You know the questions visitors ask, “Where are the city’s hot spots?“  Then there are the resident questions, “Where are the hot spots tonight?“  Ideally, one ideal ‘superpower’ would be to visit every single venue in a city simultaneously to see what’s worth checking out.  Citysense was invented for us mere mortals.

Built by Sense Networks for Blackberries and soon iPhones, the free application is based on the company’s Macrosense technology which analyzes existing data (e.g. demographics,

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While the market has already assumed a digital infrastructure will succeed our asphalt one, city government leaders still haven’t accepted that by making the same financial commitment to free public wi-fi. It’s largely a generation thing and it’s inevitable the investment will come eventually, but for the cities with progressive leaders that implement them now, they’ll realize an economic and cultural windfall as a reward for ‘letting go’.

Santa Monica is one of those cities, with their City

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In 1956 the Federal Aid Highway Act ushered in the auto age, with the U.S. government funding 90% of the costs to build 41,000 miles of interstate highways over 20 years, an equivalent of $200 billion today. Highways are still being built, but they’re also coming down as cities are realizing that a digital infrastructure (ie the internet; wi-fi, fiber optic, cellular, satellite networks) negates a continued need for heavy asphalt investment, and at a much lower economic, environmental and

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Where?!!! That’s probably a fairly common reaction. Located south of Finland and bordering west of Russia, this fast-growing city of 400,000 enjoy life on the fast lane as far as the internet goes, but it’s key to success is being able to maintain life its enviable slow city, slow food culture.

Summarizing Tallinn’s profile in Spiegel as part of its Coolest Cities story:

The internet is essentially free throughout what is known as the most-wired country in Eastern Europe, with the government

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The most economically, culturally competitive cities will be the first to transition from an industrial-economy auto-oriented infrastructure to an information-economy digital one. Who’s in the lead? According to Daily Wireless’ 10 Most Connected Cities in the World:

1. Seoul, South Korea (pictured) -  The second most populated metro area in the world (22 million) plus a reputation as the world leader in modern technology helps make Seoul the undisputed leader.  With 10mbps broadband (four

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The NY-based Intelligent Community Forum recently announced their Intelligent Communities of 2007 (don’t shoot the messenger!) based on the following criteria:

- deploying broadband
- building a knowledge-based workforce
- combining government and private-sector ‘digital inclusion’ for all
- fostering innovation and marketing economic development.

One of the cities on the list, Dundee, Scotland, like in many other regions, suffered sweeping job losses in the 70s to mid-90s as manufacturing

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Above: Patrons of People’s Cafe in Upper Haight, San Francisco. Soon they’ll be able to work via their laptops too…

As we all know, since 1949 the government’s been paying for all our roads (ie our asphalt infrastructure), but since the advent of the internet we’ve had to pay for it.  Well, San Francisco is the first city to sign a contract to provide free wi-fi and internet for all in the city… a digital infrastructure.  Earthlink is providing the wi-fi network, and Google the free internet

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...and the winner is Taipei, Taiwan.  Taipei just this summer completed its citywide wi-fi network of 4000 hot spots (wi-fi transmitters) covering 90% of its 2.6 million residents.  The major reason for the unprecedented wi-fi investment?  To reduce traffic on city roads, says the city’s mayor.

Yes, there still isn’t a single major U.S. city with comprehensive wi-fi, though many are talking about it, with San Francisco apparently taking the lead (promising citywide wi-fi by year’s end). 

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With 8 million people living within its borders and a model for urban working and living, one would have thought that the City of New York had established a plan to provide free wi-fi in their parks by now.  They haven’t.  However, with the possibility of being leapfrogged by San Francisco and Philadelphia, the City may finally have a plan for free wifi in all their parks.  The reason?

The City will no longer try to make money on the wi-fi networks off of the private sector companies building

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If you read yesterday’s entry, you are now aware of what infolust is and what dumb buildings are.  Here’s how the technology arising from this trend/opportunity can be applied to helping innovative local indie merchants compete with the national chains…

Many people favor chains because they know exactly what they’re going to get.  This is not the case when they come across a unique restaurant or store while walking down the street, there’s a bit of risk involved.  In due time, RFID (radio

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...Google.

That’s the offer Google is providing the City of San Francisco, details here.  They haven’t stated whether they would use consumer advertising to pay for the extensive network, but they would charge companies that wanted to offer internet services through it.  Most important is that this removes the controversy of private sector companies accusing municipalities of unfair competition when they get involved in providing a digital infrastructure.

This is just yet another indication

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Continuing yesterday’s Small towns that ‘get’ it...

Any city that wants to attract the creative class, knowledge workers, young professionals and enterpreneurs needs to support a free WiFi downtown.  Period.  The aforementioned group views a WiFi network as the previous generation does for a highway network - comprehensive and free... and guess what, it’s a helluva lot cheaper.  The City of Alexandria, VA is the latest city to sponsor free WiFi downtown, and estimates a cost of $20,000 to

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To the next generation, a downtown just isn’t complete without free WiFi, as highlighted yesterday.  So where are these cities?

Intel has put together a nice list - here’s their Most Unwired Cities.

