Many of us enjoy that college town feel of a pedestrian-oriented urban fabric, indie hang-outs and diversity mixed with enlightened conversation. Which cities do well in this regard, which don’t, and why?

Creative class economist Richard Florida provides some answers with his colleagues in their recently published, The University and the Creative Economy.

As far as statistics and rankings, the study introduces two new ones:
Brain Drain/Gain Index (BDGI) - measuring and ranking cities by the

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How comfortable are you with the colors in your home?

Each year Apartment Therapy, one of the best blogs on apartment design anywhere, has a nationwide contest to find the best unheralded apartments that add a bit of emotion to their living environment via color, namely fall colors.

Why is color important, and why the contest?  In their words, “Color is a powerful part of interior design and the cheapest way to change a room, but few feel comfortable using it. We could all use some help from

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In a time when five indie films take all five Oscar nominations, the question is, can we get that kind of quality if we provide support for the indie developer?  In a customer-led economy, the answer is a resounding yes.

One Minneapolis group that’s taken the lead is University UNITED, a group of 12 progressive community organizations + businesspeople that want a vibrant, urban, pedestrian-oriented, transit-oriented district along St. Paul University Avenue, seeking investment in places like

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Does your town have a manufacturing district that just feels very 1960s? That’s probably because that’s the last time anyone’s invested in them as we slowly evolve to an information-based economy. However, the Olneyville neighborhood in Providence, RI isn’t going to settle for living in that bygone era.

The City designated 175 acres for development investment based on a more contemporary economy - the Promenade District - with 10,000 new jobs, 2000 new residents, and 153 acres of park land. 

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A City can plan itself to death if it doesn’t attract real and significant private sector investment dollars resulting in compelling, vibrant buildings and places on behalf of it, not to mention the events, creative class and jobs that follow. I know for a fact that a lot of cities are going through this.

Based on the previous two entries on our evolution to a customer-led economy, the answer lies with the City’s own population. Not to oversimplify things, but here’s a CoolTown scenario of

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Yesterday in Part 1, we looked at the different models of a what is fast becoming a standard feauture in anything we buy - customer-led services, products and yes, buildings and neighborhoods. However, just to show you how quickly this is all evolving, Trendwatching provides a summary of the next step - getting paid for it - and they even have their own term (albeit a bit trite):

“Generation C(ontent) is joining Generation C(ash). If consumers produce the content, if they are the content, and

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You’re hearing more and more how customers are participating in the decision-making behind what they’re buying. Here’s a summary of terms used to describe this customer-led economy, with real-world examples and how it will help shape our communities for the better:

Customer-Led - The most generic description encompassing the entire field, also referred to as customer-driven or customer made. This website has an entire collection of entries on this topic here.

Mass Customization - The

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There is probably no greater diversity or activity over a given time period than at your city’s train station. So, which ones do the best at inspiring people to linger, want to return, or regret leaving?  Here are some examples, with a primer provided by the UK’s Guardian and their local favorite in London.

Clockwise from the top left:

Grand Central Terminal, New York, 1913 - There’s a reason why it’s featured in so many movies, referred to by The Guardian as the world’s most romantic

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By 2010, 50% of all new homes will be built by just 10 national homebuilders, up from 36% today, say industry analysts (that’s a lot of influence). Why? As reported a few entries ago, most of our investment capital is held in large, corporate entities that only invest in other large corporate entities. Accepting this trend, there are two paths to steering this capital toward the readers of this site seeking urban, affordable, creative, unique, social, pedestrian-oriented places to

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Some people say I could talk about food all day long, but you have to admit, it’s a great topic. Plus, it not only influences your city’s cultural standing, but its economic bottom line as well. We’ll get to that in the next entry, but first…

Check out the study, Culinary Deserts, Gastronomic Oases: A
Classification of US Cities by Zachary Neal, managing editor of an urban journal, based on economist Richard Florida’s creative class research.  He defines four types, defined by the author

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