As the shopping season begins, can the satisfaction associated with little shops cause us to be resilient and spend a little less? Maybe we should ease up on our zoning restrictions, and at least make it possible.
"We’re happy when we go for a run. We’re even more happy when we go for a run in a gorilla suit — at least according to Roko Belic, director of the award-winning documentary, HAPPY. That’s because some change is gonna do ya good. Which is one of the many reasons that we placemakers advocate for immersive urban environments, and not the monoculture of suburbia. And why we go as far as to argue that these sorts of diverse, character-rich neighbourhoods actually make us happier."
"While millions of people now agree with the preceding paragraph, the challenge now is agreeing on just how diverse we’re willing for places to be. For instance, most would agree on the value of mixing the uses of some buildings, with office and dwellings over or beside shopfronts, but we don’t always agree on scale."
The discussion goes on to talk about retail size, using images from Venice shops as a little inspiration.
FULL STORY: Black Friday: Get your gorilla on
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research