In contrast to the grungy, bohemian, shabby chic warehouse coffeehouse/bar/restaurant/art gallery warehouse profiled yesterday, I thought I’d present a modest, contemporary, yet progressive coffee stop known as Vic’s in Boulder, Colorado (not hip enough to have a website apparently). It’s one of the few good examples of modern architecture presented at a humanistic scale, but thankfully we’re seeing more of this.

Live music, poetry, free wireless, and legendary coffee, it’s no coincidence

read more…

Here’s the catch 22 - the most culturally, economically rich cities and towns focus on local, independent, diverse restaurants and retail, however, it’s the national chains that can pay $60-$100/s.f./year when most start-up indie businesses can only afford $7-$20/s.f./year. That’s a serious problem if cities don’t share in the economic benefits they receive from local independent businesses.

There’s an answer somewhere in the middle, and today I’d like to announce a new term in the CoolTown

read more…

Art galleries will always have their place in the city, but to survive, they’ll have to become more than just venues to sell art pieces - they need to become venues to sell art experiences.  Check out these two trends:

1. The rise of the design economy. Think how Target has the world’s top designers designing their everyday products at affordable prices.

2. The rise of the experience economy. Think of a progressive bookstore with an in-house organic cafe amidst a poetry slam.  Or

read more…

Continuing yesterday’s theme… We know that the third place is a general term (our ‘home’ away from home and work), but how about when a business successfully defines it in their terms? Once again, Trendwatching.com has the definition:

Brand space - a space that capitalizes - in the broadest sense of the word - on consumer expectations set in motion by being spaces (aka third places). Think literally accommodating consumers outside the home and office, becoming a relevant and useful part of

read more…

Good neighborhood supermarkets are hard to come by. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are the de facto choices by the downtown crowd, though the former has a limited selection and the latter caters to an upper class income. The most progressive neighborhoods in forward-thinking cities like Madison WI, Burlington VT, Cambridge MA and Ann Arbor MI have it figured out - co-op supermarkets.

As you can see (above), co-ops have evolved - they’re organized via grassroots efforts, but don’t look like

read more…

Is there a standard definition of what a local, independent business is?  Or in other words, when does an independent business become a chain?  There’s probably no better person to ask than Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and author of the just-released Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses.

An excerpt from the book:
“There is no commonly agreed upon definition, but in this book, a

read more…

Not surprisingly, one can find a pizzeria every few blocks in Italy.  It’s also not surprising that they use fresh ingredients, especially the mozzarella cheese.  Here’s a little recap.  However, it is surprising that one is often hard-pressed to find such a place anywhere in an entire city in the U.S., which is why Brooklyn’s Difara Pizzeria garners reviews like the following:

“I am the most impatient person you’ll ever meet and all who know me can attest to that.  Having to wait for food in

read more…

In continuation of the last entry on retail trends that will influence the future of local, independent retail in your town…

Community activism: More and more community resentment and opposition to growing chains like Walmarts and Starbucks arise as residents seek to prioritize their own community’s uniqueness, authenticity and economy.

Health care costs: Entrepreneurs (individuals) still have to pay significantly more in health care insurance than employees of companies - that’s just the

read more…

Creative urbanites prefer unique, local, independent retailers to the Ruby Tuesdays and Walmarts, but these desired retailers need to keep up with the current trends to survive.  The National Retail Federation Foundation helped sponsor a report to help them do just that, called Challenges of the future: The rebirth of small, independent retail in America.  Here are the trends they need to be aware of, from a creative urban point of view:

Personalization: Customers demand and expect

read more…

Would you believe that theaters in the 1940s sold 4 billion tickets each year, at half the current population?  Today, with the advent of TV, cable, DVDs and the internet, that number is down to 1.4 billion.  So will theaters slowly disappear?  The more accurate prediction is that they’ll evolve with multiple uses...

A multiplex theater in Millbury, MA (pictured) features a bar, ice creamery and coffeehouse (unfortunately chains,) a wifi lounge and even screenside waiters serving drinks. 

read more…

Manboo in Japan.  Maybe.  Think of it as a social hangout/cafe/living room/gaming room/entertainment center/salon/computer school/hostel.  Let’s break it down…

At Manboo, for $4/hour you can:

- Relax in big comfy chairs or sofas in cubicled living rooms and surf the internet, watch one of hundreds of DVDs, read comics, or play one of hundreds of PS2/Xbox games.

- Stay overnight for $11/hour.  There are lots of couches to sleep on, plus showers.

- Enjoy an unlimited amount of tea, coffee or

read more…

We know about the residential condo craze, but do you know about the retail condo craze?  Probably not because it’s not quite a craze yet, but $1.1 billion in retail condos were made in 2004-2005, up from $120 million in 2002-2003.

What’s a retail condo?  Like a residential condo, it’s simply an individual unit in a larger building that one purchases rather than leases/rents.  What may not be as well known is how beneficial they can be to the local economy, to independent businesses… (and to

read more…

I’ve covered live band karaoke at the workplace and dancing at an art show, so why not a rock band at a shoe store?

