The Revitalist

The Toronto-based consultants, Urban Marketing Collaborative, hired to create a "branding and identity strategy" for Downtown Crossing are unveiling their proposal to local businesses and other stakeholders. The concept is a "robust pedestrian area" with Macy's as the anchor with a food market like the Harrods Food Hall in London, upscale shops, cafes with outdoor seating and a library/coffee shop. The plan will involve blocking the area to vehicular traffic, including potentially converting Bromfield Street to pedestrian use, and redesigning all the streetscaping (no curb stones, more green, pedestrian-friendly street furniture). It's a multi-million dollar project, of course, and it has the European flair that people love to day-dream about, but it is also going to be a long road to haul. Heaven knows that something needs to be done with Downtown Crossing. I love the idea of a strollable, window-shop-able plaza, but I have a hard time picturing hardy Bostonians in bicycle taxis.

Kingston, NY

BusinessWeek is the latest to jump on the follow-the-artists bandwagon with their America's Best Places for Artists top 10 list (via CoolTown Studios and Planetizen). The idea that artists are harbingers of cool places is nothing new, and there are a couple of classics on the list (they continue to draw the young and creative). There are a couple of up-and-coming mid-size cities though, and one or two you may not have thought about before.

1. Los Angeles, CA
2. Santa Fe, NM
3. Carson City, NV
4. New York City, NY
5. Kingston, NY
6. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
7. Nashville, TN
8. Boulder, CO
9. San Francisco, CA
10. Nassau-Suffolk County, NY

The Bershires have their own currency (sorry Times Select) — the BerkShare (via CEOs for Cities). The local currency is a project of the E.F. Schumacher Society, which believes that the BerkShares will spur the regional economy by driving more traffic to local businesses. The consumer can buy the beautifully designed (featuring notable Berkshire natives the Stockbridge Indians, W.E.B. DuBois, Robyn Van En, Herman Melville and Norman Rockwell) BerkShares at their local bank at an exchange rate of 10 BerkShares for $9. He can then use the BerkShares to buy pizza, pay for his dry cleaning or get his gutters cleaned—at any local business that participates. The business then can either use BerkShares to pay their vendors or exchange them back for US dollars (at the same exchange rate, a 10% loss). It sounds like the majority of business owners just cash in the BerkShares and take the loss because either their vendors won't accept them, they don't want to pass on the loss to another small business owner, or they value the social solidarity created by the program over the economics. Some even say they feel pressured to participate in the project or face boycotts from BerkShare-ers. The customers get what amounts to a 10% discount on anything they purchase with BerkShares. I assume the theory goes that the cost to the business will be offset by increased traffic driven by loyalty to the local guys. Time will tell...

MassINC and The Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program have issued a new report entitled Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities: Lessons Learned and an Agenda for Renewal (via WBUR and USA Today). The report looks at the State's overall successful transition to a "knowledge-based economy" and why 11 of its Gateway Cities seem to be left out of the good news.

The Gateway Cities examined in the report are all former mill and industrial cities that have faced decline since the 1970's. They are home to 15% of the state's population but 30% of residents living below the poverty line.

Brockton
Fall River
Fitchburg
Haverhill
Holyoke
Lawrence
Lowell
New Bedford
Springfield
Pittsfield
Worcester

 The report points out that these cities have significantly lower housing costs than the Metro Boston area and therefore offer a solution to the workforce housing crunch. They also are ideal for "smart growth" development and have intact, diverse populations that are hungry for growth and economic advancement. The report's recommendations break down into three categories: 1. Fix the basics—both physical and human infrastructure improvements, removing barriers to entry for new development and business. 2. Build the Middle-Class Workforce of Tomorrow—education, education, education and greater support for low-income families. 3. Create New Economic Connections for the 21st Century—connections between local business communities and the Metro Boston core and support for/from the UMass system.

I didn't see much that was earth shatteringly new, but the report does a good job of laying out the potential of these communities and the challenges that they face. Obviously, we believe that these cities are a good investment. As the USA Today article points out, Lawrence has come a long way in the few years that we've been working there, adding capacity at the municipal level and getting some city investment on the ground. We get the feeling that the tide is starting to flow into these communities. We are excited to be a part of it but aren't selfish—the more, the merrier.

