Random Thoughts on Caffeine and Sustainability

Location, Location, and Starbucks

At the end of last month a news report floated across the multiple levels of the news industry, “When a Starbucks Moves Into a Neighborhood, Values Rise.” Fascinating to say the least, scary to say the most. Simply put the further away from a Starbucks coffee shop the lower your home’s value (Click Here). 

Back in my urban planning days designing retail centers and neighborhood strip malls for my developer clients, the mantra was: “Get me a Starbucks!” Without a doubt the most important (and busy) person in retail was and is the regional forward planner for Starbucks. Having a Starbucks in your retail center was like a super sized magnet attractive all manner of retailers and businesses. It could and would literally make your deal. I wonder how many developers took their tentative lease agreement to the bank; it was probably as good as a negotiable bond.

This also led to a number of books on the effects of the appearance of coffee shops in the urban fabric. Called “third places,” they have become social centers, meeting places, Craigslist drops, offices, writer’s nooks, and places to safely escape. The other two places were home and work.

So now Starbucks is helping to drive the housing industry, which of course validates all that wonky urban design theory flashed about fifteen years ago about needing to put mini-retail centers in residential neighborhoods. Many tried and many failed due primarily to the lack of decent business plans, cheap rents, and of course customers. I guess all they really needed was a Starbucks.

(Full disclosure: I do own Starbucks stock, I have visited a Starbucks in the last 24 hours, and I am writing this with a cup of Keurig pod coffee, Starbucks ‘House Blend’ in a very nice cup to my right).

Words, Words, Words

During the last few years so many new words have been dropped on society one begins to wonder about their real meaning. The current list includes (but not limited to): sustainability (corollary ‘Green Growth’), organic, green (‘Green Chic’), carbon footprint (and its corollaries ‘cookprint’ and Carbon Neutral), locavore, green roofs, and of course Greenhouse Effect.

And to my way of thinking much of this is environmental self aggrandizing marketing and baloney. The all-encompassing term is sustainability. The simple practice of insuring what we humans do is not terminal for us and/or the planet. All the other terms seems to graduate from this basic term, a term  that will have a hundred definitions if you ask a hundred people. A lack of definition allows for the mongrelization of the word and complete loss of meaning, and that is where we are now with all these terms. One can grow quite paranoid and itchy if they try to live up to the requirements of being a locavore (eating food produced locally – of course determined by someone else), and worrying about their carbon footprint while driving to a Whole Foods in a Prius imported from Japan. But they can be comforted knowing that the plastic in the Prius is:

In constructing the Prius, Toyota used a new range of plant-derived ecological bioplastics, made out of cellulose derived from wood or grass instead of petroleum. The two principal crops used are kenaf and ramie. Kenaf is a member of the hibiscus family, a relative to cotton and okra; ramie, commonly known as China grass, is a member of the nettle family and one of the strongest natural fibres, with a density and absorbency comparable to flax. Toyota says this is a particularly timely breakthrough for plant-based eco-plastics because 2009 is the United Nations’ International Year of Natural Fibres, which spotlights kenaf and ramie among others. (Wikipedia)

Now doesn’t that just make you all warm and fuzzy? And how is this sustainable when the products are shipped thousands of miles to the end user, who still puts gasoline in the damn thing. As with most elements in this social/political discussion it is about appearances - not reality. There is a term used by the environmental industry (make no mistake it is an industry) that defines those using these buzzwords for their own evil capitalistic ends as “greenwashing.” One can quite easily use the term define the federal grant needy environmental movement as greenwashed itself.

And by the way most of the fuel (coffee and tea) that runs modern civilization comes from Brazil, Vietnam (2^nd largest grower), Columbia and Central America, and Indonesia. Now how sustainable is that?

One more bit of silliness. It was reported that some environmentalists were concerned that Boston would willfully pollute the harbor and Charles River by dumping its snow directly into the surrounding ocean. Maybe it can barged to California where we need it and besides what’s going to happen when it melts anyway. Just saying.

Stay tuned . . . . . . . .

