Investing in the large-scale workplace

While much of the focus in CoolTowns is in providing workplaces for the entrepreneurially creative, larger companies will find tremendous benefits in relocating to a CoolTown as well.  Here’s how some progressive investors are planning on that:

The key reason why most corporations don’t occupy downtown space is that it simply costs a lot more than in the suburbs, the same exact reason given by Gen Xers.  The solution provided by capacity-rich investors

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This summary of workplace trends is brought to you by a long-time associate of mine, John Vivadelli, CEO of Agilquest which focuses on enabling modern workplaces.

“Telework/Telecommuting allows employees to work from home or a telework or touchdown center.  Teleworkers generally work off-site 2-3 days per week, and are linked to the office by cell phone, laptop and/or email.  To reap the full benefits of teleworking, organizations often implement office hoteling in

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10,000 happier employees

BellSouth, one of Atlanta’s largest employers, is building three workplaces for 10,000 employees near three light rail stations.  Not only that, but they’re providing parking specifically for their employees at four outlying transit stations.*  To top it off, three of those transit stations will have satellite office space.

Now the buildings and surrounding fabric aren’t exactly creative or inspiring, but I’m sure the possibilities of zero traffic and adjacent,

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The distributed, decentralized workplace

How’s this sound if you have a current 9-5 job:

Monday: - “It’s been a long weekend - I sure feel like working at home this morning.“
Tuesday: “I woudn’t mind a 15 door-door commute to my company’s satellite office.
Wednesday: “I should meet up face-face with some people at my company’s headquarters, even though it’s 45 minutes door-door.“
Thursday: “I’ve got to sleep in.  I’ll just work late at the office today.“ 
Friday: “I’m going in early so I

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The future workplace

A national workforce survey this month reveals a desire for the evolution of the decentralized, distributed workplace as isolated office parks continue to suffer vacancies:

54% seek stable income outside the conventional work structure
86% cite work/life balance & work fulfillment as #1 career priority  
73% are were willing to curtail careers to make time for family
96% are attracted to employers who offer ways for them to make time for personal responsibilities and

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Investing in the Gen X Town

How do you do it without busting the Gen X piggy bank?

Let’s face it, 80% of the effort in building a true Gen X town is providing affordable homes in the coolest parts of the city.  So, while it’s hopeless to buy a $200K condo in Manhattan, it’s not out of the question to buy a cooler home between $150-$180K in a one-of-a-kind, nightlife-oriented neighborhood.

Here’s how these investors will do it:  Build not so big, stripped down/customizable units between 900

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Designing the Gen X urban village

Affordability:  Design smaller-sized 4-6 story unfinished loft-style units (like these here by Dover Kohl, an urban design firm that fundamentally understands this market) with flexible open floor plans and some detailing to add character.  Do the same with office space.  Encourage the retailers to keep it simple and aim for artful practicality and efficiency over status.  Think Parisian neighborhoods.

Entertainment & Nightlife:  Center the village around a

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What is Gen X looking for in a home?

Something less than $150,000 in the inner city or near an outer transit station.  It’d be low maintenance with high ceilings, both community and environmentally friendly.

Gen Xers prefer something stylish, efficient and flexible and did I say affordable?  They will not let homebuilders pre-determine their needs and feel they over-design new homes.  In fact, they’d like to customize their living spaces and want homes that express “Who I am.“  Non-bearing

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What is Gen X looking for in a town?

It should be clear from yesterday’s blog:

Jobs, affordability, entertainment.
Jobs, affordability, entertainment.
Jobs, affordability, entertainment.

Jobs:  This is the starting point, but the good news is that companies (and city economic development agencies) are realizing that they also need to relocate where Gen Xers most likely want to live, which means affordability with great entertainment.  That works just fine with company executives as well. 

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Where is Gen X moving to?

Well, since most Gen Xers are single/divorced (over 70%), they sure aren’t looking to settle down in a family-oriented neighborhood.  Here are the top 10 cities that Gen Xers are migrating to:

1. Orlando: An abundance of new tech jobs and limitless entertainment are hard to resist.
2. Las Vegas:  The entertainment and affordable living capital.
3. San Francisco:  Diversity, entertainment and hundreds of great dining experiences.
4. Denver:  The outdoor entertainment

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Investing in a town with invisible technology

Fiber optics: There are currently about a hundred communities (older listing) that are implementing a comprehensive fiber optic infrastructure.  What’s imperative to know is that the cost difference is negligible between providing a fiber vs. a copper network in new communities, yet the profit potential is tremendous.  In other words, establishing a fiber optic network in a new community is kind of a no-brainer.