The USA Today reports on the growing popularity of streetcars as a tool to revive downtowns and spur economic development (via CoolTown Studios (at least someone reads USA Today)). The article points out the success of new streetcars lines in Tampa, FL, Kenosha, WI, Little Rock, AR, and Portland, OR. In Tampa the 2.5 mile system cost $55 million and "attracted well over $1 billion in private investment." That sounds like a good deal. In Kenosha the director of transportation says, "Streetcars have sex appeal." Well, I don't know about that, but they are kind of cute. And there are those who argue that putting more obstacles on the road actually increases driver awareness and overall safety. Of course, I'm sure that there are those who ask why people don't just walk the one mile to the next stop...

The first of eight wind turbines is up at the cutting edge Steel Winds wind farm (love that name!) on the former site of Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna, NY. Steel Winds is one of the first wind farms in the country to be put on a brownfield, part of a movement to karmically restore these damaged sites. And what a brownfield it is; apparently a significant portion of the site is land made by dumping slag from the steel manufacturing into Lake Erie. The entire site has been bought by Tecumseh Redevelopment, one of those redevelopers that specializes in buying up dirty sites and preping them for eventual redevelopment, bless their hearts. The wind farm, the first phase of the redevelopment, will sell its energy back into the grid, estimated to be enough to power 6,000 households. Should it prove successful, there is the possibility of adding more turbines. The rest of the redevelopment plan includes some lake-front passive recreation areas, a three-phased business park, and a future marina in an area that is now marked as "slag reclamation," thus proving that you really can recycle just about everything.

Now that it is melting season, NStar is out patrolling Boston streets for stray voltage. Since 2000 stray electric voltage leaking from damaged wires has been blamed for the deaths of four dogs walking on city streets. The combination of electricity, metal grates or manhole covers, and salt-laden melting snow can be deadly for dogs without the benefit of rubber soled shoes to insulate them. NStar's response has been to bring in a specially outfitted truck that has sensors to detect hot spots and video cameras and gps to track their locations. In the past year, 68 stray voltage problems have been located (63 with the truck) and fixed—and no dogs have been reported shocked.

All of us are thankful that the melt is on, including my dog who didn't appreciate the slippery and jagged ice any more that I did. The MSPCA is recommending that city dog owners put insulating boots on their dogs. We haven't gone that far yet; but when it's slushy and wet out there, I do think about the possibility of shocks and try to steer the pooch around the manholes.

Yesterday's On Point on WBUR discussed the mainstreaming of building green. The technologies have improved and the costs have come down so that even your Average Joe can afford to do some greening around his house. The discussion was interesting – including the fellow who called in to say how excited he is to be moving in to the Monarch Lofts, a green condo project across the river from us in Lawrence, MA.

The one thing I noticed missing from the discussion was the need for hard numbers that support the investment. Certainly on the commercial scale, and to an extent on the individual residential scale, we need to be able to demonstrate the quantifiable benefits (beyond operational savings) of the green elements of the project. At this point, no one can say that renters or condo buyers will pay $x more per square foot just because a project is geothermal or solar. But it seems like the tipping point for this is near. As more green projects go to market and as their numbers are added to the data and public awareness of these projects increases, we will gain a better sense of what it's all worth in the marketplace.

AHF is off celebrating George Washington's birthday today.

We suggest that you do the same—go buy a car or something. 

The AIA has released the results of its America's Favorite Architecture poll. The survey asked 1,800 Americans to name their favorite structures from a list of architect nominated structures. Not surprisingly half of the buildings come from New York, Washington DC and Chicago. Looking through the list and trying to figure out which is my favorite, I have to say I'm tempted to go with the obvious choice (and I'm not alone): Empire State Building. I love its impressive height but human scale and how every little detail works together to create the beautiful whole. Plus, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for Art Deco. But the more that I thought about it, the harder time I had choosing.

So, here, America, is your top ten!