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September 1, 2006

Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

'World's Best Cities' to visit (Part 2)

We continue yesterday's entry on learning about cool places, venues and daily cultural events from the World's Best Cities to Visit. Please add your comments below, especially on the happening hot spots in each city.

Mexico and Central and South America:
1. Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Paris of the Pampas (plains) reinvents itself with youthful vigor
2. Oaxaca, Mexico - Where 'bold' and 'authentic' flow through the food, drink, music and architecture
3. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico - A more sophisticated $ blend of authentic local culture
4. Cuzco, Peru - Inca history and daily parades, dancing and colorful celebrations of culture
5. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Lasting reputation for passionate dancing (samba), music all night

Takeaways: It's the culture, not tourist landmarks, that attract people.

Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific:
1. Sydney, Australia - Some of the finest pub experiences (view, food, people) anywhere in the world
2. Melbourne, Australia - The affordable, bit less sophisticated, more youthful alternative to Sydney
3. Queenstown, New Zealand - One of the best outdoor adventure and recreation towns in the world
4. Christchurch, New Zealand - For a relaxing retreat in an elegant town that takes their food seriously
5. Wellington, New Zealand - The most walkable, the most livable as locals say, base for Lord of the Rings

Takeaways: Great food in compact, walkable urban footprints that showcase the surrounding landscape.

Europe:
1. Florence, Italy - The art capital of the world?
2. Rome, Italy - Endless vignettes of dining under the stars amid ancient masterpieces
3. Venice, Italy - The city of romance
4. Istanbul, Turkey - Architecturally beautiful, friendly, affordable and increasingly popular
5. Kraków, Poland - European atmosphere at a fraction of the cost
6. Paris, France - Probably no city elicits more awe of beauty with every step
7. Prague, Czech Republic - Known as the hotspot by young European travelers, now a bit too discovered
8. Siena, Italy - I took one of my favorite photos of all time here - quintessential Siena
9. Seville, Spain - The country's cultural, artistic, romantic capital, a favorite of many
10. Barcelona, Spain - Home of the one and only La Rambla, a mile-long piazza filled with people

Takeaways: Three things - walkable, walkable and walkable.

U.S. and Canada:
1. New York - Urban mecca of the East Coast
2. San Francisco - Urban mecca of the West Coast
3. Chicago - Urban mecca in between the coasts
4. Charleston, SC - Often referred to as the most beautiful city
5. Santa Fe, NM - Often referred to as the most beautiful small city
6. Vancouver, British Columbia - Often referred to as the most livable
7. Quebec City, Quebec (pictured) - One of Canada's most romantic, walkable, beautiful destinations
8. Victoria, British Columbia - Widely regarded as the most livable city in North America
9. Montreal, Quebec - If you can't afford Paris...
10. Seattle - Most progressive U.S. city?

Takeaways: The most walkable on the continent (though nowhere near Europe), with an emphasis on historic preservation and heaping doses of contemporary nightlife.

Image: Lower Town, Quebec City, Canada

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August 31, 2006

Paseos

'World's Best Cities' to visit (Part 1)

If you were looking to travel the world to discover and learn from the coolest places, venues and daily cultural events, Travel + Leisure's compilation of the World's Best Cities is a good place to start. See the rankings below, and you can check out the overall top 10, each city's score, and full profiles here. Please add your comments below, especially on the happening hot spots in each city.

Asia:
1. Bangkok, Thailand (pictured) - The cool/hip/chic capital of Asia?
2. Chiang Mai, Thailand - The country's complementary cultural historic preservationist's dream
3. Kathmandu, Nepal - Longtime hippie destination, plus Mt. Everest
4. Kyoto, Japan - The Chiang Mai of Japan, rich in heritage and beauty
5. Hong Kong, China - No city is more relentlessly urban, intense, modern
6. Hanoi, Vietnam - Intellectual, artistic and two-thirds under 30, though Saigon is the 'faster' city
7. Udaipur, India - aka the Venice of the East, but a micro-fraction of the cost
8. Beijing, China - The cultural, friendlier, affordable alternative to jobs-oriented Shanghai
9. Jaipur, India - the 'Pink City', India's living museum of art, architecture and culture
10. Luang Prabang, Laos - Beautifully preserved ancient medieval city

Takeaways: Timeless, preserved historical culture is a significant asset, and so is the contemporary as long as it's at human scale.

