singer for the band Talking Heads, was asked by the New York City Department of Transportation (no surprise) to help judge a bike rack design contest for New York City, he was so enthusiastic about the opportunity that he submitted his own designs.

With his design prowess and public exposure* however, NYC DOT felt it only fair to distinguish his submissions from the rest. Alas, these particular bike racks will be up for only a year, after

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September 2008 is a landmark day for anything having to do with green dance clubs.  That’s the launch month for both Club Watt in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Surya in London, both being presented as sustainable/ecological dance clubs featuring a floor that generates energy from the people dancing on top of it.

It’s been talked about since 2005 by a group now referred to as the Sustainable Dance Club, formed by a group of Dutch ecological inventors, engineers and investors using a

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We’re familiar with the term ‘movie going’, as in going to the movies, but what about those who want a little more socially fulfilling? Every evening in Locarno, Switzerland’s Piazza Grande, during their annual 10-day Locarno Film Festival in August, 8000 participants movies are treated to a film on a massive scale.

Combining an original art experience presented on a four-story screen, set in one of the most beautiful piazzas in Europe (especially when lit up at night, in and of itself, a

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Dancing is one of the most effective ways to relieve stress, benefit from physical activity and have fun. As one dance instructor once said, “You can’t dance angry.“ So why is it that if you longed to let loose on the dance floor with a DJ spinning tunes you’d have to until past 11 pm, weekday or weekend. No more.

Enter Granny Boots every Wednesday

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