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December 21, 2007

Grocery stores for 'locavores'

Locavore is the Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year - a local resident who tries to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius.

As of December 14, 2007, there's now a place in the U.S. for a local resident who tries to buy only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius. Located in the hip Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, Urban Rustic, a 1200 s.f. grocery store and cafe will be stocked primarily with that in mind. It shouldn't be a surprise that one of the shop's founders produced and directed the recent fast-food-oriented documentary, King Corn. As you can see in the picture, each of its wares has a story, and that carries the do the right thing status today's shoppers are looking for.

However, the gold standard is Sussex and the City in Brighton, England. Not to discredit in any which way at all the millions that the Urban Rustic folks will impact, the Sussex and the City grocery offers all of its products from within a 50-mile radius of Sussex.

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December 20, 2007

Cincy's new 'Q' for contemporary urban living

That's 'Q' is in 'quarter', as in the newly renovated Gateway Quarter for Urban Living in Cincinnati's once down-and-out Over-The-Rhine neighborhood.

The Over-The-Rhine neighborhood suffered a population loss from 40,000 to under 5000, but the 70-acre, 100-loft, indie-retail-driven Gateway Quarter looks to reverse that trend soon.

Much of the renaissance can be credited to the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC), a nonprofit developer funded by some seriously capitalized corporate foundations whose sole purpose is to bring creative vitality to the downtown. They partnered with four developers in the Gateway development to provide a hundred lofts starting at $90K, rather unheard of in the downtown. The unique collaborative aspect of the development is the single sales team for all four developers.

When seeking an identity for the Gateway Quarter, the developers realized the market was seeking contemporary urban style and design as a theme, so thus the retail sought had a similar focus: furniture, home accessories, cool clothes, great restaurants, bookstore... speaking to what it's like to live in a city. The retailers, being asked to locate in a high-risk district still on the fringe, were sold on the 'absolutely gorgeous spaces'.

Furthering the momentum which hasn't quite reached the tipping point, a K-12 School for Creative and Performing Arts, the only one in the country, is scheduled to open in the 2009 school year. Now that's a coup for establishing the downtown as a long-term residence.

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December 19, 2007

Cubicleless in Seattle: Going creative (2 of 2)

So where do the creatives in Seattle go to cowork when all the other options seem less than fabulous?

As of November 1st, many of them are heading over to Office Nomads, a 5000 s.f., 40-member much-larger-than-usual shared workplace in Capitol Hill, Seattle's walkable, diverse counterculture mecca. Considering there are 20 million 'personal businesses' in the U.S., they're increasingly not alone in their quest.

Founded by young entrepreneurs Jacob Sayles and Susan Evans, Nomads features:
- 24/7 access, electronic key cards
- Bike parking (no car parking)
- Dogs anytime
- Wi-fi, fax, printer, three meeting rooms, coffee lounge, water cooler (it's in their logo)
- Affordable rent: $475/month for a permanent workspace, $20/day.

The Office Nomads motto is “Individuality without isolation,” their message, "A party of one is free to go wherever they choose, and pursue any avenue they please. No compromises need to be made, and dreams do not need to be diluted to fit into some greater vision. But by shedding the company, the community was also lost. Coffee shops tried to fill the void, but unreliable wifi and mid-day mom & baby conventions made it difficult to be productive. One more step is needed. We must band together to regain our community, yet retain our individuality. It is now time to move into the age of the office nomad."

You can even check out their coworking video.

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December 18, 2007

Cubicleless in Seattle - The beginnings (1 of 2)

Maybe these refrains from Seattle entrepreneurs regarding office space, quoted in seattlepi sound familiar...

"We were going to kill each other if we stayed cooped up in this old room in my house," Wil.

"We need flexibility. That's really the key," Kate.

"I don't need a full-time office. I just need [them] when I need them - like right now. And maybe next Tuesday," Shauna. "I end up working a lot from the coffee shops, but those are getting pretty crowded," Derek.

These are three unique yet related dilemmas for those who needed office space, but pretty much had enough of the standard dropped ceiling, cubicle-lined, beige, monotonous office space. As one of them put it, "The office building is kind of a construct of a different time."

To the three of them, they've each found three unique workplace solutions:

1. The coffeehouse. Wil and his colleagues from the software company 'Delicious Monster' set up 'shop' at Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea (pictured). "I'm so much happier, so much more productive working with people."

2. Flex office space. Essentially executive office suites that you rent by the day, week or month. These are pricey, located in financial districts and have a formal, corporate atmosphere, but signal the rise in need for a more open office structure in both use and appearance. Which leads us to...

3. Coworking sites. Shauna opened My Day Office in September - the first coworking site in the city, with rates at an affordable $150 to $500/month to rent workspaces in downtown Seattle, and Derek was looking to apply when it opened. It comes across as targeting executives more than creatives however. So, along came... (see the next entry)...

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December 17, 2007

London's car-free shopping day a huge hit

What does $200 million have to do with cars? Absolutely nothing if you were in London's famous West End shopping district on Saturday, December 1st, known as Shop West End VIP (Very Important Pedestrians).

That's because 600 retailers on Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street were open only for pedestrians, billed as the world’s largest area ever to be dedicated to shopping for the day. Not surprisingly, many retailers reported the best sales day of the year.

That's just the beginning. City and business leaders are pushing for more car-free days, and there's already a plan to make it permanent by 2013, no doubt aided by its preparation for the 2012 Olympics.

Open from 10:30 am to 8 pm, the event featured 1 million attendees and enjoyed $40 million more revenue than the previous year (this is the event's third year).

If there's any doubt that the event has garnered a wide and deep cast of support, read what the retailers themselves had to say here.

Image resource: Matteo C.

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