Some pretty heady words, I know, but for many creatives, the last thing they want is a job - a paid position of regular employment. Why? Because they’re entrepreneurs, free agents, independents… and they’re looking for projects and transactions, not jobs.

Now, combine that with this research from the Creative Class Group concluding that the greater the % of the creative class in the workplace, the greater the city’s economy, and you have to begin to wonder…

Should economic development focus

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In the previous entry we looked at the importance and logic of Creative Arlington.

The

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Let’s see, at universities and colleges there are thousands of creative, innovative minds in singular locations in the hearts of cities, all of them on various online social networks, primarily Facebook. Meanwhile, cities are constantly looking for ways to retain university graduates, while also looking to attract creatives. At the same time, many of the fastest growing, most resilient companies during this economic crisis are ones based on social networks, from Amazon to Cisco.

So the

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Project for Public Spaces (PPS), the leading resource for public placemaking, revealed their Top Ten Trends Shaping the Future of Our Communities, especially as it relates to public spaces. Here’s how they relate to creatives:

1. Placemaking goes global. Everything else is, so why not? Spurred by the internet, creatives demand connections more than ever, no matter where they are, and as result cities around the world are experiencing a renewed enthusiasm for public spaces. The best part of

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Inspired after listening to Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank speak last night.

If you’re a regular reader and haven’t heard of Muhammad Yunus, you probably should. He essentially invented a way to crowdsource a banking system and a local economy in the poorest regions of the world. Now if you can do that, what’s stopping you in achieving anything less difficult or heroic?

It started with poor women in Bangladesh who couldn’t receive loans. Why? Because to

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My favorite feature:  Reader Experiences.  Please send yours, whether you live in or visited a place worth sharing to inspire a higher quality of life.  This one is from Dick de Jong of Brandaris Placemarketing in the Netherlands.

“In addition to your outdoor cafe district, stage row, alley, plaza, here in the City of Utrecht, the Netherlands you can find the ‘outdoor cafe canal’.  Built nine centuries ago, there is a unique extra lower level along the canals in Utrecht.  These levels used to

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Let’s get right to it.

Pre-Phase. Start with identifying what kind of outdoor cafe scene to crowdsource, whether it’s a walk, alley, square, stage row, or even plaza if you’re the ‘change the world’ type. Or a convergence of two or three types.

Phase I. Develop a defined vision based on the previous phase to attract a beta community of 500 supporters of people who would frequent such a place if it were built. You can build this through monthly events or gatherings, or just a strong campaign.

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...or outdoor cafe piazza, to be more authentic.

While we took a look at the different types of places that make an outdoor cafe scene, the outdoor cafe plaza is the holy grail. Unfortunately, you probably won’t be seeing such places in the U.S. for another 10-20 years, but now’s the time to start planning to see them even in that time frame.

What makes a true outdoor cafe plaza/piazza?

- Pedestrian-only.
- All four edges of the plaza are fronted by buildings, without being divided by

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