Transportation really hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years - we still have trains and cars.  You still have to wait for trains longer than you want to and they don’t go exactly where you want them to, when you want them to.  Cars are increasingly inefficient as traffic congestion grows, among the myriad other problems they cause.

Personalized Rapid Transit (pictured) may be the next big thing in mobility, though perhaps not for another fifty years.  Check out the video - it’s fun to

read more…

The first ever beta community that allowed future tenants to design a new urban village in Detroit took place last week Tuesday.  Here’s a report by the charrette coordinator, Matthew Clayson:

“Everything went great, even better than planned. More than 40 people attended and the group proved to be a nice cross section of people from the city and surburbs. All in all, everyone stated the need for piazzas, pedestrian friendly plazas, green space and urbanity. Parking issues were a challange, as

read more…

What are the most successful trends in retail for the creative class?  One of the best ways to find out is to visit five of the most successful creative class-oriented towns and their neighborhoods and not only study the overall retail mix, but the most popular venues as well.  The cities included Cambridge MA, Madison WI, Athens GA, Burlington VT and Ann Arbor MI.

The study conclusions, an extensive collection of photos, statistics, and focus group results are provided in the exclusive

read more…

What are the latest trends in loft housing?  Which cities are leading the way in loft development?  How much are lofts going for?  What kinds of floor plans are selling?  How much should they be going for?  Who’s buying them?

All of these answers are explained and illustrated in the newly published 14-page CoolTown Loft Housing Report, which is paired with the Emerging Retail Report for $119 and can be ordered by emailing here.

Conclusions are based on the following loft projects:  Orenco

read more…

The following is a story from an emerging progressive developer in Ohio, Ben Ezinga.  We need a lot more people like him…

“My name is Ben Ezinga.

read more…

The neighborhoods we really want are illegal.  Really.

Creative people are taking charge in building their own neighborhood. ChangeThis is a national forum for change, publishing daily manifestos and guides to improving one’s quality of life and purpose.  One of their most recent publications is Legalize Neighborhoods Again!

City governments control the way our streets and buildings are laid out through zoning.  The worst part is that this zoning mandates an auto-oriented built environment,

read more…

Some people in Detroit got tired of seeing more strip malls, subdivisions and parking.  So, they formed their own group to voice their opinions and establish a new vision and direction for their future in Detroit.  Now with the help of Cool

Town Studios, they’re establishing a beta community to help design, build and live in their own urban village!  Their motto?  Say it. Build it. Live it.

This is an image of the site where they’re going to craft their vision, and the process begins next week

read more…

How about a bookstore, ice cream, art gallery coffeehouse.  That properly describes the Market Street Cafe in Frederick, Maryland, the second largest city in Maryland that’s enjoying a bit of a renaissance.

These mutiple-venues-in-one are a growing trend in retail, and a good one too.  At the Market Street Cafe you can browse through a carefully selected stock of used books, enjoy a great cup of coffee and ice cream for dessert, peruse the local art for sale on the walls, run into your

read more…

Trading Spaces Designer Genevieve Gorder to Host New TLC Series

That’s right - The Discovery Channel’s TLC is producing a new show called Town Haul where the host, Gorder, “will oversee a team of skilled designers, carpenters and craftspeople as they work alongside townspeople to re-imagine, re-paint, repair and restore small towns across the United States.“  The first victim (just kidding) is tiny Jeffersonville, NY, population 500.

This is largely about aesthetics - there’s no emphasis on

read more…

Bi-Level/New York-Style/Artist Lofts These units have lofted bedrooms and no interior walls. The have very high ceilings (15’+), and often seen as bachelor pads in movies. These attract a premium and were the lofts upon which the movement began.
Industrial Lofts - The most common form of loft today, usually converted warehouses and sometimes entirely new buildings, with high exposed ceilings, no interior walls, expansive windows and no lofted bedrooms.
Loft-Type Units - These are the next

read more…