Interest in second cities is on the rise again.  As travelers look to urban experiences that come with a lower price tag and go beyond the most established destinations while still accessing world class dining, entertainment, culture and events, second cities around the world are proving attractive choices.

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Walking San Francisco's neighborhoods this week, I was reminded of the many contributions of the corner store.  Take Tartine, for instance, in the Mission District.  This tiny bakery gives the neighborhood a place to gather, a focal point, a destination.  (All of these attributes are augmented by its several outdoor… more

I love everything about this story in New York Magazine on Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City's Transportation commissioner, who is transforming big chunks of Broadway into pedestrian spaces.  Borrowing ideas from Copenhagen and cities around the world, Sadik-Khan has a vision of turning the great diagonal into a linear… more

Do you know Paju Bookcity?  I didn't until I found Dana Cho's lovely blog, Goodspace, devoted to design and innovation. 

Am I the only one who would think I had died and gone to heaven if I lived in Bookcity?  Ok, maybe it's close to a theme park… more

The President has his man to run the National Endowment for the Arts.  The New York Times reports that  Rocco Landesman, the colorful theatrical producer and race-track aficionado who brought hits like “Big River,” “Angels in America” and “The Producers” to Broadway, has… more

At our recent Strategy Summit, we had a lively exchange between Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota, and Tersesa Schwarz, who has done a brilliant job of reimagining Cleveland's vacant land as an asset for sustainability.

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I'm seeing more of these kinds of workshops...

This Thursday, I will be hosting another Shop 52 Small Business Seminar.  My Shop 52 seminars provide education and resources to small business owners and individuals interested in opening their own small business.   This one will focus on how small businesses can… more

A release from Hilton Hotels on its new Denizen Hotels brands  indicates a new fascination with local.

Born modern, with global appeal and a local accent*

Denizen Hotels will become a cultural epicentre at each of its destinations, cultivating community within… more

Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibarguen's comments to the WeMedia conference just made my hair stand on end. 

He pointed out that there is, for the first time, a disconnect between media reach and where democracy happens. While local newspapers and radio are disppearing, online media… more

What happens to bourgeois bohemia when the bourgeois part drops out? For long-time residents in LA's Eagle Rock neighborhood, the return to pre-boom rents may be a blessing.  But for those with visions of new hipness, its identity is seriously threatened.

From today's NYT:  "Over the last five to… more

NY Mag surveyed more than 100 retailers in the city and came up with a terrific, very now look at how retailers are coping with changing consumer habits.  Reporter Michael Idov calls it "a retail shakeout of historic proportions."  "Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue and Soho are suddenly pocked with… more

In the coming decade Tampa Bay is expecting a huge wave of Baby Boomers to roll into the region.  Anticipating this trend, CreativeTampaBay's Deanne Roberts and Michelle Bauer (both CEOs for Cities network partners) are already strategizing on how to capitalize on this impending opportunity for their city.  

In… more

Here’s a unique approach to putting a place ‘on the map’.  This job advertisement is transformed into a campaign, sure to grab attention, that highlights the distinctive qualities of a place and taps the power of new media for tourism promotion. 

‘The Best Job in… more

Opened last month, L.A Live, with its two concert halls, an ESPN Zone/broadcast studio, a bowling alley, movie theaters, ten restaurants, Grammy Museum, and condos, is being called a "content campus" by Business Week.  Its developers call it an entertainment campus. The complex cost $2.5 billion and is… more

Hockey came to Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.  It was the unusual scene of the Winter Classic, with the Chicago Blackhawks facing off against the Detroit Redwings.

Here's how the Tribune's Paul Sullivan described the experience:

"The Wrigleyville experience—including the ballpark, the bars, the rooftops and assorted… more

Congratulations to Scotland for having the forethought to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy (IYA), marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s telescope with Galloway Forest Park announcing its plans to become Europe’s first “dark sky park.”

The Bldgblog reports that the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) web site… more

Gentrification is not exactly a hot topic at the moment, given falling real estate prices. (I've been in Aspen since Christmas, and there are "For Sale" signs all over town.)  However, Joe Cortright sent me an interesting post on gentrification from Matthew Yglesias.

Matt writes he doesn't like to… more

Danish architect Jørn Utzon, designer of the Sydney Opera House, died today at the age 90.  The Sydney Opera House is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.  And it does not disappoint in person or up close.  It is a marvel.

Utzon designed the opera house in… more

With New York's Coney Island in limbo, the Center for an Urban Future has asked thinkers from a variety of fields to share their vision for Coney Island.  The Municipal Arts Society  invited the public in on the discussion. 

