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July 28, 2006

Courtyard in downtown Palo Alto

The success story behind Memphis' Beale Street

How does one turn a boarded up main street into the iconic historical, cultural and musical destination that is Beale Street today? It took an immensely forward-thinking young developer, John Elkington, that understood the history well enough to invest in its future. The following is based on his interview with Smart City Radio.

Brief history. In the 1920s and 30s Beale Street was an entertainment mecca for African-Americans and one of the few main streets in the country where they were free to go wherever they wanted to. When segregation was outlawed in 1954, its regulars began moving elsewhere, and after the MLK riots in 1968, (MLK's last public march was on Beale Street), the downtown was all but abandoned.

Turning point. 13 years later, what made Elkington think he could redevelop Beale Street?! "It was youth," he says, "I was 32 years old at the time." That youthful energy motivated him to interview 100 black leaders to better understand what Beale Street could and should be.

The vision. Based on the Elkington set three very specific goals for Beale Street:
1. Return commerce. Today 35% of owners are African-American.
2. Establish it as the music center of the region (To help set a benchmark and because there was little initial interest, Elkington's team started their own jazz club that they felt best represented the music, culture and history for the street, the Rum Boogie Cafe)
3. Remove any barriers, real or imaginary, in order to benefit from participation by all.

Lessons learned. Elkington list five things you've go to do to establish a successful entertainment district:
1. Support of the government, mayor, city council
2. Get police department to provide crowd security in a defined destination
3. Group of potential customers (civic tourists, creative class)
4. Tenant plan where potential tenants understand the vision
5. Game plan (lenders, city, customers) to set the right level of expectations

The power of authenticity. In the interview, Elkington is asked why Beale Street is so successful despite not having any theaters, chains or trendy venues?
"We're genuine. We're real. It's allowing your tenants to be as creative as possible... The idea of putting in an Appleby's, Chili's or Macaroni Grill would have been a travesty... You want every experience to be unique. We're living in an experience economy, we really are. People are looking for things that are different. We're looking for things that have longevity."

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July 27, 2006

Courtyard in downtown Palo Alto

'The Most Inventive Towns in America'

Cities have the economic might to revitalize itself with job growth, and that comes from companies with new high-growth services and products. The Wall Street Journal's The Most Inventive Towns in America** looks at which cities are taking the lead in attracting these business growth catalysts based on patents.

First, the most inventive towns overall, in order: San Jose CA, Sunnyvale CA, Austin TX, Palo Alto CA (pictured), Fremont CA, San Diego CA, Cupertino CA, Boise ID, Mountain View CA, Santa Clara CA, Houston TX, San Francisco CA, Portland OR, Seattle WA, Los Altos CA, Rochester NY, Plano TX, Saratoga CA, Menlo Park CA, New York NY.

No surprise - half of them are in Silicon Valley, though nearly all of these places have a multitude of cooltown qualities.

However, there's hope for small cities! Here's the top 20 list of those with the most patents by individuals or small companies:

1. Las Vegas NV - Casino spinoffs, and more $ than they know what to do with
2. Indianapolis IN - Biotech spinoffs
3. Gaithersburg MD - High-tech corridor
4. Sandy UT - Low rent, entrepreneurial culture
5. Fairfax VA - George Mason University
6. Winchester MA - Near MIT
7. Corona CA - Biotech spinoffs
8. Grand Rapids MI - Biomedical spinoffs
9. Bloomfield Hills MI - Auto industry spinoffs
10. Evanston IL - Northwestern University
11. Palm Harbor FL - Sensor Systems spinoffs
12. Annapolis MD - Navy, telecom engineers
13. Oklahoma City OK - OK Medical Research Foundation spinoffs
14. Mercer Island WA - Near Microsoft
15. Orefield PA - Lehigh University, Agere Systems spinoffs
16. Bend OR - Sixth-fastest growing metro area in the U.S.
17. Tigard OR - Low rents/taxes near Nike
18. Walnut CA - Asian immigrants
19. Leawood, KS - $100K avg. income
20. St. Charles, MO - Boeing layoffs

Not an inspired list for livability though. The pattern here is to have at least one major company and one major university, and leverage the heck out of it. But of course, this won't happen unless the quality-of-life-demading creatives that start these spinoff companies aren't compelled to live there. These cities are blessed with an economic head start, but until they seriously beef up their livability (and build compelling places for them to meet like this courtyard in downtown Palo Alto), they'll never graduate to the true Top 20 list.

