Special Report: Hanging with the future

I was fortunate to host a focus group of about 20-30 University of Maryland students at the Hinman CEO entrepreneurial center to ask them what kind of the town they wanted to live in.

The most popular? The affordable side of Georgetown, Adams Morgan, Annapolis, Greenwich Village and Manhattan Beach.

What are they looking for? Nightlife, nightlife, nightlife. Also, convenience/mobility, affordability (big one, almost goes without saying), and even sense of community. More next week when I post the survey results from the meeting.

Cool mobility: I want a car... sometimes

In a pedestrian-oriented town, it'd be nice if you had a car to do the occasional big errand, picking up friends at the airport or going out on a date. However, the frustration of finding parking and getting parking tickets is usually too much to bear.

So I tried Zipcar. I made a quick online reservation, walked a few blocks, waved a 'smartcard' at the windshield and opened the keyless door. Away I went, and back I came, right to the Zipcar's permanent reserved parking spot. Brand new car, no stopping for gas, no paying for insurance, no maintenance., just getting from point a to point b and back. Total cost for 3 hours - $25.

What I learned: By myself, a cab would have cost the same, but picking up someone along the way, it cost both us collectively less. It was also a lot of fun - driving a new car with a reserved parking spot in a city is kinda priceless.

Check out Flexcar for a car sharing alternative that costs even less.

If you don't want to get yelled at, don't ride it on the sidewalks in the city.

If you want to look cool riding a Segway, you'll have to ride it in the streets. That way, the public perception will be that you're someone who's triumphed over traffic congestion, saved thousands by not buying a car and is starting a trend for pedestrian-oriented streets. However, if you ride it on sidewalks, people will give you looks like you're lazy, have way too much money for your own good and simply getting in the way. They'll also yell at you, "Why don't you get off and walk you lazy bum!" Standing a foot taller than everyone else doesn't help - maybe it's the SUV thing.

I've never ridden one and prefer other alternatives (which I'll get to this week), but I'm seeing more of them and looking forward to watching people's reactions.

Young adults, kids have great ideas too

Sometimes, even better than those who are making decisions in how we plan and build our communities. The more we listen to a diversity of people, including age and gender, the healthier our places will be. For instance...

In the industrial age, mass production allowed only a few lucky managers to make the decisions of many. This is quite evident in one of the greatest mass production results of all time: suburban sprawl - which has little reflection of the needs of children, teens, the elderly, women and economically disadvantaged, nor does it embrace cultural, ethnic and occupational variety.

In the information age and evolution to mass customization, the needs and opinions of all ages, gender, income and culture will be a natural part of decision-making. If you want a preview of the future, just start asking a diversity of people what kind of town they'd like to live in. The ones from kids are especially fun to listen to, and the ones from teens and young adults are the most encouraging - just ask them!

Simply twitter to @cooltown for it to appear here, regarding cool places, events and scenes you're experiencing.

I want diversity in my town! How?

At least that's what the cultural creatives, the early adopters and today's kids are saying. One may need to look no futher than Jane Jacobs to find answers.

In her 1961 The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which by the way, has probably prompted the renaissance of more than several cities, she says if there's any one word that defines success for a city, it's diversity. To achieve it, she says you need:
1. A concentration of people. This explains why pedestrian malls without housing are often dead, and why Italy's piazzas are anything but.
2. Small blocks. People like choice - they don't like having to walk a quarter-mile without being able to change directions - that's for cars. My neighborhood has small blocks, and I feel like I've been given control.
3. Old and new buildings. We're talking about affordability, as well as history. I can afford to live in DC because I live in an old building (with a lot of history - the first African-American co-op in the U.S.).
4. A major, easily identifiable amenity that draws people. A theater. A piazza. An ethnic restaurant row like in my neighborhood.

For the skeptics, the economic correlation to diversity is displayed visually on page 37 of this report by Richard Florida.

Have it your way - your town that is

The business system by the economy will evolve where we will see customer-driven products and services as a basic expectation is called mass customization - a "system of combining the low unit costs of mass production processes with the flexibility of individual customization."

Too technical? If you bought a Dell it isn't. It's all about going from "you can have any color you want as long as it's black" (Henry Ford) to "here are my measurements, you can send my perfectly fit pair of jeans here.

So, if we can mass customize jeans, cars, and homes, why not communities? That's what CoolTown Studios helps municipalities and real estate investors achieve. Read more about how this applies to cool towns in this collection of entries.