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.

read more…

As stated just previously via Spiegel’s review of , an impressive 43.9% of Barcelona’s workforce is represented by the creative class.

Via the google earth image, you can see the cultural amenities centered in the historic pedestrian district and the fruits of the 1992 Olympics on the far right. Notice how transportation takes up increasingly more real estate each year, from a miniscule amount in the historic core, to its surrounding neighborhoods directly north, to

read more…

You’ve seen lots of rankings of cool cities based on opinions, but the city of Hamburg, Germany took it a little more seriously on behalf of their own cause and hired a firm to find out just which of the European cities were indeed the coolest and the best at attracting the creative class, now and in the future. Here’s their list of the top five, profiled in Spiegel,  leading European news site:

Copenhagen This beautiful, progressive city enjoys a GDP of $76,000/capita and population growth

read more…

On one hand, you’ve got Liverpool, the home of the Beatles. On the other hand, you’ve got Elements, the first beta community to crowdsource a restaurant, and in Syracuse, the first beta community to crowdsource a building for artists and musicians. What happens if you combined all three?

You’d then have the Liverpool Cultural Cafe, a nonprofit-initiated bistro by day, bar by night third place to develop local musicians and other artists. The kicker is that not only is the project

read more…

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

read more…

You may be among the millions of people who wish their workplace was a little more, shall we say, inspiring. Well, if you want an example of what such an office could look like, you may want to visit eOffice in London. Click here for a larger photo.

First of all, it’s in the heart of Soho (see pic on our About page), the media hub of London and a magnet for cool cafes, bars and coffeehouses, creatives and entrepreneurs. What good is a an inspired workplace if it’s in the middle of an

read more…

Continuing our look from yesterday at where Beta Communities are being formed…

Syracuse
Where will the creatives go in Syracuse when places begin to gentrify? That won’t be a problem at 200 South Geddes, where developer Rick Destitio is transforming a 5-story historic factory building into a artist-musician live-work center. Not only that, but he’s sponsoring a Beta Community that will eventually consist of 500 of the city’s most progressive, culturally creative, entrepreneurial and/or

read more…

Here’s a rundown on the progress of Beta Communities in cities across the country:

Washington DC

- A VIBE beta community to crowdsource a progressive new downtown restaurant, (since named Elements) now has 108 members and counting five months into the process, and it doesn’t even have a location yet (somewhere around 14th and U Street) . In the meantime, the beta community has convinced the business owner to grow from 1000 to 3000 s.f.; to go vegetarian, organic, local farm-oriented (except

read more…

When one thinks of wind energy, especially via those massive wind farms, small businesses don’t necessarily come to mind. That’s changing very quickly in more ways than one.

First, a clean energy broker/aggregator, Clean Currents is making it easy for small businesses to switch to wind and other renewable energies (solar, geothermal) by linking them to the best ‘green power’ prices, often lower than standard rates! Clean Current locates the electricity provider offering the best deal. They

read more…

It’s been kind of an oxymoron - attainably-priced urban lofts. With the help of the unrealized potential of downtown Kansas City and a full repertoire of government financing programs, creatives can get their hands on rather attractive lofts starting at $500/mo. for a 1BR/1BA to $620/mo. for a 2BR/2BA, at the Professional Building Lofts.

These aren’t run-down units, but newly renovated loft-style residences with built-in washer and dryer, stainless steel appliances and wood floors, plus a

read more…

It’s a sign of the times - a parking garage in Los Angeles of all places is redesigned into a residential building?!

A historically significant 1920s two-story concrete garage with an Italianate facade was preserved (top image, right side) to become part of Trio, a 3.8 acre, 283,000 sf (14,600 sf retail), 304 apartment development in Pasadena’s Playhouse District. The developers, Shea Properties ensured that the new construction blended in with the surrounding neighborhood’s historic fabric,

read more…

It’s the age old debate - the environment vs the economy. CEOs for Cities’ recent report, Portland’s Green Dividend provides evidence that the two are synonymous.