That’s what happened at this undisclosed* shoe store last Wednesday night to introduce a new product line.  The goal is to put on four of these events a year, and with free beer, chocolate-covered strawberries and a top notch band (Morningwood, reminded me of Garbage - the band), it’ll create quite the loyal following.  The point is, the successful retailers are no longer

read more…

The tragic story no one wants to hear - your favorite, popular, neighborhood institution, the one that has the only ‘insert-unique-product/service-here’ in town and anchors the area’s history - is going out of business because the owner’s next of kin don’t want to carry it on and they can’t find anyone else.

What to do?  What to do?!

There are some city/neighborhood efforts to identify young entrepreneurs who want to continue the business, but that may not be the easiest route, as they’re

read more…

There is no other San Francisco, and that in itself is the secret to its success.  No other city has such steep hills, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, etc., but to a resident, those icons become invisible after a while - they’re not representative of the uniqueness that makes it one of the most desired cities in the world.

A place like El Balazo, in the Upper Haight (my old neighborhood), San Francisco, is.  Now it’s a crime to single out any one venue in the city, but the thing is, while

read more…

Other than the prolific amount of loft-type housing going on in Oakland’s Jack London Square (profiled yesterday), you know it’s a place to invest in once that funky, independent coffeehouse opens, the one that qualifies as a third place.  In Jack London Square, it’s the World Ground Cafe, and in fact the only indie coffeehouse in the neighborhood.

The East Bay’s signature alternative weekly, the East Bay Express, determined that World Ground is the best place to sip coffee in the area, with

read more…

If you’re looking for entertainment and a place to stay, then you may need to check into the San Jose Hotel the next time you’re in Austin, giving the Jupiter Hotel in Portland OR a run for its money.  Make sure you have an appreciation for music as well.  Some the amenities of this popular destination…

- Courtyard under the stars, probably the single-most memorable experience of a stay at the hotel
- Located near one of Austin’s active neighborhoods on South Congress Avenue
- Coffeehouse

read more…

Looks like home doesn’t it?  With a name like Mrs. Wilkes Dinining Room, in the hospitality of the South (Savannah), it’s no surprise.  It’s communal dining folks, where people join other people (yes, strangers) and start digging in as if they were a personal guest of Mrs. Wilkes herself. It’s a buffet right on your table, and every cool town could use one.

While first-timers may express apprehension about dining at a communal table with people they’ve never met, they often walk away enthused

read more…

A well-conceived third place built at the right time in the right place is known to revitalize its surrounding block, and the Flying Star Cafe in downtown Albuquerque is no exception.

Journalist Jim Belshaw of the Albuquerque Journal writes, “I have lived here long enough to have seen the 30-odd downtown revitalization plans come and go.  We all wish the revitalizers well, but the sails never seemed to catch the wind… Things have changed… By 10:30, the walkers begin to show up for coffee

read more…

If ever a hotel was designed for creatives, the Jupiter Hotel in Portland OR is it.  From it’s website:

“One of the 116 best new hotels in the world.”� - CONDE NAST TRAVELER MAGAZINE (May ‘05)
“One of the top four new (old) hotels in the US.”� - GQ MAGAZINE (Sep. ‘05)

Why the recognition?  The list is extensive, and it gets better and better:

- It’s in the city and close to dining and entertainment.
- It’s affordable (and remember, this is in the city), with rooms from $59 (party room)-$94. …

read more…

If you feel like relaxing at the end of the day with a good book, then meeting friends for drinks, staying for dinner, then catching a rather intellectual film, lecture or comedy show, you can do all of that in one place at the newly opened Busboys and Poets in MidCity, Washington DC.

The name of the venue is inspired by Langston Hughes who was discovered as a poet while he was a busboy, and the theme carries through.  There’s a literature-oriented bookstore; a bar; lots of couches and

read more…

Connect Four, Trivial Pursuit, Backgammon… the games you played as a kid… or as an adult.  As stated in a previous article, Next gen housing for changing households, the urban crowd stays home less, goes out more.  So, some venues are bringing the living room to them.

Pharoah’s Rock & Blues (pictured) in Adams Morgan has a ‘living room’ on their second floor that provides the aforementioned ‘board games’ for their patrons to use.  The best part is that you don’t have to put it away when

read more…

In yesterday’s entry, I questioned why rooftop dining was so rare, and today I provide an example that flies in the face of ‘old economy’ downtown development - Lauriol Plaza; probably the most successful restaurant in the entire Washington DC area.

What are its secrets to such crazed popularity that the waiting time for dinner is at least an hour every single night?  No secret really…

It’s has top-notch service and is located in the heart of an urban, walkable neighborhood where people walk

read more…

I was sitting next to a friend of mine whose girlfriend exclaimed, “I feel like going to one of those restaurants with rooftop dining!“  It wasn’t a difficult decision, being that there were really only two choices in the neighborhood.  Which made me wonder, why are there only two?

It’s easier to figure why not.  First of all, it’s practically free real estate space, compared to most rooftops that add no value.  The same with patio dining, but that’s another story.  Second, people absolutely

read more…

Inspiring places have an energy, a vibe, a freshness that says you’re going to experience things you haven’t before, whether it’s food, music, people, design, ideas or a unique combination of them all.  The secret yet unasked question is, “How can a place maintain such a demanding creative edge?“

Ask a group that recenty sold 6 million albums, Gorillaz.  It’s a virtual band presented as cartoon characters, and no one knows the exact line-up of artists except Damon Albarn of Blur, the only

read more…