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March 30, 2007

Harbor Town, Memphis

The 2007 New Urbanism Charter Award winners

Each year the Congress for the New Urbanism announces its Charter Awards that best represent New Urbanism. Here are some of the winners for 2007.

The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town:

Long Beach Mississippi Concept Plan - Waterfront revitalization. Check out its humanistic-proportioned buildings reminiscent of Amsterdam - those are going to be in immense demand.

Neighborhood, District, and Corridor:

Innovista Master Plan, Columbia, South Carolina - A true live/work/learn community intrinsically tied to the University of South Carolina - what a research park should be - profiled previously here.

Harbor Town, Memphis, TN (pictured) - A 20-year old neighborhood modeled off the walkable neighborhoods of the 1920s, it has finally matured to the point of having a more active town center.

Block, Street, and Building:

Chatham Square, Alexandria, Virgina - A textbook example of replacing neglected public housing with an elegant mixed-income neighborhood, with every one of the 100 existing public housing units exchanged in-kind either on site or elsewhere in the city.

The Ellington, Washington DC - One of the first urban mixed-use developments in the neighborhood that sparked investment and new housing throughout the area, just a few blocks from CoolTown Studios at the Affinity Lab.

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March 29, 2007

DC Beta Community

The first VIBE beta community meets in DC

Last night, 14 people - Lisa, Angela, Christian, Mike, Sarah, Joey, Justin, Ayari, Raj, Ritu, Heather, Robert, myself and business owner/VIBE Linda - met over pizza, beer and wine to discuss, as a beta community, what Washington DC's next cafe/bar/coffeehouse should be. It was the first ever VIBE beta community, as well as DC's first beta community. Two hours later we had laid out the foundation for what very well may be the coolest, most innovative venue in Washington DC.

You'd actually have to live in the area and join the DC Beta Community to find out what happened at the meeting. The group decided to keep their ideas open source, but only to participants - the norm for open source development. However, please do submit a request to join here, along with your answers to the three questions everyone at the meeting answered:

1. Your name/background
2. What your interest in the beta community is
3. What one of your favorite relevant venues are and why (or if you could combine two of your favorites together, what would they be).

That took up most of the first half of the meeting, followed by Linda's vision for opening a new venue using the open source methodology.

The fun took off in the second half with everyone's (and I do mean everyone's) input into what will make this the most desired third place in DC, followed by a discussion on how the beta community would be compensated and recognized as 'co-owners' so to speak.

All I can say is this won't be just another bar/cafe/coffeehouse, but a triple-bottom-line destination that establishes a sense of community beyond the neighborhood and becomes a portal for related business ventures that reinforce its core vision.

The bottom line is you need to establish a VIBE beta community in your neighborhood!

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March 28, 2007

Flower Street Lofts, Los Angeles

Old UPS factory turned new award-winning lofts

No, this isn't a good example of housing that 'normal people' can afford, but it is a touchstone model for transforming a neglected warehouse into an inspired destination. It goes well with the stylish coffeehouse presented yesterday, and sets a good benchmark for what humanistic 21st Century design could be.

Formerly a UPS factory built in 1936 (see image to the left), the building was renovated into what is now a fresh, contemporary, new residential community, known as the Flower Street Lofts. Opening in 2003, the 91 lofts sold out quickly, being that they were among the first new loft residences, and first new downtown residences in Los Angeles in decades.

Now, if someone can just figure out how to make these sharp-looking developments financially attainable. Smaller units than the minimum 1300 s.f. is a start.

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March 27, 2007

Vic's, Prospect, Longmont CO

A contemporary take on coffeehouse design

In contrast to the grungy, bohemian, shabby chic warehouse coffeehouse/bar/restaurant/art gallery warehouse profiled yesterday, I thought I'd present a modest, contemporary, yet progressive coffee stop known as Vic's in Boulder, Colorado (not hip enough to have a website apparently). It's one of the few good examples of modern architecture presented at a humanistic scale, but thankfully we're seeing more of this.

Live music, poetry, free wireless, and legendary coffee, it's no coincidence that one can find a Vic's in what is one of the most progressive new communities (ie built from the ground up) in the country - Prospect in Longmont, Colorado. Or that it's located on Tenacity Drive.

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March 26, 2007

Dymun+Company, Pittsburgh

A third place on steroids in Brooklyn

"It’s not home, it’s not work. It’s that other place. It's your space.”

That's the theme at Retreat in DUMBO, Brooklyn NY, and it's not an exaggeration...

5000 square feet. Free wifi lounge. Coffee bar (Coffee Box). Art gallery. Restaurant and Bar (reBar). Community tasting market (mid '07). Those are distinct places with their own unique names, not one venue calling itself an art gallery coffehouse restaurant because it serves coffee and has art on the walls. Not only that, reBar just won Timeout New York's "Best New Bar of the Year." Of course, there's live music, an organic menu selection, and it's open until 2 am on weekdays, 4 am on weekends.

What's the secret? Veteran readers know it starts with the VIBE...

"My name is Jason and I’m the founder of Retreat. When I discovered DUMBO one thing struck me as terribly strange. Where was the common space? Where was the meeting place? Every community should have one such place and it was nowhere to be found. That’s why I made the Gallery and free WiFi Lounge the hub of Retreat. It’s always there, it’s always free, and it’s always yours. Finally. A place for us."

Thanks to Maxeme at Chicamala Productions for the reference - shouldn't be a surprise that they do MTV promo shoots.

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