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  #21  
Old Posted Oct 31, 2014, 2:45 PM
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The worst part is how poorly defined the objectives are. If there is a definition, it is hare-brained written in March and if there are crucial gaps, it truly exposes that it is a naked wish for something to happen. Innovation districts implies a sort of Marshallian district, where no large quantities are made but a lot of skunkwork is done - and if there is large quantities to be made, it will not result in local construction jobs to build the factories to do so.

Just being snarky.
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  #22  
Old Posted Oct 31, 2014, 3:45 PM
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Convention centers have done well in some cities, but overreached in others, and are now costing their cities a lot of money to prop up.

Somtimes "innovation districts" don't involve a ton of public money, or the public money is worthwhile regardless of whether the district thrives, like STL's new rail station I assume. And even a small amount of development might be worth it, by helping the city's image beyond any payroll, tax base, etc.

But yes, many succeed on a smaller scale than planned. Sometimes the success is more about grouping things that would happen locally anyway, rather than increasing the local pie. The silicon whatevers of the 80s and biotech districts of the 90s are examples.

STL appears to be doing things well, aside from the potential disadvantage of not being of the edge of Downtown, which might be worth the tradeoffs for all I know. Maybe it'll turn out big, and result in large high-wage employers that stay in town. Maybe any public dollars that go to it couldn't be better spent in other ways. The attempt is probably smart regardless.
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  #23  
Old Posted Oct 31, 2014, 6:17 PM
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Somtimes "innovation districts" don't involve a ton of public money, or the public money is worthwhile regardless of whether the district thrives, like STL's new rail station I assume.
In addition to the Cortex "innovation district" this light rail station will serve two neighborhoods on either side of Forest Park Ave and is adjacent to a bunch of new retail (including IKEA) and several new large (though not tall) apartment buildings under construction.

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STL appears to be doing things well, aside from the potential disadvantage of not being of the edge of Downtown, which might be worth the tradeoffs for all I know.
The Cortex district is intentionally located halfway between St. Louis University and the Washington University School of Medicine/Barnes-Jewish Hospital medical complex (~1 mile apart). So in this case I think it's better positioned here than on the edge of downtown.
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  #24  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 4:53 AM
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New from The Harvard Business Review.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Rise of Urban Innovation Districts
Bruce Katz & Julie Wagner
Harvard Business Review
NOVEMBER 12, 2014

Quote:
"Globally, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Medellin, Montreal, Seoul, Stockholm, and Toronto all contain emerging innovation districts. In the United States, the most iconic districts can be found in the downtowns and midtowns of Atlanta, Cambridge, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis. In each, advanced research universities, medical complexes, and clusters of tech and creative firms are sparking business expansion as well as residential and commercial growth.

Other innovation districts are developing in Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle. Former industrial and warehouse areas are undergoing a renaissance, powered by their enviable location along transit lines, proximity to downtowns and waterfronts, and recent additions of advanced institutions. (Note, for example, Carnegie Mellon University’s decision to place its Integrative Media Program at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.)"
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  #25  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 4:57 AM
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Check out this video of Cambridge Innovation Center's recent grand-opening and launch gala in CORTEX - St. Louis' innovation district.

CIC-St. Louis

Video Link
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  #26  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 3:58 PM
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Hasn't this been the role of cities since, I don't know, the beginning of human civilization?
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  #27  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 4:48 PM
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Yes, but that was just science, engineering, product development, and so on. This is Innovation, with branding.

More seriously, cities have highly variable levels of innovation going on, whether in the depths of old-line companies, in start-ups, or in university research where the big cities are in the 10 figures. It's appropriate and necessary for cities to try to improve in this regard, even if the same was true 40 years ago. San Francisco doesn't need branded districts to improve beyond what it is, but some cities can benefit from that sort of thing.
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  #28  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 5:00 PM
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Innovation Districts are yesterday's news.

I'm still waiting for 'The Rise of Hammock Districts'.
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  #29  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 5:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
Innovation Districts are yesterday's news.

I'm still waiting for 'The Rise of Hammock Districts'.
"You know, there's a little place called Mary Ann's Hammocks. The nice thing about that place is Mary Ann gets in the hammock with you."
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  #30  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 6:52 PM
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In Buffalo they just held a giant competition for new business to startup there, called 43 North, part of Governor Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" initiative

This excellent video talks about Buffalo's innovation history
Video Link
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  #31  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 7:47 PM
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University City - Philadelphia's Innovation District is booming.

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http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=166
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  #32  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 8:44 PM
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Ok, I'll give props to Seattle's main in-town innovation district, South Lake Union and the Denny Triangle, which are basically the 400 acres between Downtown proper and Lake Union.

Amazon's HQ probably counts as innovation, even though it's almost a mature company. They're currently building about 3,000,000 sf, and they plan millions more. Here's a Seattle Times story from this week that details what should soon be about 9,000,000 sf: http://seattletimes.com/html/busines...21planxml.html

Additionally, office buildings of 11, 12, and 12 stories are under construction. One at 21 stories is in demo. Residential projects underway total 2,600 units including lowrises and towers of 40, 40, 39, and 20 stories. Laboratory projects include an eight-story multitenant building and a six-story full-block project for the Allen Brain Institute. Remarkably only one hotel is underway in that area.