Africa and the Middle East:
1. Cape Town, South Africa - Urban (and wine) mecca for Africa
2. Beirut, Lebanon (war aside, aka the Paris of the Middle East by the sea)
3. Jerusalem, Israel (ironically, it's infinite spiritual history is a catalyst for warring factions)
4. Marrakesh, Morocco - Endless array of food, shopping and entertainment for little $
5. Fez, Morocco - home of the largest contiguous carfree urban area in the world

Takeaways: Affordability and choice will keep people coming back, staying longer.

More tomorrow on Central to South America, the Pacific, Europe, Canada and the U.S.

Image: Night Market, Bangkok, Thailand

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August 30, 2006

Paseos

What is a paseo?

Why is it so important to know what a paseo is? One key reason is that it's tough creating a kind of place if people don't even know what to call it... you know, those streets with no cars that only pedestrians are strolling along, lined with casual diners at outdoor cafes, bustling waiters, and an ever-changing diversity of sights, scents and sounds. That's what a paseo is.

At dictionary.com, a paseo is defined as:
1. a slow, idle, or leisurely walk or stroll.
2. a public place or path designed for walking; promenade.
3. (esp. in Spanish-speaking countries) a usually tree-lined thoroughfare; avenue.

It's derived from the Spanish word pasear, to walk.

Paseos can be wide and the premiere destination for city life, or they can be narrow and offer intimate dining. They can be level, or on a hill. They can be rectilinear, or organic (which gives a better sense of being in an outdoor room). Key to its economic success is a collection of unique restaurants and cafes with outdoor seating, entertainment venues and shops that establish the paseo as a destination. Also, one of the most important design elements that makes a paseo feel just right is the human scale of the buildings, since this is after all, a street designed for walking and being.

To get a better understanding of why paseos are on the rise, check out Is it time for the return of the pedestrian street?

For guidelines on how to establish a successful paseo, peruse How to do a pedestrian street right

Images: Sienna, Spain; Nanjing Lu, Shanghai, China; Dublin, Ireland; French Street, Istanbul, Turkey

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August 29, 2006

Poinsettia Commons, San Diego

Carlsbad, CA sure to attract the creative class...

...IF they continue to support more developments like Poinsettia Commons, a $55 million mixed-use, transit-oriented urban-style community that was unanimously approved by the Carlsbad City Council. For a perspective of Carlsbad's current creative class status, check out the comments to this entry.

Located right next to a train station leading directly to downtown San Diego, this innovative vision by forward-thinking developer Urban West Strategies is a model for mixed-use development and placemaking. Check out the aerial rendering here - notice that only one street allows cars - the rest are paseos (pedestrian-only streets) with most of the parking underground... and yes, the architecture is refreshingly contemporary, something the East Coast can learn a bit from.

Development basics:

- 78 residential units are proposed: 51 live-works (2-story lofts over commercial, 1900-2500 in total), 15 market-rate condos, 15 townhouses (1200 s.f.), 12 affordable apartments. The live-works are unattainably priced at $ half a million, but include ground floor retail space.
- 18,300 s.f. of commercial/retail plus 3300 s.f. daycare center
- 13 buildings on 4.2 acres with 151 underground parking spaces, 107 on the surface
- Groundbreaking in January of 2007, completion summer 2008

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August 28, 2006

Brooklyn apartment

People are downsizing their homes - and with style

Big is out. Small with style is in, and understandably so given the increase in home prices. Then again, prices have increased the last few decades because homes are now more than three times the size per occupant. Seems like practicality ultimately comes through in the end.

From a Reuters article, here are some telling quotes by housing experts and home buyers:

"Ten years back, most people wanted more space - now they want more features." Gopal Ahluwalia, vice president of research at the National Association of Home Builders.

"People are at the point where they would rather have a luxurious interior than expand. Potential buyers want kitchens designed for entertaining, state-of-the-art appliances, media rooms and home theaters." Budge Huskey, president and COO at Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Sarasota, Florida.

"Some of these homebuyers are empty-nesters now finding their homes are larger than what they need and more than they can handle." Diane Ramirez, president of Halstead Property.

"Our property taxes went down by 1000%, the [electricity bill] was cut by two-thirds and the cost of home maintenance was reduced by at least 50%. No gardener, no roofer cleaning gutters, no tree spraying, no snow removal, no exterior painting every six or seven years." The Horwitzes, home buyers downsizing from 2200 to 1200 s.f.

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