Retailers Race To Cities, More On Walk Appeal

Retailers are heading to the cities and they’re often willing to break all the rules they had previously imposed on their operations to do so, according to a detailed story in the July-August 2012 issue of Better! Cities & Towns. Multi-story layouts, smaller footprints, parking on the roof or in the basement, lower ceilings (when using certain older buildings), and custom architecture that faces the street— all are possibilities in this new retail environment. For years, retailers built standard boxes on the edge of sprawl, a little ahead of the market, confident that residential subdivisions would fill up and supply customers. Since the housing market collapsed in 2007, this paradigm has also collapsed as well, leaving retailers with underperforming stores. Publicly traded retail companies need to open new stores continually to demonstrate growth. The best option under current conditions, says retail expert Robert Gibbs, is to open stores where people already live — in cities and first-ring suburbs.
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Walk Appeal measurables
Steve mouzon, Better! Cities & Towns
Streets and the streetscapes that surround them have measurable aspects that can tell us which standard of Walk Appeal the street provides.
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Walk Appeal immeasurables
steve mouzon, Better! Cities & Towns
People on the street, lovable things along the way, and the magic of the city are three Walk Appeal factors I have no idea how to measure, but they clearly contribute to making more walkable places.
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Build a better model
Charles Marohn, Better! Cities & Towns
We humans are eager to pretend, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that we are far more in control of things than we really are.
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Singles are good for cities
Better! Cities & Towns
The growing number of people living alone are a much more positive force than many Americans have thought, says Eric Klinenberg, author of a new book from Penguin Press, Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. The periodical Urban Land says Klinenberg recently told a Washington conference that notions about singles being neurotic, immoral, sick, or lonely are off the mark. Those who live alone are in fact more likely than married people to take advantage of urban amenities, go out at night, attend public events, and engage in activities that "animate the streets," according to Klinenberg, a sociology professor at New York University. They are also more likely to volunteer with civic organizations. Over all, 27.6 percent of US households consist of those who live alone. They are predominantly urban—a change from the 1950s, when people living alone were more rural. Today's "singletons," as Klinenberg calls them, should be seen as appreciating both solitude and connection with others. One form of housing that may appeal to them, he suggested, is small units accompanied by multiple shared amenities, such as a health club, coffee bar, party room, public lounge space, and an outdoor terrace. The conference was held at the Urban Land Institute Terwilliger Center for Housing.
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Dogs vs. SUVs, and other silly distractions
scott doyon, Better! Cities & Towns
Wanna maintain your club of who’s eco-friendly and who’s the opposite? The internet will continue to serve up a never-ending buffet of tasty factoids that paint your neighbors in a most unflattering light.
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