When it comes to understanding the fundamental economic difference the Internet provides over the non-digital age, it’s having access to the Long Tail, which is essentially anything and everything else that’s a ‘non-hit’ or ‘non-blockbuster’, but in sum is greater. You can learn more about the Long Tail in our previous four-part series.

Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, sums of cities pretty nicely in terms of the Long Tail,

“Think

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A year ago we profiled Patricia Martin’s Rengen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer - and What It Means to Your Business, which has helped define the term creatives as far as it’s used on this site. It’s time to check in to see how this second renaissance is coming along via this New York Times interview and a CoolTown perspective.

What is the rengen? That’s nicely defined here, a “a thirty-year swath (20-50 years old) of individuals who are living comtemporaneously”, but more of a

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The street lamps in the photo above (yes, that’s a photo) were crafted by an artist especially for this neighborhood. Yes, they’re just light fixtures, but on the other hand, when was the last time:

a. you’ve seen light fixtures that looked like that at all? Tim Burton movies don’t count.
b. you’ve seen street lamps created exclusively for a neighborhood?
c. you’ve seen this Metropolitain sign? Chances are you have. They have the same story of originality and authenticity, and are associated

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Who is sourcing the growing popularity in walkable urban areas and city downtowns?

Chris Leinberger is an industry leader in defining financial models for urban developments and the author of The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream. He’s also a baby boomer, which is significant in his answer to the Smart City Radio interview question, “Why is there pent up demand for walkable urbanism?“

“It’s basically being driven by the Gen Xers, and I’m sure the Gen Xers will be happy to

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When you boil it down to the basic elements, the metrics of a place’s success answers the question, ‘Are the people happy?‘ To some researchers, this is more science than art, as explained in Air Canada’s enRoute article, The Happy City.  City mayors are making sweeping changes, most of which center on replacing cars with grand public third places.

University of British Columbia economics professor John Helliwell, who studies happiness and social connections, states that frequency of positive

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The last in this three part series interpreting Gapingvoid’s How To Be Creative tips as it relates to cool towns and beta communities...

21. Selling out is harder than it looks. Don’t water down/commercialize your ideas before you absolutely need to - you may be doing everyone a disservice. Our beta communities have a ‘Building Exterior/Interior Image Brainstorm’ where we encourage everyone to submit whatever place in the world inspires them.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself. In other

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Continuing our look at Gapingvoid’s tips on How To Be Creative as applied to cool towns and beta communities, from the previous entry...

11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether. Keep in mind ‘crowds’ as defined here means ‘markets’. Don’t try and stand out by attempting to build an even better place and then selling it, but avoid that model altogether and co-develop it with people who share your values and principles, and it’ll already be sold when it’s built.

12.

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You know creativity = economic growth, so how do you get more creative? Here’s an alternative look, How To Be Creative, from none other than an extremely creative resource, gapingvoid, “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”. The site has a full description of the following tips, but here’s a cool town, beta community-oriented interpretation of it:

1. Ignore everybody. People often can’t handle good, original ideas for great places until you build them, so ignore them until then.

2.

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Where is the market headed for 2008? While those who read this website often aren’t tracking such knowledge since they’re the trendsetters, a valued resource in discovering what trends they’re setting is through Trendwatching and their report, 8 important consumer trends for 2008. Here’s a look at each one and how they apply to cool towns:

1. Status Spheres - “a variety of lifestyles, activities and persuasions, which can be mixed and matched by consumers looking for recognition from various

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A sampling of the emerging consciousness for better cities…

So what are progressive, creative people saying about cities these days? Well, the only thing better than asking the regulars at a local, independent coffeehouse, is to ask the regulars at local, independent coffeehouses in 40 countries around the world.

That’s just what the folks at likemind, a rhythmic gathering of likeminded individuals sharing coffee and stories every third Friday morning at local third places did on October 19,

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So many candidates, so little opportunity to find out which exactly which one is right for you. Wait a minute, are we talking about dating or finding an apartment? While searching for suitable dates via the internet is certainly not the most authentic approach, there’s a lot to be learned from such a system when fittingly applied to the inanimate yet life-impacting relationship you’ll have with where you choose to live.

Hubbuzz is the closest thing yet to a match.com for apartment hunting.

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As with most buildings, the exterior and interior design of hotels rarely provide an expression of the lifestyle of the people staying there, other than perhaps their income. At the same price range, most hotel rooms pretty much look alike. However, one hotel is breaking that mold, and hopefully it will set higher standards for how residential buildings are truer to their tenants inside and out.

Based on the pictures, it’s easy to see that Nylo Hotels is beating to a different drummer. Each

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Even before Katrina, the city of New Orleans was lacking in creative urban investment. Perhaps spurred by the aftermath, there is a crowdsourcing swell of activity to rebuild the city better than before.

One such group is the Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals (YURP), a fast-growing membership group of several hundred cultural progressives dedicated to making New Orleans their permanent place of residence.

The group’s goal is to establish New Orleans as a creative and entrepreneurial

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A hundred years ago women couldn’t even vote, but their influence is finally catching up. Women today make 80% of the consumer purchasing decisions (equating to 2/3 of the GNP), and by 2010, women are expected to own half of the wealth in the U.S. There are countless signs of a women-oriented economy and it’s just a matter of time before we start to at long last see their pervasive leadership in the investment of our built environments.

First, a look at their impact in the economy, aided by

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Where to go if getting a job is just as important as having a life?  Forbes provides their annual Best Cities for Young Professionals to help you decide based on the following criteria:

- Where the graduates of top universities ended up 10 years later (only counting those who moved right after graduating to discount any ‘unfair advantages’, as well as adjusting for population);
- Where the best business opportunities exist (based on Forbes’ list of 400 best big businesses and 200 best small

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First of all, what is the triple bottom line (3BL)? It’s a business, organization or community that accounts for financial as well as social and environmental bottom lines - people, planet, profit. To answer the next question, how does a company know if it’s indeed triple bottom line, check out the B Corporation (Benefit Corporation), which has a rating system.

Now, what does this have to do with cool places? Let’s look at each of the bottom lines:

Economic/profit: If it doesn’t make money,

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The more our everyday products and experiences, restaurants and stores, are offered globally (ie Starbucks, Subway, The Gap) the less many of us get a sense of place or feel authentically connected to our own neighborhood. What can those who are fed up with in increasingly faceless, commoditized culture do about it?

Continuing our review this week of the local-first (Still) Made Here trend, here are some business ideas that community-seeking consumers are supporting as alternatives:

- Pop to

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Are you on the ‘in’ or ‘out’ list? Are you with the times, or behind them? Are you considered socially conscious, or perceived as ignorant? Our status affects us more than we think. Many readers of this website who are at the forefront of improving their community are known as progressive thinkers, and they’d rather not be known as ‘old economy’. So let’s refer to that as their progressive status, which is often associated with the truly unique and the authentic, which is then associated with

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How valued is the word local in the modern economy? A lot.
Last week’s entries on the importance of local investment is covered extensively on Trendwatching.com this month. The report, (Still) Made Here, documents “the comeback of all things local, all things with a sense of place, and how they’re surfacing in a world dominated by globalization… where a growing number of consumers are seeking out the local, and thereby the authentic, the storied, the eco-friendly and the