1. Seattle Metro, WA (pictured)
2. San Francisco Bay Area, CA
3. Austin Metro, TX
4. Portland, OR
5. Toledo, OH
6. Atlanta, GA
7. Denver, CO
8. Raleigh-Durham Metro, NC
9. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
10. Orange County, CA
11. San Diego, CA
12. Chicago, IL
13. Boston, MA
14. Washington, DC
15.

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When’s the last time you came across a real estate developer with these principles, in this priority:

1. Progressive, livable communities
2. Comfortable, engaging, healthy homes and workplaces
3. The lowest total monthly costs to own on the market
4. High quality for the price and low maintenance
5. A commitment to the environment we all live in
6. Renewable energy-powered whenever possible

These are word-word from Solar Village, as CoolTown-oriented a developer as you’ll ever find.  It

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Based on the previous blog, Modern Parking 101, the urban parking garage as we know it will eventually be gone - thankfully.  How will this affect cities as a whole, and ultimately your quality of life?

- At the image shows, now that you have three times more space for people than cars, that’s a lot more space to build cool lofts, workplaces and retail venues, and a greater supply means more reasonable prices.  It’s also an opportunity to build better schools for the increasing urban

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Say goodbye to parking garages, and hello to valet parking systems.

Requiring only as little as a third of the space that regular parking garages horde, automated parking systems such as Robotic Parking Systems and
SpaceSaver Parking Systems are letting urbanites have their cake and eat it too.

The system automatically delivers your car right at the front of the building, like the moving rack at the dry cleaners does for your business attire.  You can call ahead for your car from the

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With wireless internet, traditionalists feared that ‘place’ wouldn’t matter anymore.  Indeed, it’s never mattered more.  Here are some of the ways, as highlighted in Salon’s Urban renewal, the wireless way.

- All that digital communication is inevitably going to lead to face-face communication.  Since digital dialogue encourages multiple participants simultaneously (depending on how cool you are), nothing provides a better physical meeting spot than the third place.

- Athens GA’s 24-block

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What’s to do tonight?  Have your favorite venues tell you

Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming (or underwhelming) trying to figure out what to do for entertainment on any given evening, like that guy on the right in the photo.  The Cloud in Athens, GA is making that a little easier.

First of all, it’s a 24-block wireless internet zone in the downtown, so one can easily look up the local entertainment scene online.  However, most of us aren’t carrying our laptops wherever we’re going.  Which

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Prepping a CoolTown for technology - think gazelles

A CoolTown needs a world class invisible technology system to feed the voracious entrepreneurial appetite of its population.  That essentially means ultra-high-speed wireless internet - everywhere.

Currently, municipalities are a little behind the wave, focused too much on providing the infrastructure rather than what to do with it.  For instance, there are many policies promoting the construction of cell phone networks, wifi hot spots and

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Based on what makes IM so popular for next gen-ers (blogged yesterday), here’s how that can apply to CoolTowns:

Next gen-ers are infinitely comfortable using the internet.  CoolTowns will not only have high-speed internet everywhere, it’ll be wireless everywhere.

Next gen-ers are very used to a bottom-up structure.  CoolTowns will be designed bottom-up, with the future residents shaping the town vision before it’s built.  Governance will be bottom-up as well, with co-ops and guilds a common

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In thinking of what is insanely popular by the next gen* crowd, IM (instant messaging) popped into my head (just like an IM itself.)  Here’s a service that truly caters to the next gen market, and notice how applicable it is to CoolTowns:

Next gen-ers are infinitely comfortable using the internet.  Why?  They’ve had a lot of practice using it all through their high school and college life.  Period.  There’s really not much more to it than that.

Next gen-ers are very used to a bottom-up

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So what does it take to build a place where people quickly realize that vibrant pedestrian life is more appealing and healthier than streets filled with moving vehicles, or a sterile parking lot?

1a. You need a progressive government that’s willing to enable legislation to eliminate minimum parking requirements.  If the people don’t want all that parking, the government shouldn’t require themselves to spend money to supply it.

1b. You also need, at the same time, a progressive private sector

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Yesterday’s blog diagrammed the concept of hiding cars on a neighborhood scale.  Today we show you a real such neighborhood.

Uptown District is a relatively new urban village in San Diego that creates a pedestrian-oriented destination and economic model for success, aided by its progressive parking layout.

1. The parking in the retail area of Uptown (right of photo) is located mid-block - that is, all the parking is behind buildings.  The only building facing a parking lot is a Ralph’s

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Yesterday’s blog demonstrated how to hide 17 cars.  But what about 500 cars?

Town planners Dover Kohl illustrate how to do this, which is a textbook method of parking in the New Urbanism movement:

1. Parking is placed behind all the buildings, forming a parking core in the middle of the blocks.  Thus, pedestrians only see people-filled streetscapes and streetfronts (ideally a paseo with no cars at all), not a parking lot/garage.

2. The entire site is built upon an underground parking

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Can you find the parking for the 24 tenants who live here?  Hint: It’s not behind, to the side or in front of the building.

1. First of all, not everyone who bought a home here at the Shattuck Avenue Lofts needed, or wanted a parking space.  The first downtown housing in Berkeley in fifty years, only 17 parking spaces needed to be provided.

2. Secondly, the 17 parking spaces take up the same space as 9 parking spaces, as illustrated in yesterday’s blog.

Answer:  All the parking for the 24

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