Wireless: Wireless goes

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Free wireless internet for all - on Newbury Street

There’s already a well-established market for going wireless (making technology invisible) at home and at the workplace, but even at your local bakery?

If you frequent Newbury Street in Boston, chances are you’re pretty productive as well, as many of its cafes and shops provide free wireless internet access.  Thanks to the work of the Newbury Open Network, there’s a national trend afoot to provide wireless internet access at every public

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CoolTowns start with fiber optics, not freeways

In the industrial age, the basic infrastructure is a road network with cars.  In the experience age (aka the CoolTown era), it’s a fiber optic network with people.  The good news is the fiber is invisible, the people aren’t.

Case Western Reserve University’s fiber optic network is setting the bar with gigabit/second access, 1000 times faster than a typical home connection.  What does this mean?  Major job creation for economically-disadvantaged

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Broadband = quality of life, jobs

Understanding that people will be more apt to use technology they don’t see, a town-wide broadband infrastructure may do wonders for the local economy and quality of life.

Quality of life:  For urban dwellers, a fast network means one less reason to have a car, probably our least invisible technology.  It essentially means you can work at home, or at your local third place w/ free wireless broadband.  This magazine focuses on achieving this quality of

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CoolTown’s invisible technology

CoolTowns are most definitely state of the art, and that means incorporating the latest, most useful technologies.  However, the more invisible the technology, the less afraid people will be to use them.

CoolTowns are first and foremost about building community and enabling face-face interaction.  That mindset just doesn’t seem as sincere when your friend across the table is talking through his cell phone headset while adding entries to his PDA, as both of you

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Investing in Experience Towns

Using the Experience Town steps, here’s how an investment group looks to invest in their next generation communities:

1. Discover and extract commodities:  Utilize capital in institutional investment network, leverage student/graduate market of universities and seek currently undesirable/economically-disadvantaged sites.
2. Develop and make goods:  Team with the best urban designers to build a new urbanist neighborhood fabric, although more

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Steps to an Experience Town and beyond

The economic steps to achieving an Experience Town can be compared with the progression to self-actualization in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

1. Discover and extract commodities:  The land/site, financial capital.
2. Develop and make goods:  The physical town, ie New Urbanism.
3. Devise and deliver services:  The right mix of dining/shopping/entertainment tenants coupled with community center for the residents.
4. Depict and stage experiences:  The

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The Experience Town

One CoolTown goal is for its residents to exclaim, “Now this is a living and working experience!“

The authors of the Experience Economy listed five guidelines:  1) how well the theme or organizing principle is carried out; 2) the degree to which there is harmony of the impressions or “take-aways” of the experience; 3) the elimination of “negative cues” or distractions from the theme; 4) the memorabilia associated with the experience; and, 5) how well the experience is

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We’ve gone from an agricultural economy, to manufactured goods, to services.  What’s next?  Experiences.

The experience economy (fast becoming common language) is based on providing continuously unique experiences that can’t be commoditized by competitors, as services and goods increasingly are.  Experiences must be holistic, and examples include Southwest Airlines’ people-first mission, theatre restaurants, and Progressive Insurance’s commitment to improving the customer experience, to name

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Even better than a main street

There’s no question the entrepreneurial creatives won’t frequent shopping malls and strip centers (it was even an AOL headline last week), but there’s something they desire much more than the popular-again main street:

The piazza, pronounced like “pizza” with an extra syllable and not like a certain popular baseball player.

Why?  Because it’s designed around the concept of being a place rather than a thoroughfare, making it a much better venue for

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Today’s popular university trends described in yesterday’s blog hint at the future of university towns when those ideas are seamlessly knitted.

The common theme is higher learning in the real world:  Students no longer have to live in concentration camp dormitories, but in affordable, community-oriented lofts.  They can choose to live in themed buildings that relate to their areas of study - all the better to network, study late with and collaborate on independent projects.  They can take

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