Santa Monica sets free public wi-fi standard

While the market has already assumed a digital infrastructure will succeed our asphalt one, city government leaders still haven't accepted that by making the same financial commitment to free public wi-fi. It's largely a generation thing and it's inevitable the investment will come eventually, but for the cities with progressive leaders that implement them now, they'll realize an economic and cultural windfall as a reward for 'letting go'.

Santa Monica is one of those cities, with their City Wi-Fi program offering free public wi-fi in key hot spots downtown as they prepare to scale up. They're also planning a city-wide wi-fi network for $20/mo. The key difference between Santa Monica's success and other cities' failures? In the words of the City of Santa Monica's Chief Information Officer, "If we don't get an offer we like, we are prepared to blanket the City ourselves."

It should be no surprise Santa Monica is also leading the nationwide trend of establishing pedestrian-only districts - it goes hand in hand with a digital infrastructure.

Image: The pedestrian-only Third Street Promenade, by Malingering.

San Diego's triple-bottom-line third place redefines 'restaurant'

If you're looking for a benchmark restaurant that represents most everything that a restaurant should be (as far as omnivores go), The Linkery in San Diego is a necessary destination. It starts with a founder like Jay Porter, "It would be a place that would, as a business, provide a community space that would bring people together. And it would celebrate really good quality food and drink and beer in a simple way... hopefully it could be a place that could become a center for something that adds meaning and richness to life in this area."

From its description to its blog to its primer for newbies, you'll soon realize the craftsmanship and soul that's poured into this place day in and day out. Some principles:

- All meat served comes from independent farmers and co-ops with integrity.
- Farm-to-table locally-based produce.
- No factory-made ingredients (outside of condiments like mustard).
- Hand-crafted beer and sausages.
- Daily-changing menu based on what's fresh and seasonal, half of which is vegetarian despite the restaurant name.
- Affordability is a key goal.
- No tipping. They have an entire section on it here.

Like Jamie Wallace of Abay Ethiopian Restaurant, Jay started his restaurant with only a tech background. All of Jay's quotes in this entry are excerpted from an excellent interview with Jed Sundwall.

Did you have any restaurant experience before?
No. I was totally making shit up.

Really! Did you have a partner with experience?
No. They say don't do things that you don't have experience in because you'll do every stupid thing possible, which I did. But by the time we opened, we'd attracted people who wanted to be a part of it. There are people with skills and knowledge who came in and said "Oh, you're building a restaurant! What's your plans for this?" and I'd say "I don't know!" And they'd say "Well I need to come in here and help!" "Great!" You know?

As regulars to this website know, the impact of this third place isn't limited to inside the walls, "Over the course of 6 months this little corner went from being basically totally unused at night to rocking."

Thanks to Chris Radcliff for the reference.

Image source: Bonzo McGrue.

NY to close major streets to cars on August saturdays

Emerging generations want more pedestrian areas, less traffic-congested streets. In Manhattan, pedestrians are literally running out of sidewalk room. This August, New York City is conducting a ground-breaking historical experiment to provide a bold answer to this growing demand.

On August 9, 16, 23, three Saturdays between 7am - 1pm, the following streets will be pedestrian only, closed completely to auto traffic:

- Downtown Routes - 6.9 miles: Park Avenue between East 72nd Street & East 14th Street and Centre Street/Lafayette Street/4th Avenue between Brooklyn Bridge and East 14th Street.
- Central Park Route - 6 miles.
- Hudson River Greenway (between Battery Park & Inwood) - 14 miles

NY's government is taking the lead on this one, headed by the NY Department of Transportation and Mayor Bloomberg, "If it works, we'll certainly consider doing it again. We have never been afraid to try new ideas, especially the ones that have the potential to improve the quality of life." See the mayor's public announcement here.

How the social network influences the art scene

In the previous entry we looked at Elizabeth Currid's The Economics of a Good Party and the process by which arts and culture added to the economy. Today, we look at Elizabeth's answer to the question, "How does the social community (ie the patrons, the attendees, the participants) influence the emergence of arts and culture that then translates to economic impact?" Her four ways:

1. Access to gatekeepers both formally and informally - Gatekeepers are defined as the purveyors of taste, so if you're friends with them, you're directly influencing the source.
2. Interaction across art/culture sectors - A bit related to branding as well as the experience economy, music for instance, becomes more appealing when it's associated with inspired venues and events.
3. Establishment of "weak ties" - This speaks to the power of community, where just being associated within a certain scene long enough will eventually bring you to the relationships you'll need, via 'weak ties', to the 'strong ties' that invest in your idea.
4. Distinction and emergence of taste, genre and subculture - See Yelp!, where visitors to the site don't check out the critics' reviews, they peruse their peers. This is word of mouth in one of its most efficient and effective forms.

Image source: kt_jewson.

'The Economics of a Good Party'

How does art and culture translate into economic value? Elizabeth Currid, author of The Warhol Economy presents an invaluable scientific view on an industry regarded as anything but in her article, The Economics of a Good Party: Social Mechanics and the Legitimization of Art/Culture.

Simply speaking, arts and culture establishes economic value the more it's recognized as a scene, when people pay to share in the experience via goods or events. The real question is, how does it become a scene in the first place?

Elizabeth details the process through three role players: cultural gatekeepers, cultural commodity intermediaries, and the social community of consumers:

- The gatekeepers are the equivalent of the Renaissance's Medici, the purveyors of talent and taste that have earned such a reputation through success, whether it's a renowned designer or just someone who knows how to throw great parties. Once a gatekeeper identifies a cultural find, they work with...

- The intermediaries who represent the distribution channels (eg nightclubs, stores, parties) that provide consumer access to the 'chosen' associated cultural products and services. Place-specific reputation, exclusivity and rarity are context-oriented influencers.

Then there's the cultural social network representing the market itself that not only makes or breaks a cultural trend, but is playing an increasingly larger role in influencing the economic viability of artistic and cultural taste, especially in a rising crowdsourcing economy...

Image: A 5-week art scene generated by gatekeeper George Koch of Artomatic in Washington DC.

Digital infrastructure replacing an asphalt one

In 1956 the Federal Aid Highway Act ushered in the auto age, with the U.S. government funding 90% of the costs to build 41,000 miles of interstate highways over 20 years, an equivalent of $200 billion today. Highways are still being built, but they're also coming down as cities are realizing that a digital infrastructure (ie the internet; wi-fi, fiber optic, cellular, satellite networks) negates a continued need for heavy asphalt investment, and at a much lower economic, environmental and social price. It's no coincidence that the rise of a digital economy is being accompanied by a rise in pedestrian-oriented places.

President Eisenhower was inspired to legislate the highway act based on his experience as an army officer on a convoy across the U.S., "The old convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land." This is an interesting counter-perspective to the thousands of critics of the pedestrian-oriented transition that says we're too Euro-centric.

The question is, who will be today's Eisenhower who states, "The old networks had started me thinking about good, fiber optic cables, but cities around the world had made me see the wisdom of broadband wireless across the land... and executes the digital equivalent of the 1956 Highway Act.

Maybe it's you.

Image source: Wi-fi in Bryant Park, Manhattan by Marionzetta.