CoolTown Studios

« October 22, 2006 - October 28, 2006 | Main | November 5, 2006 - November 11, 2006 »

November 3, 2006

Ratio of ethnic to fast food

Attracting jobs with food

Food, shelter and clothing - our three basic needs. Notice however, how food comes first, but it's rarely even on the list when it comes to building cities that attract people, or even specifically, the creative, entrepreneurial population that spurs job growth.

This graph, from CEOs for Cities' City Vitals: New Measures of Success for Cities (full report for members here), is just a hint of innovative insight into understanding how food can, and should, play a much larger role in economic development. Notice how the top five cities have very little to do with the bottom five (of the 50 largest cities in the U.S.) in terms of jobs, popularity and culture, and yes, it's not fair that the top five are all on the coast. However, this just shows how much harder central and smaller cities need to focus on fostering an environment where entrepreneurs are encouraged to open a more worldly diversity of restaurants, which in turn, attracts a more talented population as far as jobs go.

Besides, fast food just isn't cool, at least not to artists like REM, who will do anything they can to help the local independents thrive in their home town of Athens, GA, or to a growing consciousness know as the slow food movement, spawning an international slow city campaign focusing on quality of life over 'homogenization'.

Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 2, 2006

Nashua, New Hampshire

Nashua's downtown boom

With a #1 ranking in Money magazine's Best Places to Live in both 1987 and 1997, Nashua, a small city of 87,000 on the southern border of New Hampshire, aims to become even more livable.

Within the span of just a few years, the downtown is expected to have 885 new housing units built: 158 that are already completed, 445 approved, and another 440 being planned. One of the most notable is the proposed Cotton Mill Square which will offer 32 of its 162 new condominium units at $180K, $70K less than the 2005 median home value in Nashua, which is attainable to creatives (entrepreneurs just starting out, artists, teachers) and the working class in the $40,000/year range.

Does the City 'get it'? You bet they do, as Jay Minkarah, the city’s economic development director explains, “To Nashua as a whole, we will begin to see the emergence of a vibrant, pedestrian-oriented, 24-hour city center – something more akin to a typical European city today or to the way American cities were before the middle of the last century – a model that is more environmentally friendly and more economically and socially integrated.”

November 1, 2006

Pittsburgh's creative center - South Side

As stated yesterday, every city has its creative center, and South Side, now with its own zombie walk, may very well be the Pittsburgh's long sought source of talent for job growth in the knowledge economy.

Here's a few of the reasons why it's Pittsburgh's destination for creatives:

- Home to more restaurants and bars than any other neighborhood, with up to 80 watering holes in the area. That's a lot of conversations, the basis of economic growth according to the Cluetrain Manifesto.
- Connected to three large universities and the downtown via accessible mass transit.
- Historic, walkable Europeanesque urban fabric.
- Diversity and acceptance - known by locals as catering to both kinds of blue hair - grannies and Goths.
- Performance artists like , a young circus troupe whose practices are open to the public.
- Artist collectives, like The Brew House, featuring galleries, apartments and performances.
- Late-night events like Soulcialism, a highly acclaimed monthly rave blasting soul music (excuse the french in this review).

Check out their entertainment guide - this is just scratching the surface, and apparently, so is Pittsburgh as far as its progression into the knowledge economy.

Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 31, 2006

Vision42, New York

Signs of Pittsburgh's creative renaissance - zombies

Happy halloween...

Pittsburgh has had a tough transition from its prosperous industrial economy to the knowledge economy, but there's a sign it's now on track - zombies.

As there is now a creative, bohemian neighborhood in every city, and creativity leads to jobs, the South Side neighborhood is one of Pittsburgh's key generators of economic revitalization. Some unexpected evidence of its creative influence manifested itself via its first ever Halloween-themed event that only the most forward-thinking cities like Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, and Richmond, VA have dared - a zombie walk. In fact, Pittsburgh had two.

So what? Any event where you can get 400 people that aren't afraid to get silly in the general public is a great sign of creativity, open-mindedness, and risk taking, qualities that are vital to entrepreneurship. Keep in mind that the aforementioned cities that have such walks are doing just fine economically. The walk is also an example of civic tourism, establishing a regional event based on local culture and history, in this case, the fact that Night of the Living Dead was filmed in Pittsburgh (which is screened after the walk - can you imagine the scene at the theatre?!).

Finally, a contemporary cultural event based on history helps brand the city, something many cities struggle with when asked the question, "If your city vanished, would anyone miss it?" What's your neighborhood's 'zombie walk'?

Thanks to members of Flickr for the top, bottom images.

Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 30, 2006

Vision42, New York

What will the next generation of Manhattan look like?

No cars on 42nd Street, for starters, if Vision42 is executed, an initiative for a cross-city pedestrian mall with light rail backed by seven NY elected officials, the Hilton Times Square Hotel and numerous organizations.

This is not just another social cause, it's a significant economic one. With the overall economic trends of cities gaining in popularity and population, Vision42 recently completed a study concluding that business would grow by 35% to $1.49 billion a year, city and state tax revenue would thus increase by an additional $28 million a year, and property values would rise by $3.5 billion, translating into another $277 million in property tax revenue. This doesn't reflect the fact that restaurants could also double their seating area into the street (now a pseudo piazza) at no cost, transforming a street and corridor into a place and destination.

The main obstacle? The group wants the City to invest an estimated $360 to $510 million to convert the streets and build a light rail system to connect commuters at the ferry terminals on either side of the street. Frankly, I'm not so sure a light rail system is not more a product of an outdated industrial economy (it's a 19th century invention with a different skin), being replaced by the 'just as cool', flat-to-the-ground, 'fraction of the cost', flexible second generation BRT (not those ugly articulated buses aka bus rapid transit), and even 'STVs' ('sports transit vehicles'). You could fund five of these streets with flexible mass transit rather than just one with an inflexible system, five times sooner, and with just as much if not more pizzaz and style.

Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (3) | TrackBack