  Bvos Member Username: Bvos Post Number: 1499 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 70.228.2.1 |
Sounds like a good idea for Detroit, however the class here would have to be shorted by a day or two since the parking lot classes would have to be skipped. http://www.chicagotribune.com/ business/chi-0606040183jun04,1 ,7407567.story?ctrack=1&cset=t rue | ||
Eastsidedog Member Username: Eastsidedog Post Number: 498 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 12.47.224.8 |
Bvos, can't access the site. Copy and paste? | ||
Bvos Member Username: Bvos Post Number: 1501 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 70.228.2.1 |
You probably need to do a free registration to view the article. It's the Chicago Tribune so it's worthwhile to do it. Here's the article for those who don't want to do the free registration: FRONT AND CENTER Helping cities lure more `ruppies' Downtown living is mystery to many, urban planner says BY MARY UMBERGER Published June 4, 2006 Kyle Ezell thinks more Americans would live downtown if they only knew how. It's an acquired skill, he says, like ballroom dancing or trigonometry. "People take golf lessons because they've never done it before," says Ezell, an urban planner in Columbus, Ohio, who has worked on the redevelopment of several cities' downtowns. "People have never lived in cities before. My mission is to teach people how." So he's giving lessons. He's developed a course for suburban empty nesters and retirees that not only teaches how to pick a city retirement destination, but also the finer points of such urban needs as sensible walking shoes, the right bag for grocery shopping, how to tool around on a motor scooter, even how to hail a cab. So far he has only one taker, a community college in Columbus that will offer it as a two-day adult-education course. But he has also written a guide, "Retire Downtown: The Lifestyle Destination for Active Retirees and Empty Nesters," that will be published in the fall (Andrews McMeel Publishing). Though it includes the aforementioned how-to's on city living, its primary purpose is to scope out several dozen large and small cities that he deems retiree-friendly, offering neighborhoods for best access to health care, transportation, restaurants, noise levels, entertainment and other qualities. Though the book does come off as a bit boosterish, he is convinced people need to be educated on the appeal of city life because development policies have taught people that the only reason to be in one is to work. The message about the rest of the time: Go somewhere else. Parking lots Parking lots are symbolic of that because they turn neighborhoods into ghost towns after 5 p.m., Ezell says. "These lots could hold 50,000 residential units instead of 100,000 temporary cars," he says. "If people appreciated cities, then the landscape would automatically reflect this. They wouldn't stand for seeing another parking lot replace another building." Though many cities for years have had back-to-the-downtown campaigns, which typically revise zoning laws and offer financial incentives for redevelopment, they fall short, he says, because they miss a key point: "Most people don't like cities," he says. Or they're scared, he says--not necessarily of crime (though that's a factor) but of the unknowns of day-to-day life that deter them from making the leap from the cul-de-sac. "I've heard the same thing over and over again [from city governments], `We want people to live in the downtown neighborhoods that are struggling,"' he says. "Most towns are desperate for people, absolutely desperate." So Ezell started by founding a consulting firm, Get Urban America, to cultivate that craving--and charge for the instruction. "Most downtown developers concentrate on their granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances. I come in with an urban-living symposium," he said. He will consult with cities and developers on making downtowns more residentially friendly. He also will host a series of parties around the country to promote the "ruppie" lifestyle this fall, in conjunction with the release of the book. "Ruppie" is Ezell's coinage for "retired urban people." "Ruppies are different from yuppies, because they aren't fixated on material things," he said. "They want to help, to be part of the community and be creative and keep revitalized." Whatever they are called, their numbers are potentially huge, as the nation's Baby Boomers face retirement en masse, apparently with a desire for a new place to live and substantial funds to pay for it. "I think that all of the businesses, all the cultural institutions, everybody is trying to figure out what this emerging demographic is all about," says Ty Tabing, executive director of the Chicago Loop Alliance. The civic group is sponsoring one of Ezell's "ruppie parties" Sept. 14, at a time and place to be determined. Party, revival Ezell envisions the "ruppie" social gatherings as sort of a cross between a cocktail party and a revival meeting. "They're inviting all of the ruppies in the Loop and greater downtown area to come and meet one another," says Ezell. "We're going to ask them to invite their friends who don't live downtown. "People who have been scared to death of urban environments can talk to people who are into it already," he said. "The ruppies are going to tell their stories here, how their lives have changed." Paul Dravillas likes the show-and-tell idea. He and his wife, Patricia, navigated a learning curve after they sold their Orland Park home two years ago and bought a South Loop condo. CTA buses, in particular, were a curiosity after a lifetime of owning two cars. "Getting rid of one car was difficult," says Dravillas, 69, who spent his childhood on the South Side. But he says they don't miss that second car; he's happy to whip out his senior-citizen bus pass for almost daily trips on the No. 3 bus. "I did hear `Are you crazy?' from my friends a little bit--no, make that a lot--when we announced we were moving to the city," he says with a laugh. "But we love being back in the city. We do so many more things now--Millennium Park, the Cultural Center, sailing from Burnham Harbor--than we ever would have done if we had been driving back and forth from the suburbs." "It's a minority trend," says John McIlwain, senior fellow for housing at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. "But it's very significant for city centers because the people who are coming are upper income and they make small demand on city services. They spend a lot, so they pay a lot of sales taxes, and they pay high real estate taxes." He also agrees that many Americans don't understand city living "but culturally, that's changing, and it's not to be underestimated." "You see urban neighborhoods around the country coming alive, and you see the Baby Boom generation, which has traveled to Europe and they see European cities and they say, `Hey, I want that.' "From a cultural point of view, people are beginning to understand that cities are cool." Ezell, who says he has been infatuated with cities since he was a child and lives in a neighborhood just off downtown Columbus, says he has been criticized for disdaining suburban life. "I don't fault people for living anywhere they want to live," he says. But he worries that time is running out for American cities to recruit an active, involved core population. "We're living in the decade of the exurbs, as people move farther and farther away from the cities," he says. "Forty percent of the country lives in the exurbs now, according to the census. "A lot of people think that cities are on the comeback, but it's a trickle compared to what's happening in the exurban areas." ---------- mumberger@tribune.com Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune | ||
Eastsidedog Member Username: Eastsidedog Post Number: 501 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 12.47.224.8 |
LMAO!!!! I think this guy gets it. After talking to my friend last night who want's to move from Ferndale to South Lyon (He calls it "the country", NO!!!!) this article was a much needed dose of positivity.  Sometimes it feels like the DetroitYes forum is some kind of city living support group! | ||
Pdtpuck Member Username: Pdtpuck Post Number: 53 Registered: 01-2006 Posted From: 208.251.168.194 |
hmmm....day-to-day life's unknowns are different in the city? I thought they were called unknowns because you never know WHEN OR WHERE THEY"RE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!!! if you need a class to learn how to live (in the city or anywhere for that matter), perhaps a caring friend or family member can just pull the plug for you! | ||
Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 486 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 35.11.210.161 |
Detroit does have something simliar with Inside Detroit http://www.metrotimes.com/edit orial/story.asp?id=8700 http://www.insidedetroit.org/ |