Random Thoughts

Starbucks – Rusky style

There was quite a kerfuffle last week over the NBC admission that they were violating Olympic rules by allowing their own personal Starbucks loose on the unsuspecting Russians and tourists wandering the venue grounds. Buckaholics became unhinged when they saw these special NBCrs carrying their own Starbucks cups outside their compound and had no way of participating. New Olympic rules forbid this illicit coffee from Russian and Olympic territory – only McDonalds, who had paid handsomely for the right to sell American coffee, was permitted (and maybe a few others). For the Olympics it is "pay-to-play." I can think of many towns in the USofA that would be thrilled for a Starbucks. You wonder how much NBC paid for the creation of the first Russian pop-up Starbucks. GO HERE

Electric News

Tesla's stock is soaring after a bit of a dip toward the end of last year. At Thanksgiving last year it was trading at 120, now it's at 253, a 200% climb. While the bottom feeders are trying to steel everything Fisker Automotive (not to be confused with the scissor maker – an honest mistake - one vowel e for an a) has in its government supported plant, the other government supported electric car maker (Tesla) is going gang busters with huge growth projections hampered only by a reliable battery supplier. The other government supported battery makers lost the ability to recharge their company with money and went upside down. As you well know I am not a fan of government handouts (no matter what the experts say about past successes); it is always quality management and business skill that outweighs any federal handout or sexy brochure, and Elon Musk seems to be that guy at Tesla. The Fisker Karma was cool. Maybe somebody with business sense will make it work, but then again, maybe not.

And it is no surprise that Tesla is looking outside the state of California to build its $5 billion battery plant. Seems that all the nasty stuff needed to make the necessary things that make environmentally friendly cars go is not tolerated in uber-green California. Do as I say – but just not here. GO HERE

Solar Power

While it is grist for the subsidy mill (see above), the solar industry keeps plugging along. I was very pleased to see that Shea Homes is now applying their zero-net-zero homes to their new Trilogy Active Adult communities. Their goal is that the house has zero energy cost to the buyer over the short and long term. Called SheaXero, it is a state of the art solar energy package that, for a limited time, is at no extra cost to the buyer. There is absolutely no reason that these systems don't become mandatory, like modern heating and cooling systems built into homes today. These "modern utilities" are built into the cost of the house and are, for the most part, invisible except for normal maintenance. If we build a million equipped homes every year, think of the environmental and energy savings if each is solar. MORE HERE

Internal Migration

Recent analysis of census data and other population counters such as home building reinforce the fact that people are moving to the suburbs. While some cities have shown some numbers improvement, others have not. New Yorkers (Manhatten) are moving to the Bronx and Queens (yes, these are considered suburbs) and east out of Los Angeles to San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Whether housing costs or safety are the concern are regional issues. But, I can assure you, this is not the last of the discussions or cultural trashing of this post WWII choice of home and hearth (that is where you can burn wood in your fireplace). HERE

And the Density Is What?

Whoever thought that the Shed Shop would become a homebuilder? They are building 99-foot square houses is in Madison, Wisconsin for the homeless and environmentally concerned. Developed by former organizers of the Occupy Movement, this shelter has a bed, a table, and a compostable toilet. The density by my calculation, since most of these people can't afford a car, may be as high as 150 detached single-family units per acre. I'm reminded that after WWII the government put out helpful pamphlets on how to convert a chicken coop into a home. This is, I'm sure, an idea that most cities will politely say no too. MORE HERE

Stay Tuned . . . . . . . . .

Are Corporate High-Tech Campuses Really Dead?

Years ago, in the Neolithic 1980s, I was job captain on the planning of a number of then high tech campuses for some of the up-and-coming companies of the day, Sun Microsystems, Rolm, HP and maybe even an IBM. I also did some master planning of campuses that were incubator developments that would later become the Apples and Ciscos. I worked in Scotland, Texas, Colorado, and of course the mothership of technocracies, California.

What was common was not just a cohesive master plan with hundreds of thousands of square feet, but a land use plan with lakes and gymnasiums, restaurants/cafeterias, and other cool stuff. The goal was not unlike a college campus – thus the high-tech business campus began. These ancestors of the 21st century tech campus, especially in Silicon valley, have now been dissolved and reimagined as the technocratic social media campus and other multi-use business parks (old school term) we see today. But what is the future for these companies and their insatiable need for space?

An article that crossed my desk GO HERE from the San Francisco Bay Area real estate news company The Registry, got me thinking. They dug into the past reasons and the murky futures of the high tech campus, albeit from a totally different perspective – the high-density, vertical, downtown mega building in the mega city and its future as “THE” place for this type of campus growth. I wondered what could be expected from these non-suburban company GHQs? Why downtown San Francisco, why New York, why not?