*Temporary link provided by Planetizen

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July 26, 2006

Court 6, Charlotte NC

Defining 'attainable/ affordable' 'hard/soft' lofts

Sometimes brands become so associated with their past that there futures are limited by it, such as Polaroid and Kodak, which have long been synonymous with instant pictures and film processing. Both have quickly become obsolete in the digital transition. Brand experts often suggest starting with a new name altogether. Affordable housing is one of those.

The term affordable housing has come to be associated with government-subsidized or low-income housing. Why? Simply put, the average home size per occupant has more than tripled since 1950, while the average inflation-adjusted salary hasn't. Unfortunately, some of the worst housing ever developed (the projects) were built in the name of affordable housing. Besides, there needs to be a better term than 'market-rate affordable housing', or 'non-government-subsidized affordable housing', and thus subsequent entries on this website will refer to them as attainable housing (or housing that is affordable). Just not affordable housing.

The word 'loft' on the other hand is being watered down by just about every developer calling their new urban residences 'lofts'. While in a previous entry I started to highlight definitions to distinguish them, here are better industry terms - 'hard loft' and 'soft loft', by leading housing market analysts, Zimmerman/Volk:

"Unit interiors of “hard lofts” typically have high ceilings and commercial windows and are either minimally finished, limited to architectural elements such as columns and fin walls, or unfinished, with no interior partitions except those for bathrooms.

Unit interiors of “soft lofts” may or may not have high ceilings and are fully finished, with the interiors partitioned into separate rooms."

The image above is of Court 6 in downtown Charlotte NC, an attainable hard loft development. Charlotte, by the way, is a benchmark for attainable housing.

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July 25, 2006

Pantages Apartments, Seattle WA

City taking charge to attract investors...

Most cities wait like hopeful dancers at a school ball. Others get up and ask or just start dancing, like West Palm Beach, St. Louis, and Everett, Washington, profiled in its local newspaper, The city plots the next stage of its downtown renaissance.

The map shows strategic investment areas that the City of Everett (within the Seattle metropolitan area) is proposing for its downtown plan. Incentives include promoting greater residential densities downtown, sponsoring a model project (a CoolTown strategy), investing their own $ in public places to inspire complimentary buildings, eliminating minimum parking requirements, and providing a vision from its community. The vision statement includes language like, "Downtown is a pedestrian friendly, active neighborhood where people are prioritized over accommodating the automobile. The city center has a lively atmosphere on weekends and in the evenings, as people come from surrounding communities to enjoy the arts, entertainment, cultural offerings, dining and shopping opportunities year round.

However, like in any city success story, the private sector is taking an equal lead. Craig Skotsdal, the largest property owner in the city, has a rather cooltown vision, "The goal of creating market-rate housing in downtown is not about creating a safe haven for yuppies. It's about attracting and retaining talented people who will create opportunities for others - active urbanites who start businesses, energize service groups and generally make things better."

Finally, it also helps to have a model third place to set the tone for the statements above, and that's definitely Zippy's Java Lounge. "Named after her Dalmation dog, Zippy's is the kind of place where eclectic decor, cozy reading corners and frequent entertainment keep customers coming back. Prosecutors and lawyers hold meetings there; artists and young people hang out and talk. Evening events, such as speed dating, poetry readings and nonprofit fundraisers, have brought in crowds."

Let's check back in five years (when there'll be more photo opportunities as well)...

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July 24, 2006

Pantages Apartments, Seattle WA

Another 'Why can't more affordable housing look this good?'

If you want a model example of how to blend a new building in with a landmark house (1907) in a historic (and very fun) neighborhood (Capitol Hill, Seattle), be affordable, transit-oriented and a green building as well, then the Pantages Apartments are a good place to start. It's featured in the American Institute for Architects' new Affordable Housing Design Advisor website.

49 dwellings (45 in the new building, 4 in the historic home) are available as studio, one, two or three bedrooms, for households earning 30%-50% of area median income. Not that we're advocating for government subsidies here (there are more sustainable ways, like being not-so-big), but this is more of an example of how elegant 'affordable housing' can look. The new building's color scheme, building materials and scale respects the 'old guy on the block', and there's even a shared courtyard in between them.

By the way, that courtyard is just the beginning of how many social hangouts this building could have: a library, roofdeck, multi-purpose room, and an area with computer stations. Continuing the people-first theme, a light rail station is coming two blocks away, and parking is underground.

The green building features include:
- 1175-gallon storm water irrigation system
- low-flow plumbing fixtures
- energy-efficient windows, insulation and lighting
- drought-tolerant plants
- 92% of construction waste recycled
- 10 hp 'motor traction' elevator instead of a conventional 40 hp hydraulic elevator, cutting energy usage in half. Bet most of you haven't heard about this one as a green building asset.

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