Category Archives: coffee shops/cafes

Walkable placemaking with outdoor public stairways

Note: – For purposes of this blogpost, stairways, stairs, and stair-steps are used interchangeably. Post updated 2/16/23 _______ The first time it occurred to me that outdoor stairways could be an important walkability tool for cities was while visiting Edinburgh, … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, archaeology, architecture, art, book reviews, books, branding, brewpubs, business, cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, culture, demographics, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, engineering, entertainment, environment, fitness, fun, geography, government, health, Health care, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, literature, logistics, Maps, Mining, mountains, natural history, nature, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, revitalization, shopping, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Stairway networks, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The steaming hot market for drive-thru coffee shops

Across the country there is an ongoing boom in freestanding drive-thru/walk-up coffee shops. These units rarely, if ever, incorporate indoor seating, though they may have some outdoor seats. Instead these shops are designed and meant for customers on the go … Continue reading

Posted in architecture, bicycling, branding, business, Cars, Cities, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, consumerism, Cuisine, economic development, food systems, geography, history, infrastructure, land use, marketing, placemaking, planning, product design, shopping, spatial design, Statistics, third places, traffic, Transportation, Uncategorized, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Roadside Americana: Atomic age stops, sights, and oddities

This blogpost is a little adventure through the sights and sounds of America’s roadside culture to depict how the Atomic Age has impacted it since 1945. A whole variety of businesses have adopted the term “atomic” or some variation thereof … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, advertising, archaeology, architecture, art, atomic age, branding, brewpubs, cities, coffee shops/cafes, Communications, consumerism, Cuisine, culture, economic development, entertainment, entrepreneurship, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, land use, Maps, marketing, military, place names, placemaking, Science, Science fiction, signs, technology, theaters, third places, toponymy, tourism, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Best brewed mobile coffee shop names

Some more fun with coffee shop names, except this time it’s ones that are mobile instead of fixed/stationary. The mobile hops are broken down into three categories – bikes or carts/trucks, cars, or vans/trailers. My personal favorite names are shown … Continue reading

Posted in business, Cities, coffee shops/cafes, Cuisine, culture, economic gardening, Food, food systems, fun, geography, land use, placemaking, planning, shopping, third places, tourism, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Best brewed coffee shop names from around the globe

The following is a list of my favorite coffee shop names that have creative, catchy, edgy, and fun names from across the world. Part of the success in any business is a memorable name. That being said, a great name … Continue reading

Posted in advertising, branding, cities, coffee shops/cafes, Cuisine, culture, economic gardening, entertainment, fair trade, Food, food systems, fun, geography, land use, marketing, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, Small business, tourism, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Quartet of Former Vintage Barber Shops

As a follow-up to my previous post of old barber shops still operating, here are four (4) that no longer are used as barber shops. Two (2) are currently empty though the barber shop in Honor was a sign shop … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Animals, architecture, business, Cities, coffee shops/cafes, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entrepreneurship, food trucks, geography, historic preservation, history, land use, Pets, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, Small business, third places, Uncategorized, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

America’s hottest hipsterhoods in 2017

The following list developed by hotspotrentals.com identifies the hottest inner city neighborhoods around the country in 2017. Having been to Midtown Detroit back in late August and seen how exciting it is, one can only imagine the vibrancy and hipness of the … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, art, Biking, branding, Cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, culture, density, diversity, economic gardening, fun, gentrification, geography, Housing, land use, new urbanism, place names, placemaking, planning, revitalization, spatial design, Statistics, third places, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Two downtown pedestrian malls that work and work very well

I have now had the pleasure of recently visiting two American cities with hugely successful pedestrian malls in their downtown core – St. Augustine, Florida and Boulder, Colorado. During the 1960s and 70s, pedestrian malls were seen as a possible … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, architecture, art, bicycling, Biking, branding, cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, colleges, commerce, Cuisine, culture, density, downtown, economic development, entertainment, Food, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, Housing, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, Maps, pictures, placemaking, planning, shopping, spatial design, third places, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Cool” vibes Up North in Boyne City, Michigan

Several weekends ago we ventured to Boyne City, Michigan to take in the vibrant fall colors of Northwest Lower Michigan. Beyond the standard driving tour, we stopped at a park/preserve that was once a busy ski hill in the winter … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, beer, branding, brewpubs, cities, coffee shops/cafes, Cuisine, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, hiking, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, placemaking, planning, recreation, third places, tourism, trails, Travel, urban planning, walking | Tagged | 1 Comment

TC is “Totally Cool”

There are certain cities that immediately exude a cool or hip vibe the very moment you arrive. I call this the “it factor,” as in you just know it and feel it as soon as you get there. It may be … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, beer, bicycling, branding, business, cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, Cuisine, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, family, film, Food, fun, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, movies, music, nature, peace, pictures, placemaking, planning, recreation, revitalization, sailing, seasons, skylines, spatial design, sports, sustainability, theaters, third places, topography, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, water trails, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment