Have you walked through 7-11 looking for something to eat and just can’t seem to relate? Or rather, when was the last time you walked in. Like many cultural creatives, you’re looking for an alternative, something better, something like…
...maybe a Fresh ‘N’ Friends? So the name may be a little corny, but then again, it’d be a foreign language to its patrons (which is otherwise cool) because it’s located in Berlin, Germany. So what makes it different, creative, progressive… desirable?
- Just
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Retail Venue Development |
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In continuing last week’s entries on redefining streets the way we’re redefining buildings (green), food (organic), and the music industry (crowdsourcing), here’s a sample of that shift on a city scale... a slow city, green city, city 2.0, organic city, remixed city, authentic city if you will.
Paris’ mayor vowed in 2001 to reduce car traffic/congestion by 40% by 2020. It’s the kind of thing auto-oriented generations see as a travesty of driving freedom (which ironically it’s anything but in
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Ah, the power of crowdsourcing...
Realizing the need for a new generation of terms for pedestrian-only streets, what better process than to ask groups of creatives for suggestions, both virtually and in person. Here’s their starting list of informal creative class market driven terms that they feel communicate a shift in how we think about streets:
Slow streets - There’s the slow food movement, the anti-fast food campaign promoting taste, culture and the environment as universal social
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Pedestrian Only/Carfree |
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Pedestrian-only street. It’s the primary term used to describe a street for pedestrians only. Makes sense, but it’s clumsy and the acronym is even worse.
We need to reframe these terms. There’s been significant cultural and economic shifts in the last ten years, and thus there are countless words in our everyday lexicon that didn’t exist ten years ago (google, wiki, and increasingly crowdsourcing), and more so, words that have taken on a whole new significance, like ‘organic’ for
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Pedestrian Only/Carfree |
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It’s a familiar refrain from urban creatives, such as the following one from a progressive developer, “How can you legally do this? Keep out the chains and corporate company’s like Starbucks, the Gap, TGI Friday’s, McDonalds, HARD ROCK CAFE’S! They are all part of the whole “Generica” movement, you could be anywhere in the country and not no where you are based on your surroundings. I want [our neighborhood] to be something you can’t just get anywhere. How did other places keep out the
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How popular is Paris’ recently launched bike sharing program, Velib (short for velo libre, “free bike”), after one week? 45,000-trips-a-day’ popular, and that’s just the beginning.
The basic facts:
- 10,000 bikes, 20,000 by the end of 2007
- 300 stations, 900 by the end of 2007
- 17,000 annual passes sold after one week
- 45,000 trips/day, with a goal of 250,000 trips/day
- $40/29 euros for an annual pass
- $1.40/1 euro for a half-hour trip, and the price increases over time to encourage bike
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Posted by Neil Takemoto in
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Mobility |
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We know that companies often drive positive change much more effectively than government (especially in North America), such as what Whole Foods has done for organics. This has been just the opposite when it comes to transportation, pitting the private sector auto industry vs public sector mass transit. Is there any sign of a shift at all?
Possibly, starting with a simple, but noble gesture from a triple-bottom-line bank, Vancity, in Vancouver, Canada. After sponsoring a do-good website,
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Mobility |
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Today South Beach, Miami FL is no longer known as a place where you go out to see your friends, but a place to go with your friends to see and be seen, where you’re not fixated on the persons at your dining table, but at who may walk in at any moment.
However, before it become such a Hollywood-oriented mecca, how did it go from a district of decaying buildings and drug dealers in the 1970s to a place desirable by the most creative in the industry, the host for one of the largest art festivals
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Cool Places |
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“This (Hatchfest) (profiled yesterday) looks really cool! But for us who don’t live in the states… do you know if there are any similar things going on in Europe?“
That would easily be the Ars Electronica Festival showcasing art and technology, which has had a major economic and cultural impact on its annual host city, Linz, Austria.
Not only was Linz a declining steel town that knew it had to transition to the information economy to survive, but the city’s leaders were committed to doing
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Entertainment & Arts |
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...are some pretty desirable talents in establishing both a cultural and economic base for any city, but what has that got to do with Bozeman, MT and Asheville, NC? A lot, thanks to an increasingly popular event known as Hatchfest.
Held annually in Bozeman since fall 2004 and for the first time in Asheville in spring 2008, students from around the world participate in competitions and exhibitions while being mentored by seasoned veterans already accomplished in the field, as the veterans go
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