The key statistic* in the report is the following:
20.3 miles/day - average Portland commute
24.3 miles/day - average commute in the 33 most populous metro areas
What does 4 miles/day add up to? Figuring in a conservative $.40 mile, that translates to $1.1 billion. Then add in $15/hour for the 100 million hours saved, and that’s

read more…

Arizona doesn’t exactly have a reputation for placemaking, but Arizona State University is looking to change that in a grand way with their Next American University plan to accommodate 90,000 students via two new urban campuses, one north of Phoenix, one in its downtown. Then there’s ASU’s take on what university research buildings should be, a microcosm of University of South Carolina’s Innovista research village.

Skysong, aka the ASU-Scottsdale Center for Innovation, is a 37-acre, Posted by Neil Takemoto in • University Towns | (0) Comments | (0) Trackbacks | Link |

You’re visiting a major city (or living in one) and are not only committed to avoiding the chains when pondering your dining and shopping options, but seeking out those cool, unique, indie places loved by locals and established by creative, progressive entrepreneurs that take those experiences to another level. Enter the eat.shop guides.

All 90 of the profiled businesses are unique, local, independent, homegrown, creative types “who are highly influenced by the arts and sights of the cities

read more…

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

read more…

Have you wondered who else among your friends was planning a trip to go hiking or watch a baseball game? On the other hand, do you find personal transportation costs getting a little unsustainable?

Then Goloco!

Robin Chase, the founder of Zipcar, is fusing the concept behind her progressive car sharing service with a bit of Evite, Facebook and eBay, turning social networks into fun trip-sharing networks.

How’s it work? 
1. Post your route, frequency and time, like you would an event on

read more…

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

read more…

You’ve been to those evening neighborhood meetings… lots of talk about resistance to change, addressing complaints, reaching out to government, fundraising, what this committee and that committee are doing… it feels more like a day job, it’s not fun, there’s contention in the air, and it often doesn’t result in making a progressive impact in your neighborhood.

Perhaps the group should focus on content, like what kinds of buildings, shops, restaurants and streets you’d like to see, backed up

read more…

One key metric in measuring a neighborhood’s triple bottom line is its walkability, and no site does that better than
Walk Score. Based on the number of retail businesses and amenities, you type in an address in its google-run system and it spits out a rating from 1 to 100 telling you just how walkable it is. Check out their rating system and benefits for scoring higher. One pretty darn handy feature is a left column list of the nearest common amenities, listed by distance.

As you can see

read more…

If you want to get creatives excited about moving to your city, well yes, you need a city for them to get excited about. But after that, you need a video that captures the emotion of the creatives who already live, work and play there… and love it.

Here’s such a video from Adams Morgan in Washington DC, probably the most diverse neighborhood in the city, and one of the most international restaurant corridors anywhere. It also profiles the members of the Affinity Lab co-workplace, which leaves

read more…

An interview with Rick Destito, the young, progressive developer of the artist/musician building profiled yesterday…

Why are you dedicating this building to artists and musician tenants?
“In my travels around the country, over and over again the most vibrant, exciting, and interesting places I have been were consumed with arts and music. It’s that feeling of creativity and ideas, that energy that comes from it all. It’s something we didn’t have much of back home in Syracuse in a concentrated

read more…

There are numerous cities and neighborhoods with a reputation for attracting creatives, but what about buildings in particular? There are places like the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA that provide studio and retail space for artists, but what about to live and play as well? That’s where Rick Destito and his Vibrant Syracuse Spaces in Syracuse comes in.

Rick’s a next generation developer who owns a five-story historic warehouse building in an up and coming creative district. However, he’s

read more…

You dream of opening your own restaurant or bar that you feel the world needs and is ready for, but no one’s providing. Yet you don’t have the money or the experience. Here’s a story that may inspire you, or someone you know, because these are the kinds of people and places that make a neighborhood extraordinary…

It’s the story of Counter, a vegetarian, organic wine bar in New York City.

Starting with $300 and an agreement to use a restaurant’s kitchen in exchange for making their desserts,

read more…