http://joe-urban.com 612-251-4662 3913 29th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55406 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:18:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I read the Metropolitan Diary in the Monday edition of the New York Times with great reverence (yes, I still have the print edition delivered to my doorstep - soooo 20th Century!). I am always struck by the serendipity and kindness of strangers that can be had in a big ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/the-joe-urban-journal-chicago-edition/ I took my son up to Brookdale Mall the other day. As it is still winter, it is nice to find a new indoor place for Ellis, a three-year-old, to expend some energy. With Brookdale Mall at 60% vacant (at least), there is plenty of room to run. Retail is ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/room-to-run-at-brookdale-mall/ Last year I visited Growing Power, a well-known urban farming operation in a not-so-well-known area of Milwaukee's north side. Located in and behind a greenhouse on a parcel of excess land next to an Army Reserve base, Growing Power is quite simply a farm. They raise food. But there is ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/growing-power-and-urban-farming/ Add Des Moines, Iowa to the list of successful downtowns. Yesterday's article in the New York Times hits on several salient factors critical to success. The list of recent projects in downtown Des Moines is impressive. In late 2010, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield will open a 600,000 square ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/des-moines-and-good-downtown-development/ It had been seven years since I last visited Portland, Oregon, and fully ten since my original visit. I was very excited to see what had changed since 2003 in this bastion/laboratory of urbanity, and frankly I needed inspiration. It was time to return, and this time by bike. I actually ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/biking-in-portland-and-thoughts-on-what-makes-it-such-an-urban-mecca/ I have seen the future and it is coworking! I just got back from Seattle, and besides enjoying some typical midwinter rain and riding their shiny new light rail from Sea-Tac airport, I checked out an office concept that may serve as a future model in many urban areas. This particular ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/office-nomads-and-coworking-the-future-of-urban-offices/ With a short layover in Detroit a week ago, I made myself comfortable between flights by watching the Cardinals-Packers game. The Delta/Northwest terminal at Detroit is the best place to watch football in any airport I know of. Rather than jockeying for a table in a bar with a decent ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/dog-days-in-detroit/ I had a couple extra hours after the ULI conference in San Francisco in November. So, as I like to do when I'm in that fair city, or when I'm in any great urban place, I took a walk too see the city and grab a bite to eat. From ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/walking-in-san-francisco/ Absolutely. Allow me to explain. A few years ago the firm I was working for moved to the Banks Building, a renovated warehouse in near northeast Minneapolis. At that time, the primary intersection in the neighborhood, at Hennepin and University Avenues, was flanked by a few businesses, including Surdyk's liquor store ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/can-congestion-be-a-good-thing/ The first thing I noticed about Houston is the lack of an accent. It's not that a good southern drawl is entirely absent, but on my one day whirlwind tour of that city, I realized just how international it is. See my photos of Houston here. Nobody does roadside sprawl better ... http://joe-urban.com/archive/finding-urbanity-in-houston/