Edition 58

They say that “some like it hot”, and that’s exactly what we’re all in for. The mercury topped the lower 80s this week on the East Coast, which was an uncomfortably warm blip of spring and a foretelling taste of the summer ahead. As the planet heats up, so do the bright ideas around urban planning, sustainability and the tension between urban enclaves and ruralists. But it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact we’ve got some hot takes in this edition of the Bulletin including a round-up of recipes for downtown revitalization, (perhaps unexpected) growth in rural America, multispecies architecture and “office resorts”,  an urban design competition out of the Big D that inspires us as placemakers, a species of flower that can turn your parklets into nighttime economy powerhouses, and a hefty dose of adorable dogs, kittens and treats for humans alike, for good measure. Read on and share this with a friend, friend.

Stay chill,

– Your Bright Brothers Team
David Romako / Josh Yeager /  Brandi Walsh

There’s a lot of postulation about the future of cities, reinventions of former Central Business Districts, and evidence-based best practices for how to go about revitalization. And while there are major differences in how things operate abroad, versus life in the United States, we can peek outside our own North American bubble to see what’s working and apply takeaways to our own approaches. Much is being written about where we live, shop and play, empowering streetscapes, 15- and 20-minute cities and more. Let’s start with housing. The U.S. is experiencing an unprecedented housing crisis, loss of missing middle housing, and as inflation and volatile interest rate changes greatly impact affordability, we can take a cue on public housing from Barcelona, Spain. Merely uttering the words “public housing” is groan-evoking in some American circles, but after years of ignoring the issue, Barcelona is now tackling it head on with a social housing revival. Then imagine stepping outside your sustainable, affordable public housing. How can we ameliorate our public realms to be more inviting, promote community and discourse, and develop a culture of intentional third places? Look no further than this round-up of the little things that can make big impacts in our streetscapes. 

Even though “some like it hot”, it’s a fact that it’s getting hotter for all of us, and the BBC takes a look at five standout cities that are models of sustainable practices in Europe. Governing gives us a peak at a profit-sharing play that may prop up commercial real estate here in the States, for brave mayors and crafty financiers, and it’s all about the dollars. San Francisco, which has been slammed with the overly dramatic “doom loop narrative” also offers insights into potential office conversations that aim to bring workers back — with a snazzy “office resort”, chock full of amenities like a private spa, rooftop bar & resto,  shops, skyline swimming pools, a golf simulator (stand up meeting, anyone?), and even an outdoor gathering space. The urban planning big thinkers at Gensler give us a look at a recipe for the NEW! CBD that promises the amenities, experiences and transpo options needed to lure more downtown. There’s so much to consider in terms of how we can positively influence our downtowns, convert to new models for housing, attractions and alluring amenities, and what the precise mix is to make impacts to our cities. At the end of the day, new sustainable housing should include more species than just humans. Fast Company shows us how we should be designing cities for increased biodiversity with multispecies architecture. Think you have all the answers now?  Give us a shout and let us know what’s working in your neck of the woods.

Photo by Danist Soh on Unsplash
 

We’re big dog people here at Bright Brothers, and we know we’re not alone. Man’s best friend is seemingly everyone’s best friend these days, and as pet ownership and cohabitation increases, so do the impacts on our urban fabric and culture. In the past several years we’ve seen the rise of cat cafés, doggy ice cream parlors, bars for humans and playful pooches, and even adorable puppy kissing booths at downtown events. But here’s a new one we haven’t seen before, and it literally made us howl (aroooo!) with joy. TD Bank in Philadelphia recently launched an ATM that dispenses — not cash — but treats for your well-behaved doggo! We ❤ this PR play and it’s a fun and engaging way to show the community that you embrace all kinds of friends, regardless of how many legs they have. Does your downtown bank need a dog biscuit ATM? We say yes, most definitely! Please send us your proud parent puppy pix and we may just feature them in a future edition! Now, who’s a good boy!??!

Photo by Andrew Schultz on Unsplash

… that it’s not just cities that are changing the way they do business (from former central business districts into modern, amenity-rich urban lifestyle centers), rural areas and suburbs are adapting and reacting to shifts in culture and lifestyle in the 21st century. Our nearby neighbors are growing and changing as well. This piece points to the fact that after a decade-long trend in loss of rural population, rural America has actually grown the past two consecutive years according to U.S. Census data. What is interesting about this article is that while it shows U.S. metros are returning to pre-pandemic population levels, several factors including migration are adding to the outward exodus to parts afar, outside of cities. While the article’s focus sits with rural growth, much of the data points to suburban growth. In particular, it lays out that, “…ninety-seven percent of the rural population growth happened in nonmetropolitan counties that are adjacent to metropolitan counties,” — meaning mainly suburban growth. Without splitting hairs on nomenclature, the article points to a trend of population growth outside of cities, that is making the biggest impacts in states like Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Interestingly, Governing recently published a piece on suburban growth that examines the increase of walkable suburban centers, attractive to younger demographics, and much of this growth is taking place in a wide southerly swath spanning from SoCal thru the Sun Belt to places like Montgomery, AL,  Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA. In some cases, these new-style suburbs offer housing in alternative formats, like the Culdesac project in Tempe, AZ — a car-free community that’s turning the traditional suburban model on its head. It’s not surprising that younger generations like Millennials and even Gen Z are looking at alternatives for raising families, and the suburbs have always been a safe haven for those with kids. All of this is ounctuated by the affordable housing crisis, missing middle, and apparently fingerpointing at Boomers for buying up all the houses and, (aghast!) …  living in them! Three articles this week covered the trend with the Wall Street Journal pointing to inflated interest rates keeping Boomers from downsizing, Business Insider underscoring the affordability narrative with a potential political twist for this year’s election, and Fortune prognosticating that the Boomers will eventually downsize within the next decade, glutting the marketing with a “silver tide” of nearly 9 million homes. Regardless of your age, we all need someplace to live, and while the pendulum always swings, one thing is clear — mixed-use, amenity-laden, walkable density is desirable at any age — whether that exists within the confines of an existing urban center, or the newly-realized, city-mimicking rural-suburban landscape. As urban place management practitioners, we are at the forefront of what people want, and we hold the power to change the narrative about the cities and communities we steward.

Photo by Max Böttinger on Unsplash

Get ready for a head-on collision between your nighttime economy, placemaking after dark, and operations because humanity just achieved something really brilliant, and your downtown should be the first to offer a fully illuminated … bioluminescent garden?!? Yep, in the past year the U.S. The Department of Agriculture approved the “firefly petunia” and orders started shipping out this month. These glow-in-the-dark flowers combine luciferase (which gives lightning bugs and and some corals their distinctive glow) with plants that result in a glowing garden. What may sound like science fiction has been in the works for decades, and is now commercially available. We know that many downtowns and districts do illuminated placemaking (everything from static lighting to dynamically illuminated skyscrapers to projection mapping festivals like Downtown San Francisco’s Let’s Glow SF, and light festivals like Georgetown’s GLOW — and others). Some districts have pulled off incredibly engaging floral events like Union Square’s In Bloom and Arizona’s first and only Tempe Blooms — but we’re dying to who comes up with the first biggest, most bad-ass, bioluminescent mashup with nighttime illuminated gardens, just glowing with potential for downtowns revitalization. May the best (glowing) petunia win!

Photo by James Wainscoat on Unsplash

We’ve all read about the loneliness and isolation felt by many since the pandemic, and most likely amplified by our pervasive use of fallacious social media perceptions. One city is taking a stance — and taking a design competition to the streets. Thanks-Giving Square, located in metro Dallas, TX held an urban design challenge to combat loneliness and revitalize this 1970’s sanctuary designed as an all-faiths respite in the heart of the city. But history has shown us that the space is underutilized, so to bring it some new life, the perspicacious placemakers from Better Block launched a design competition to reimagine the area as a community space and connecting point for the city’s denizens. Eight finalists have been selected, and some of the submissions are truly inspiring. Tapping into top-notch architectural and design talent, we can see how many aspects of the finalists’ submissions can potentially serve as takeaways for localized placemaking, as all entries are geared towards pedestrianism and connected communities. Krista Nightengale, executive director of Better Block is proffered, “The idea was to create a sanctuary in the center of the city where anyone is welcomed, no matter their faith, religion, what brings them there, or their backgrounds,” and that’s something we can all get behind.

Photo by Gabriel Tovar on Unsplash

“A big part of our work is simply, how do you have these moments where people can go from being strangers to being neighbors?” — 

Krista Nightengale, Executive Director of Better Block, Dallas, TX