Community Oriented Small Business Solutions

Due to current economic times, many very talented individuals have been laid off and many those people are not satisfied or fortunate enough to sit at home collecting an un-employement check. To that end, there is a magnitude of new start-up businesses that are looking to make their mark in their industry. The co-work space solution is an excellent opportunity to place your business in a vibrant setting with a potential to be a great networking environment.

An Irish Company, Tepui who is focused on Sustainability Strategies and Design is developing a co-workspace 'Hub,' something definately worth considering. A pay-as you go shared work space with a creative and collaborative community buzz is just what so many of us are missing.

'The Dublin Hub' is a flexible, affordable, shared working environment for freelancers, small businesses, the self-employed, and home-workers looking for a desk, or a meeting space in town. Members book time in the Hub in advance - similar to buying mobile phone credit - they have the freedom to choose when to work and are charged solely for the time they spend in the Hub.

"We hope to attract inventive, innovative, socially committed, ethical and environmentally aware people, people who need to take their ideas out of the garden shed or away from the kitchen table, says Erik van Lennap of Tepui. We aim to provide a vibrant, dynamic, collaborative, exciting atmosphere, a place people will want to be in and be part of. We think this is an essential response to the challenges posed by changing work patterns in the new century."

Images provided by: csmonitor.com

What would COMMUNITY DRIVEN development look like?

Starting with a development team that is dedicated to community building through cultural development. A team that ensures the long term sustainability of every project through hands on operations and the ongoing programming of local art, cultural and community driven events. This daily involvement plays a large role in the continued growth and vitality of community driven projects. A development team that is constantly growing relationships through participation and support of communtiy festivals, gatherings, events, arts groups, rotary groups and scholarship funding. A development team that is a long term holder and prides itself on becoming a meaningful part of the community fabric.

Images Courtesy of: Mission Viejo Life

Fun with Chalk

"We don't inherit this planet from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children".


The City hosted the 11th Annual Fun with Chalk event over the weekend and had nearly 9,000 visits over the course of the event. This type of event is excellent in engaging the community; residents not only view and discuss, many of them participate.

Messaging through art is a powerful tool.


Express yourself. Kids participating with their own square.


Involving the community is vital and engaging.

Art has no borders.

Art is open for discussion...

Thank you to the City for hosting a great event!

Photos taken by author.

Simon Malls looks to engage the community

In an attempt to create buzz around its properties, Simon Property Group Inc., owner of the Shops at Mission Viejo has put in place a marketing plan that will include hosting 11,000 events this year at its various locations.

A release about the planned events outlined a couple programs that will be held throughout 2009. Simon Fashion Now will showcase the newest fashion trends. Kidgits Eco-community will teach parents and their children how to be eco-friendly in today’s environment. Simon Grassroots Programs will be community-based activities like career fairs and charity fundraisers.

Read more at Globe St.

I think it is great to see their awareness about their impact on the community. Looking back to the evolution of the mall, these were the heart of the community. Today, the poor design of massive blocky architecture which turns it's back to their external facade and then surrounded by a sea of asphalt; has caught up to them over recent years. They are failing to compete with the newer retail destinations which seem to be woven into the fabric of the community by focusing on pedestrian friendly and engaging experiences. Hopefully these operators will see this reality during these waning times and start planning to reinvent themselves to be competitive again in the reatil world and offer what the community is looking for.

Recent improvements at the Shops at MV replaced turf with drought tolerant planting which is a good step in the right direction to be more eco-friendly!

The Phenomenon of Dying Malls

American malls have been around for less than a century, but their influence on our culture has been amazing. However, even in prosperous times, distressed malls have been a persistent problem, as well as a point of intrigue in the suburban landscape. The current economic slump has magnified the problems that ailing malls have been battling for years, or even decades.

The rapid development of North American suburbs resulted in a rush to build malls. Most developers assumed that if their mall was newer and larger than the competition then they would make money, and for the most part they did. But what many developers failed to consider or neglected to care about was what happens to their project when the next mall is built. The blight that is left behind when one fails is a weight on the community. Lost tax revenue and jobs, increased vandalism and crime and lower property values are just a few of the problems a dead mall creates.

While dying malls are not a new phenomenon, their sustainability is something developers should consider. The dominance of the fashion, food-court and family-focused mall is ending. The good news is that no new enclosed malls have opened in the U.S. since 2006.

Vacant malls, strip center shopping centers and big box stores have already been redeveloped into more sustainable, less auto-dependent places more in sync with today’s demographics. Depending on the specifics of each site, we can expect to see future failed malls re-inhabited, re-greened, or retrofitted. Essentially malls can be repositioned into what a community needs. When a mall dies, many options are on the table. Redevelopment into a more sustainable mixed use center is often a good solution if the real estate is valuable. They have the advantages of an already existing infrastructure and usually are located on major transportation routes. They should be regarded as a potential asset, much as you would look at well-located unimproved land, or a deserted warehouse or office district in a city center.