Most tech campuses are still suburban or at least within the urban ring, they are near airports and freeways – workers, even those on the web, still needed to show-up to work. They are near other tech campuses (potential employees), near universities (highly educated – low-pay employees), and less expensive housing (especially now), think Austin, Texas and Raleigh, North Carolina. The vision now is an uber-technocrat in SOHO, New York or SOMO, San Francisco with everything they need just a subway or taxi drive away. That would have never even passed as a shadow through the mind of a business owner back in the day. Then, as even now, home base was near where the owner/founder lived, not where a bunch of black jeaned techies with moussed hair, live. A problem that Silicon Valley has today is that all the cool kids want to live in San Francisco and work in Mountain View, or have a loft in New York City and not work in New Jersey. So the “factory” is moving - a boon to the landlords of the once old and cheap (not anymore) warehouse space in the south of Market area of San Francisco and the Bowery of New York. These are the metro-technicals of the future.

With this comes all the usual problems that retrofits have: severe lack of the essentials such as power, fiber optics, water, sewerage, parking and transit. Cities are bribing these companies to come and rebuild their old infrastructures for deferrals of taxes and fees. Suburban communities would kill for some of these companies, unfortunately the employees would rather be found dead than use the window at a drive-up Starbucks. Such is the life of the urban uber-techie; which black tee shirt to wear with which black jeans? but I generalize and I'm old. For the better cities these can be home runs, ask Boston and even Chicago.

This too will change, and soon, and morph into something different. Is face to face necessary in a high tech world? We are instantaneous and everywhere, so why a campus at all? A million square feet of old creaky wood flooring and spalling concrete columns is urban-chic, but you still need to put people in it. So a longer term vision may be in order.

The billions being spent by Apple for their new “suburban” campus is, maybe, up in the air (my speculation), especially when you lose more than 1/3rd of your market cap in less than six months. So we will wait and see.

Back in the day, when these were developer driven campuses, the first question was “What will it cost to retrofit this complex when the lease is up or the company has been bought out. What will I do with this dinosaur then?”

Not my problem I thought to myself, not my problem.

Stay Tuned . . . . . .

What, No Starbucks?

Traverse City, Michigan

In the early 21st Century, I was traveling through London (my favorite city), and wishing to enjoy the warm afternoon, took one of those open upper-deck tour buses through the city. We left in front of a Starbucks, and after completing the loop through the old and newer portions of this ancient city, I had counted 47 Starbucks. Mind you, this was over ten years ago, my guess, there are now 500. What city in America doesn’t have a Starbucks? It is a rite-of-passage from hick to chic.

Developers will kill to get a Starbucks on their front corner. Where Starbucks goes so does the neighborhood, more shops, better demographics, a follow-the-leader mentality develops. And to be honest I love the stuff, I drink it daily, own some shares, and eat lunch there once and while. I have even found a Starbucks on a pier in a fishing village in Turkey. They are literally everywhere and according to their growth projections, intend to have beach front stores in the Arctic when the ice cap melts. They believe the green in Greenland means opportunity.

So, earlier this year I was making a stop in my ancestral home in Northern Michigan, Traverse City, to have a book signing and reading (see right, Elk River). This comfortable town, with an historic pedigree and wonderful location, just whispers in the ear, “Relax, kick-back, enjoy.”

So as we approached, after an easy drive up from Chicago, I turned to my wife and said the infamous words, “Frappaccino?”

“Yes,” was the quick reply. So for the next fifteen minutes we drove up and down Front Street and State Street looking for the magical elixir. Nada, nothing, zilch, neyetsky, bumcus. What the heck is going on? This is the 21st Century; even a dock in Turkey has a Starbucks for Peets sake. Why not in my hometown? And, to be honest, I still don’t know why.

There is rumored to be one buried inside a Meijer’s Super Store, well super. And it’s on US-31 a few miles outside of town. Who cares? This is a town with 15,000 people for crying out loud, and, in summer, swells to three or four times that with tourists from cities like Chicago, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Lansing Michigan – all adequately served by the Seattle based chain of dope dealers caffeine pushers. You would think …

Front Street - Fall

The town’s bookstore, where I was signing, is a delight, Horizon Books, and they have a nice coffee bar that is well attended and quite good. But it’s not a Starbucks (one second while I sip), not the life giver, the morning kick-starter, the boot-in-the-butt we need to get rolling in the 21st Century.

Why not Traverse City? I really don’t know. I Googled it this morning and there is still only one, the US-31 store (if it’s even that big!). Is it a conspiracy to punish these fine people for the great beaches and less than crazy lifestyle? Is it because delivery costs are too high (doubt that – see Turkey above), is it because the local government has passed anti-franchise laws (don’t know), is it some fallout from the whole Michigan thing (whatever that is), I really don’t know. It’s a mystery.

Urbanists can scratch their collective heads over this. For me, well, it's a strange one and when we hit Grand Rapids (10 listed) on the way back to Chicago, I fulfilled my wife’s wish.

Stay Tuned . . . . . .