It’s one of the most commonly asked questions regarding downtowns, “What should the ideal mix of local independent retailers be to regional and national chains?“ First of all, let’s list two instances when chains generally aren’t appreciated.
Is your neighborhood a natural cultural district?
In other words, if the neighborhood organically developed with human-scaled buildings, often in historic districts, and already predominantly consists of local businesses, then keeping it that way not
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The vast majority of large-scale mixed-use development projects in the past have been predominantly national-chain retail. With the rise of the conscious consumer however, that rigid investment formula is beginning to crack, such as with The Piazza in Philadelphia and now with The Triangle in Austin, Texas, a 22-acre mixed-use urban infill development of 529 apartments, 150 condos and 120,000 s.f. of retail.
Not surprisingly, it was initially planned as a typical shopping center with national
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When people are asked what’s missing in their downtown, you’ll often hear things like a ‘central place’ for the community to gather for public events, dining and people watching; a public market; or a farmer’s market. The San Pedro Square Public Market aims to be all of the above.
Scheduled to open in late summer 2010, the 50,000 s.f. public market will feature a public market hosting 50 vendors in spaces as small as 100 s.f. Only unique, local, independent food vendors, restaurants and
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As is often the case, the historic 1900s neighborhood of Shikumen in Shanghai, China was to be razed for new development, until an effort succeeded in convincing city leaders that a brighter future lay in revitalizing the culture that was already there.
Today, Xintiandi is a $170 million remix of century old apartment blocks and courtyards into a contemporary, car-free, shopping, eating and entertainment district, and the heart of Shanghai’s Puxi district, one of its most important
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One can look at the economic downturn as a depression, or one giant market correction. We simply have way too much retail - take a look at the chart below. Amazing isn’t it? The message may be clear that the era of big boxes and shopping malls has peaked, but the question is, what’s the next generation of more sustainable retail going to look like?
For starters, look at the top shopping districts around the world that have stood the test of time, and you’ll often find pedestrian-only
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You hear a lot of talk about city economic development agencies emphasizing the importance of the creative industry, quality of life and the downtowns/main streets, but seldom do you see a program that backs that up as succinctly as Lille, France’s Maisons de Mode (Houses of Fashion).
Essentially, the City of Lille, understanding the economic multiplier of supporting the creative industry and vibrant downtown quality of life, invests in store construction, low rents and free publicity to
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Visitors to historic districts in older cities around the world will often come across majestic public spaces, but it’s rarer in the U.S. because it’s such a relatively young country. One of the few examples of such places, one may be surprised to know, is in Cleveland, Ohio, known as the Old Arcade and is even said to be modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy.
The first arcades were built in Paris in the early 1800s as reflection of the industrial age, offering a
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On the one hand you have authentic cultural destinations grown naturally, referred to as natural cultural districts (NCD)(image on the left), which attract creatives. On the other hand, you have developments that attempt to become such cultural destinations in one fell swoop, referred to on this site as corporate cultural districts (CCD)(image on the right). However, they tend to attract tourists and corporate employees with higher salaries than creatives. Here are the objective differences
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Presently, few visitors venture north of Baltimore’s Pennsylvania Station into what is known as Charles North, a 100-acre arts and entertainment district characterized by boarded up buildings. On October 30, 2008, Mayor Sheila Dixon (pictured) unveiled the Charles North Vision Plan to transform the area into more of a knowledge economy oriented natural cultural district (local businesses, human-scaled buildings, multiple developers) rather than the typical industrial economy corporate
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While farmers and public markets are experiencing a renaissance across the U.S., the Viktualienmarkt (Victuals Market) in Munich, Germany provides a model of what a city should do if it wants to take the next step in establishing a regional destination for culture and commerce. Originating from a farmers market itself in 1807, the 5-acre market features 140 stalls, shops and cafes offering your usual market fare times ten, but in a much more elegant setting.
Here’s what makes it Germany’s
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