City living healthier than in the suburbs?

Yes, according to a report on public health as it relates to development patterns by the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

As you can see on the graph from their report, the greater the density (sprawl index), the fewer the fatalities per 1000 people, as calculated over 83 U.S. regions that covered two-thirds of the total population.  Why are people dying?  The reports showed lower densities have higher incidence of cardiovascular and lung

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Reading, dining, theatre… in one place

If you feel like relaxing at the end of the day with a good book, then meeting friends for drinks, staying for dinner, then catching a rather intellectual film, lecture or comedy show, you can do all of that in one place at the newly opened Busboys and Poets in MidCity, Washington DC.

The name of the venue is inspired by Langston Hughes who was discovered as a poet while he was a busboy, and the theme carries through.  There’s a literature-oriented

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Graphically speaking, how affordable are city centers?

How affordable are central cities?  In a quarterly newsletter by Reconnecting America’s Center for Transit Oriented Development, this is answered statistically.

The map on top shows the areas in Twin Cities, MN that are affordable in the lightest color, when only housing costs are factored in.  The darker areas are less affordable (greater % of income spent on housing), and the darkest areas are least affordable.

The map below shows

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...and the flipside to Richard Florida...

The last two days focused on Richard Florida, so let’s look at seemingly contrasting research.  People like Joel Kotkin, author of the The New Geography, and Jack Schultz, author of BoomTown USA, say more people are migrating to small towns that aren’t nearly as ‘creative’ as the cities on Florida’s list. In fact, Schutz just commented on this yesterday.

Well, they’re kind of all right.  Young people are still moving to creative centers (if you’re

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15 hot cities for creative types

Yesterday I re-introduced Richard Florida, and as promised, here’s his most current list, as featured in the November issue of Fast Company, of the hottest cities for creative types like yourself.

In no particular order:

Sacramento, CA - WIne is big, the downtown is coming around, and outdoor recreation abounds.
Phoenix, AZ - Artists like its free spirit, biotech is booming downtown, and yes, few rainy days.
Salt Lake City, UT - Mormons are big on

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A re-introduction to Richard Florida and the creative class

You may notice the term ’creative class‘ pop up here and there, with a category on this website covering it.  I first mentioned Richard Florida - the person who coined and legitimized the term - way back in April 2003, so it’s time for a re-introduction, especially since the creative class best defines the market most attracted to ‘cooltowns’.

Richard is an economist and the author of the best-seller Rise of the Creative Class and

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Philadelphia’s downtown boom

How dramatic is the excitement of moving to Philly’s downtown?

The area in green shows where people are moving in droves to what they identify as ‘downtown Philadelphia’*.  The areas in purple shows where current construction and renovation will lead to an expansion of this perceived ‘downtown’.  That means a lot of people are and will be calling downtown home, about 20,000 to 30,000 of them in this decade.

The details are included in this housing study,

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Measuring the economic benefits of arts on a community

Why should a city invest in the arts?  While artists have no shortage of reasons why, there’s often little economic evidence of their impact.  That’s the focus of Dr. Stephen Sheppard, an economist at Williams College who has been working with MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) to calculate the real value of arts to communities.

There are three ‘pathways’ that lead from the arts to economic growth that he measured and

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When affordable art meets affordable nightlife...

So you’re young and can’t afford gallery art just yet.  Or you’re a young artist and looking for exposure.  Or you’re just someone looking for something a bit more fulfilling to do on a Saturday night.

Scott Fraser has quite the remedy.  He hosts an art auction dance party at popular nightclub venues. Why?  As he says, “Not enough young people are buying original artwork,” especially at gallery prices. “It’s just expensive, they don’t have

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The physics of relationships… in cooltowns

I’m delving into sensitive material here, but since the heart of community and business is fundamentally made up of one-one relationships between people…

An Oxford graduate, Richard Ecob conducted a study that modeled a community of daters to a ‘community of atoms’, since they exhibited similar physics (hey, don’t shoot the messenger.) If you’ve seen What The #$*! Do We Know?!, it wouldn’t seem too far-fetched.

The study’s final word if you want

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Where are entrepreneurs migrating to… lately?

They’re moving to where housing prices are low and the quality of life is high.  At least the successful ones are.

Entrepreneur Magazine just rolled out their annual Entrepreneurial Hot Cities rankings, based on the number of companies that started 4 to 14 years ago and have at least five employees today; and that company’s job growth.

Phoenix and Charlotte top the large city rankings. Ok, Phoenix is far from a model in pedestrian-oriented

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CoolTown picture game

Ever played one of those games where you had to find the list of items that were blended into the picture?

a. Can you find the entrepreneurial workplace where a dozen creative businesses collaborate and celebrate in a living room setting?

b. Can you find the 24-hour diner that’s filled to capacity on a Wednesday morning at 2 am?

c. Can you find the national chain that doesn’t quite belong?

d. Can you find what one magazine called one of the best bars in …

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