Why is that Seattle’s grungy Pike Place Market is celebrating its 100 year anniversary as the longest running public market in the U.S., while the beautiful new Portland Public Market couldn’t stay open for ten years even as public markets are flourishing?

Simple. Pike Place had a public partner in the city and is run as a nonprofit, while the Portland Public Market was completely private sector. Pike Place Market was founded by the city in 1907 after citizens who were tired of being taken

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In the heyday of cities, indoor public markets were as popular in U.S. cities as they are in most other cities around the world. After a few decades of the suburban experiment, they’re making a return along with emerging populations of downtown residents. Perhaps a little too soon on the scene of this next generation fresh economy renaissance is the Portland Public Market in Maine. It broke ground in 1997, but wasn’t been able to remain open despite award-winning accolades on its design. In

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Cool towns are all about local indie businesses, and that’s why it’s important to listen to author Katya Andresen’s message in her book, Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy To Sell Just Causes. You may not want to live among a herd of national chains, but it’s wise to learn from them since they spend so much on market research and innovation.

One such business is Nau. Speaking of robin hood marketing, more than half of Nau comes from Patagonia, a long-time triple bottom line

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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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“Have you explored how beta communities would incorporate affordable housing and/or economic integration aspects, or is that not at all a focus?“

The CoolTown beta community program starts with identifying the most progressive, creative, entrepreneurial, triple bottom line individuals in the neighborhood. That typically means housing that is affordable is extremely important to their well being since their jobs aren’t focused on maximizing their income, or are just starting to grow their

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A major reason why developers find strip malls and office parks so enticing is that the tenants are predetermined, and thus are easier to finance because investors see the same predictability, which leads us to why 95% of development churns this out instead of the ‘good stuff’. Subdivisions and apartment towers are not far off, being marketed to as a mass audience who think and act the same.

So, in the same vein as what made YouTube, Wikipedia and American Idol drive millions to a passionate

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We’re all familiar with the public market as either a large regional market, or a small neighborhood famer’s market. The public market originated in Europe, and here’s a reader’s account of how they still provide an ideal model for markets elsewhere.

“Pictures of San Gimignano, Italy (all images) show how the market comes to the people vs. people needing to drive to the market. These markets sold everything from produce to panty hose.  Although San G is kind of a tourist town, these trucks

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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.
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 obscure.“.

Trendwatching presents the trend

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