According to the NY Times, the word on the street is that New Yorkers are worried that ‘it’s getting boring around here.‘ “The chain proliferation and the sameness they have brought to so many blocks has become a pet peeve for many New Yorkers, and the butt of jokes for others. On a recent episode of the NBC comedy 30 Rock a character sent to pick up a prescription was stymied by the presence of ‘Rite Drugs’ outlets on all four corners of an intersection.“

Meanwhile, last November San

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The city of Renton, just south of Seattle, has long been synonymous with Boeing.  However, visit their website today and there’s not only no mention of the airline giant on their home page, but missing from their economic development and vision, mission, and business plan pages as well.  There’s just a picture of a jet on the business home page, but no mention of Boeing when listing the city’s assets.

Why? The City is steadfastly, wisely, deftly moving Renton away from the industrial economy

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Look at all those downtown development projects - who needs a study to prove people are moving downtown?

There’s something in the water in Pasadena.  They have one of the most successful new pedestrian malls in the country.  They have one of the most progressive new urban villages in the country.  85% of all building permits are going downtown, totaling 2500 new homes.  So I guess when the City’s Central District Specific Plan won a coveted annual Smart Growth Achievement Award, perhaps it

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It started with public-private leadership.  City officials, business groups, banks and nonprofits formed a public-private partnership, Downtown Now! in 1997 to develop a 5-7 year plan to revitalize downtown St. Louis. The City of St. Louis officially adopted this Downtown Development Action Plan in December of 1999, directing $1.5 billion in public (one-third) and private (two-thirds) investment into four clearly distinct areas (see image).

What makes this work in the real world is that the

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The Cool

Town approach to bringing economic and social vitality to an area via a compelling pilot project doesn’t have a better legislated example than South Miami’s HomeTown Plan: “The “100% Models”  idea was to choose an area (however small) then totally transform it to create as dramatic and visible an impact as possible.  Instead of spending precious funding across large areas, public funds are to be concentrated on these 100% Models.“

The best part is that it’s not another unused city

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In January 2003, the Federal Reserve Bank announced a new economic development initiative it sponsored to invest in New England’s “creative industries, a creative workforce and community life that is rich in creativity and cultural heritage.“  Business, cultural and political leaders from each of New England’s states came together to establish the progressive regional industry association, the Creative Economy Council.

Why?  They found via a study (published by the equivalent of a New

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June 2, 2004: Governor Jennifer Granholm announces Cool City pilot projects

Based on input from her local Cool City advisory groups, Governor Granholm’s initiative has identified 20 pilot projects to receive $100,000 grants to create places that attract the creative class, including access to over $100 million in a “Resource Toolbox” of 75 state community improvement grants, loan programs, and assistance programs.  The state Cool Cities web site was also launched.

Here are three of my

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