Other major occupants in the area (ones with at least a couple buildings) include an annex of the University of Washington (5 buildings), the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (8 buildings or so), and the Seattle Children's Research (a few). If you cross Aurora (my numbers exclude this) you can add the Gates Foundation.

The volume of proposed buildings is similar what's underway now. The biggest growth area might be 40 story residentials, of which about a dozen are proposed in spots that limit them to 400' plus 40' for mechanical/architecture/amenities.
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  #33  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 8:47 PM
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TechShop is headed to St. Louis' innovation district - CORTEX.

It is said the small credit card device reader, Square, founded by St. Louisans Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, left St. Louis because the device could not be engineered in St. Louis.

Dorsey and McKelvey went to TechShop in San Francisco to build a prototype. Now, Square is based in SF although St. Louis has a small engineering office of Square.

TechShop Commits to Build Workshop in St. Louis’ Cortex District
New facility adds an "elite amenity" to the growing Midtown innovation district
November 14, 2014 4:39 AM

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – TechShop, a do-it-yourself workshop and fabrication studio, will begin construction on a St. Louis location this winter, with hopes to open in early 2016.

The workshop boasts equipment like laser cutters, 3D printers, woodworking tools, welding tools and even industrial sewing machines for people to buildwhatever they can dream up.

“Regardless of their background, their interests or their skill level, they can come in and take classes, learnhow to use all kinds of equipment, and build everything from car to bicycles to computer and robots,” COO Dan Woods explained. “You name it.”

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Last edited by Arch City; Nov 14, 2014 at 10:03 PM.
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  #34  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 8:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001 View Post
"You know, there's a little place called Mary Ann's Hammocks. The nice thing about that place is Mary Ann gets in the hammock with you."
Mary Ann's is nice, but when I'm shopping for a good business hammock, I find that Hammock Hut and Put-Your-Butt-There tend to have the best hammock merchandise in stock along with very competitive hammock pricing.

Whatever you do, avoid Hammocks-R-Us, it's just another shitty hammock chain (like we don't have enough of those already).

I've also heard good things about Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, but I've never checked out their hammocks myself.

Does anyone know who invented the hammock?
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Last edited by Steely Dan; Nov 14, 2014 at 10:31 PM.
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  #35  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2014, 10:55 PM
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Arch City: Does the STL metro area have programs to try to increase black employment percentages in the Tech sector? How can we integrate all of those who feel disenfranchised in the area (obviously a big problem that has exploded since Michael Brown) and plug them in to these new quality jobs being created in Cortex?

And wow University City in Philly is looking impressive are those all office towers or any residential going up. I think sometimes this forum sleeps on Philly seems to be a lot coming up there.
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  #36  
Old Posted Nov 15, 2014, 5:17 AM
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Does anyone know who invented the hammock?
The Taino Indians of the Caribbean. They took Europe by storm when Columbus brought some back from his little adventures in the West Indies.

You're welcome.
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  #37  
Old Posted Nov 15, 2014, 8:04 AM
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Arch City: Does the STL metro area have programs to try to increase black employment percentages in the Tech sector? How can we integrate all of those who feel disenfranchised in the area (obviously a big problem that has exploded since Michael Brown) and plug them in to these new quality jobs being created in Cortex?
There are many programs in St. Louis like Cortex-based LaunchCode, CoderGirl etc., which blacks and other minorities are welcomed and encouraged to participate. Started by Square co-founder Jim McKelvey, I have seen images/media of African-Americans - men and women - participating in these coder trainings/classes. There could be more, however.

Also, I think African-Americans like David Steward, founder of World Wide Technology and UMSL alum, Tony Gauda (below), founder of Bitcasa, could do more to encourage more African-American growth and participation in technology in St. Louis.

Tony Gauda left his native St. Louis for Silicon Valley and took Bitcasa with him. He is also the founder of ThinAir - a new security startup based in SV. Yomi Toba is the co-founder of both Lockerdome.com and Pushup Social. He lives in St. Louis.

There are more than a few AA techies and tech companies in St. Louis, World Wide Technology being the largest by far, but the region could definitely stand to have more participation.


Tony Gauda
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  #38  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2014, 8:55 AM
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Originally Posted by summersm343 View Post
University City - Philadelphia's Innovation District is booming.

Photo credit Flyers2001



http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=166
I can't imagine what this area is going to look like once Drexel completes its innovation neighborhood.
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  #39  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2014, 8:29 PM
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Can you fill us in more about what is happening in this part of Philly? What is the feeling like in the city right now, one of optimism plentiful jobs for young people, things on the upswing etc? Will Philly really start to have a strong pull as a serious alternative to NYC for a large group of people? Philly fascinates me right now but there isn't much talk about it on the forum.
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  #40  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2015, 3:58 PM
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Techshop is going to anchor yet-another new building in CORTEX. The new 60,000 square foot Cannon Design building was not originally planned.



Source
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