Reading through the vision statements, I particularly liked the… more

New research from Portland demonstrates the truth of something we all probably suspected:  The presence of an upscale grocery store in your Portland neighborhood adds an extra 20 percent or so to homes within a block and a half.  Small neighborhood move theaters have an even greater effect – 14… more

Or are they about to become the new centers of "thrift?  That's the question Newsweek asks in a story just posted.  Read it here. 

Newsweek reports that nearly a fifth of the country's largest 2,000 regional malls are failing, and according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, a… more

The conversations at the Chicago Humanities Festival are always a pleasure.  Last weekend, I heard Saskia Sassen (she of Global City fame), her husband and author Richard Sennett (power couple extraordinaire), Ricky Burdett of Urban Age and Philip Enquist, SOM partner in charge of Urban Design… more

In preparation for the World Cup in 2010, Johannesburg is building its first metro line that will run approximately 60 km (with stops to include the airport).  In the central city, the line is underground, again.  The city is also building bus rapid transit in the city center, based on… more

What a difference 17,000 Target employees have made to downtown Minneapolis.  On a perfect day, I had an opportunity to visit Target's headquarters on Nicollet Mall.  There was a busy flow of casually dressed people (average age looked to be maybe 26?  28?  young), giving these corporate headquarters an unmistakeable… more

With creative cities strategies increasingly gaining the attention of city leaders around the world, the Creative Cities Summit being hosted in Detroit October 12 – 15 will engage leaders with ideas on how to “rethink and redesign our cities for this age of innovation, knowledge and creativity”. 

By… more

Alinea chef and impresario Grant Achatz demonstrated last night at Wired's NextFest why he, and not just his food, is so special.  He peppered a seemingly casual cooking demonstration and tasting with stories of how he evolved his one-taste preparations onto specially-made, sculptural serving utensils that hold heat, cold… more

Jim Russell over at Cleveburgh Diaspora has a great post that gives solid examples of what shrinking mid-size cities can do to reinvigorate their appeal and their fate.

Buffalo is talking about becoming a national laboratory dedicated to… more

That's the theme of the 2008 International Urban Parks Conference that begins today in Pittsburgh. I'll be speaking briefly on a panel tomorrow with Trust for Public Land President Will Rogers, New York's Director of the Mayor's Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability Rohit Aggarwala and Brookings VP and… more

Convenience sounds like such a mundane benefit.  We associate it with fast food, the corner 7-11, the Pot Belly across the street. It may be a compromise in terms of quality or variety, but at least it's convenience.

So it has been interesting to have two recent Smart City… more

As I was headed to meet the Innovation team at the City of Chicago today at lunch, I encountered one of those wonderful urban delights.  On Daley Plaza with the Picasso as background, a deejay was spinning smooth sounds for a group of spontaneous dancers surrounded by hundreds of surprised… more

Colleague Greg Zachary has found in Nairobi 600 young programmers, bloggers and Web enthusiasts who have turned themselves into Skunkworks, a group sharing ideas and encouraging new businesses to develop in response to the distinctive (narrow bandwidth) digital experience in that city.

“To be truly creative in… more

"To keep tempers cool and spirits high this year, the Aeroports de Paris implemented an unconventional plan: free dance lessons for passengers," according to Springwise.

"Summertime passengers can use their wait time at the airport to learn any one of 15 dances offered by the airport's resident trainers,… more

I've spent the past two days in Seattle and Portland. I arrived late Tuesday night in Seattle. Approaching downtown by taxi, I was struck by the growing size of the city skyline. My hotel, Inn at the Market (which gets a big gold star for service and staff), is situated… more

CEOs for Cities Announces Next National Meeting

Strategy Session 2009: The Upside of Down
San Diego, CA, March 18-20
Hosted by CEOs for Cities and the University of California San Diego

Hard times force us to re-consider everything.

What are the opportunities for your city to innovate now… more

Old assumptions about cities are under assault, and new ones are in play, demonstrating that cities like Cleveland, where CEOs for Cities President and CEO delivered the keynote address for University Circle Inc.'s Annual Meeting, are not the problem.  Cities are the solution.  Read the full text of Coletta's remarks… more

Too many urban leaders still operate under old assumptions when it comes to planning for their cities' futures. In her speech to the Tennssessee Municipal League, CEOs for Cities president and CEO Carol Coletta, discusses what leaders must pay attention to today and how they must respond to new realities… more

What is your point of view on how your city will succeed economically? Do you have a theory of success? Is it stated or unstated? And are your decisions consistent with your beliefs about what it will take to succeed?

There has always been a little mystery associated with… more