« November 28, 2004 - December 4, 2004 | Main | December 12, 2004 - December 18, 2004 »
December 10, 2004
Sienna's version of a portal
It's tradition in Spain and Portugal to have family dinners outdoors, and to have it as a social event as well, which is why you'll find so many paseos (pedestrian-only streets). Think of it as a street by day and a grand outdoor dining room by night.
Unfortunately we don't have too many of these kinds of places in this country, and rarer so in neighborhoods that would benefit from such community-building events. That makes it even harder for people to socialize and meet new people as it is, as many of us have come to depend on online venues rather than physical venues, a necessity when in a built environment geared toward moving people around rather than keeping them in one place.
The key is to recognize that the two are not mutually exclusive, but very complementary. Imagine if there were weekly physical places like this for online Friendsters to meet, eat and talk face to face.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
December 9, 2004
Car sharing - anywhere you want it
The conflict - car sharing isn't available in every city, much less every neighborhood, much less on your block, even though the demand is there.
The solution - Zipcar is offering its Dedicated Zipcar program where an apartment management company, real estate developer, university or company could have brand new Zipcars on-site for its people. The cars, reservations, payment, membership and customer service are handled by Zipcar - while the client makes up (or even profits from) the difference with a two car, three year, $1650/mo./car commitment.
If you've ever rented a Zipcar, you'll understand the huge amount of investment involved in making car sharing painless and fun - you can rent a Volvo S40, Mini, Honda Element or Ford Escape for $7/hr. with a just a web reservation and a credit card sized reader, without paying for gas or insurance.
Go here for a personal review of the Zipcar experience.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
December 8, 2004
Project for Public Spaces: 20 best
One of the best resources for great public places is the nonprofit Project for Public Spaces, so when they announced their list of the 20 best North American districts, downtowns, and neighborhoods, I knew public life and entertainment would have much more weight than other lists. They also list 20 great places abroad.
The places mentioned range from hip districts for creatives to quaint neighborhoods for retirees, but a common theme is that these places are successful because of the variety of unique businesses and entertainment available to the residents, not so much because it has beautiful streets, scenery or homes. It also helps explain why my neighborhood, Adams Morgan made the list (barely) the first list of any kind that I've seen it on, well, other than my own.
Image source: Project for Public Spaces
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
December 7, 2004
Can artists bring vitality to an abandowned downtown?
The artists in the Massachusetts town of Pittsfield think so.
Pittsfield lost 13,000 jobs when GE left 15 years ago, which is staggering since it had a population of 60,000 at the time (50,000 today). That and a new shopping mall all but killed the downtown.
Fast forward to 2002, when an artist, Maggie Mailer realized that even if all the downtown businesses were gone, the downtown vitality didn't have to be, nor should it. As the story goes, Mailer founded the Storefront Artist Project and convinced vacant building owners to provide temporary free storefront studio for 30 artists. The genuine streetlife helped attract restaurants and an employer.
You can watch a mini documentary here.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
December 6, 2004
Transit mini
Here's another example of the growing trend towards more personalized mass transit - the mini bus. It can more easily pass the 5-minute rule since it runs more often than a regular bus, and it's also quieter and more car-like.
The real potential in this size of transit may be realized when bus rapid transit/BRT-guidance systems are applied to it, where they'll run automatically along invisible tracks, remotely turn traffic lights green up ahead and also take advantage of dedicated traffic lanes. In other words, it takes the principles of personalized rapid transit/PRT, eliminates the huge infrastructure costs and timeline associated with PRT, and can be implemented with minimal relative investment - yesterday.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
