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May 30, 2003
Investing in a healthy town
Here are the health-oriented town features that investors are implementing in the CoolTown model.
1. Genuine walkability. I mean 'genuine' in that people will actually want to walk to destinations, rather than it being a theoretical possibility. I see the word often abused as such. Few people enjoy walking across parking lots, especially at night.
2. Enough fast food joints! If you read the book Fast Food Nation you may never eat at one again. You'll see a lot more local businesses that promote the local economy, culture and people.
3. A 30,000 sf community center for ongoing recreational activities, plus parks and scenic jogging trails. Also, we should all know that as kids, any street without cars made the ideal playground.
4. Multiple dance venues for all kinds of music! I can't think of a better, safer, more social and entertaining way to get exercise at night. It's the CoolTown version of the tired bar scene.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
May 29, 2003
What are CoolTown-oriented shoes?
What's a typical week in a health-oriented town?There really is such a thing, in my opinion. Once I got 'urban dress/walking shoes', I found myself getting twice as much exercise.
Go to Nike and look up "prestos". My shoe expert of a friend recommended I get these when I asked him if there was such a thing as shoes I could go to a meeting with, and run in. Well, for my sake, these shoes are just that! Not only do I wear these to business meetings, but I ran a ten mile race in them too! They're extremely comfortable, light and flexible, yet have a simple black exterior that allows me to get away with them in more formal settings. Or you can do what women in the city do - carry another pair of shoes.
If more of our footwear was designed for comfort rather than show, I guarantee you we'd be walking a lot more. I'll make sure that when we build the first new CoolTown, at least one of the stores sells footwear like this.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
May 28, 2003
What's a typical week in a health-oriented town?
How do you know you're in a healthy town? Just walk around and look. For some reason, the people at suburban Walmarts just don't seem nearly as fit as those strolling through city downtowns.
Here's my list of choices in a typical week: Less than one block away: Pick-up basketball games, throwing a frisbee, running up and down stairs, jogging to the grocery or drugstore. Just a few blocks away: Walking to the subway, yoga, salsa dancing, jogging to my gym and more pick-up basketball (or swimming). One easy subway ride away: Swing, zydeco, hand dancing, ultimate frisbee, pick-up football, kickball games.
Not only are these activities physically healthy, but they're all very convenient to get to (and without driving). Most importantly, they're fun!
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
May 27, 2003
Investing in Community
This week The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is sponsoring The Shape We're In, focusing on why nearly two-thirds of Americans are out of shape.
The series kicks off with Experts plotting America's new diet: Less sprawl, less fat, less frenzy. From the article: "Right now, 75 percent of all trips less than a mile are taken by car. About 25 percent of people are physically active. Another 50 percent do a little activity. And 25 percent do virtually nothing."
Here's my take on it. If you've got nothing to do and nowhere to go, then of course you'll do nothing and go nowhere. It's all about having choices, and unfortunately the industrial, mass production economy doesn't provide much. However, the good news is we're transitioning to an information-based, mass customization era of multiple choices, and that means more of us will get to live in cool towns where we have ten options each night to entertain ourselves within walking distance, rather than two (watch TV or surf the internet).
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