This kind of recycling will be particularly useful in suburbs, as they develop more “urban’ amenities” — like interesting restaurants, live music and local festivals. By redoing the mall, this can be accomplished without urban “densification” and retain low-density environments of single-family homes preferred by the vast majority of Americans. Sometimes dead malls find new life as colleges, government buildings, branch libraries, spaces for nonprofit arts groups, places of worship, car dealerships and community centers that can host a variety of events. Most times, if the building is cheaply constructed, and neglected for years, the only viable option is demolition. In some of the more dense communities, this will provide an opportunity to repair the regional landscape by turning them back to open space

What should never be an option is to allow the building to sit neglected for years. Although it may be sad to see a place with so many memories bulldozed, there isn’t much future for an abandoned generic suburban shopping mall. The current crop of dying malls are by no means the end of the shopping mall. Retail and shopping are too integral a part of American life.

The biggest long-term challenge to malls isn’t economic. It’s environmental. Right now, consumers can’t afford all the stuff we used to buy. But in the long run, the planet can’t afford all the stuff we do buy. So finding a business model that’s economically viable and environmentally sensitive shold be a goal for all new (and repurposing) mall developers.

So going forward, developers and mall operators need to recognize that the shopping mall of the future can’t simply be a nucleus of stores surrounded by a sea of asphalt with a ring of highway around it. They need to hire talented suburban planners, architects, and landscape architects whom will encourage developing and/or transforming shopping centers into dynamic destinations that are woven into the fabric of the community. Developers should also strive to create malls that offer a place for people to socialize, not simply to buy. While no one likes to see businesses fail, dead malls provide great opportunities for communities to redevelop in healthy ways. Now is the time for them to remove the regulatory obstacles to retrofitting.

Here are some examples fo successful re-use.

Belmar in Lakewood, Colo.

Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Fla.

Bella Terra in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Photos courtesy of:

Chris Pixel

Xmelinda

ThePiratesDilemma.com

Trekearth.com

Huntingtonbeachevents.com

Epa.gov

Some text courtesy of:

DeadMall.com

Culture of Change - In Housing Strategies

It is this character of community living that our cities are losing, and our children may never experience unless we act now...

My first post, Culture of Change discussed a very similar topic but more focused on the consumer and retail. I found this article in what I thought was an odd place to find a topic like this, the Wall Street Journal's Live Mint. I am glad to see that topics like this are making it to the Business World.

Living together makes living lighter
The very idea of more for less indicates a culture of consumption, the concept of “getting” without “giving”, which is essentially contradictory to the principles of being environment-friendly. One has to believe in a certain value system of sharing and caring for each other and the environment, which will reap benefits that are intangible yet immeasurable.

All for one and one for all
Going green has turned into a trend today, and every individual has realized the relevance of being sensitive to the environment. Although this is a positive sign, we need to look further than the jargon—which is more technology-driven—and examine the real issues involved in being environment-friendly, in the context of present-day lifestyles and economic conditions.
An eco community is composed of like-minded people who live together, sharing utilities such as water and sewage systems, common spaces and facilities. An investment in an eco community would result in not only owning the piece of land that one has bought; the homeowner would also take ownership of the larger community space, which expands the visual and physical space available.

Bigger than the individual...
So essentially, one would not need to own a large piece of land individually, and yet one would get to enjoy a much larger space. Maintenance of garden spaces, water tanks, sewage systems, back-up power facilities and security would also become a shared enterprise, which could be supported by all members, and individual maintenance would be limited to one’s home and personal gardens.
...becomes cheaper for the individual
Several technologies—such as waste-water recycling, water treatment and rainwater harvesting—require a critical mass to become economical. An individual investing in these technologies would end up spending much more of his total budget than is desirable. In a larger group, it would amount to less.

Benefits beyond your doorstep
Neighbours who become extended family, open spaces where children are free and secure, and spaces where the elderly need no longer be lonely are some other benefits of living in a community.
Such communities can recreate some of the culture of small towns and villages where a lot of us come from, while trying to retain the advantages that a city offers. It is this character of community living that our cities are losing, and our children may never experience unless we act now. The emphasis needs to be on creating an ambience which is human in scale, while retaining the character of the land; “place-making” vs space-making being the underlying theme in the planning, creating places that celebrate the oneness of the human spirit with nature and not icons that exhibit man’s supposed superiority.

Living NOT to the maximum
Fewer burdens can be imposed on the land by not utilizing the maximum permissible area one is allowed to build on and reducing the footprint and material resources required.
The breakdown of traditional forms of community, wasteful consumerist lifestyles and the destruction of natural habitat, urban sprawl and over-reliance on fossil fuels are trends that must be changed to avert ecological disasters. Small-scale communities with minimal ecological impact are one alternative.

Photo courtesy of liveMINT.com