Author Archive
Independent businesses go interdependent to compete: How can independent businesses possibly compete with the marketing clout of the
How to keep a successful independent venue from ‘retiring: The tragic story no one wants to hear – your favorite, popular,
Mixed-use fast becoming the norm: It wasn’t too long ago that housing developers only built housing, retail
Back to the future for our own health’s sake: From the late 1800s to early 1900s our public health was largely
If your city’s healthy for kids…: …it’s healthy for just about everyone else, and communities in Europe, Australia,
Chicago developer’s lifetime investment in artist community: What did it take to revive a neglected neighborhood with historic buildings
More suburban home builders make the jump to urban: One of the greatest barriers to living downtown is that the scarcity
Clipper Mill – From industrial mill to contemporary village: What to do with an abandoned mill founded in 1853 that used
Developing more humanistic buildings: I’m working with a number of developers that are in various stages
Workplace by day, live music venue by night?: Yesterday I highlighted ‘those lucky Macromedia employees’, but they got nothing on
Those lucky Macromedia employees: Where do Macromedia’s 600 employees work? Not in a suburban office park
What makes San Francisco, San Francisco: There is no other San Francisco, and that in itself is the
Now that’s some healthy convenience: For those who like to cook and commute by transit, it doesn’t
SF’s new ‘city’ taking shape one unique development at a time: Disneyfication – the term given to developments that look a bit sterile
Mission Bay – SF’s contemporary city within a city: With 303 acres in what is already one of the most desired
Bay Meadows – another beautiful, unaffordable new community: Of course, the more expensive/unaffordable a place becomes, the less of a
Two restaurants short of a destination: Continuing our cooltown audit of developments across the San Francisco Bay Area,
A quick review of San Jose’s Santana Row: Santana Row in San Jose, CA does not have any housing that
But where are the people?: While the Fruitvale Village development profiled yesterday is indeed a success story
Oakland’s inspiring Fruitvale Village: In continuing a look at the most innovative new developments in the
Berkeley’s 4th Street – a destination with destinations: Great retail entertainment districts not only provide a strong sense of place,
The retail entertainment trend: Bay Street, Emeryville: It’s now a common evolutional trend where retail is merging with entertainment.
The mark of a neighborhood to watch – the cool indie coffeehouse: Other than the prolific amount of loft-type housing going on in Oakland’s
Lofty new neighborhood rises in Oakland: If you’re an entrepreneur, artist and/or associated with the creative class in
Checking out the SF Bay Area: Over the holiday break I revisited the San Francisco Bay Area to
Cities cool enough for a cutting edge website: In keeping up with our impromptu focus on media & resources this
Alternative reading for alternative places: As you may know, the target audience for cooltowns can be classified
Mass personalized transit – the ‘city car: What happens when you cross car sharing with a shopping cart? The