Fast Cities

The Star-Studded Design of Vegas' $8.5 Billion CityCenter

Alissa Walker — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:19:49 -0500

Helsinki Named World Design Capital for 2012

Alissa Walker — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:20:54 -0500

Yee-haw! Texas Dominates Best-Performing Cities Index

Dan Macsai — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:28:32 -0500

Perhaps that famous photo illustration should read, "Everything's bigger--and better!--in Texas." Lone Star cities, led by Austin (#1) and Ft. Hood (#2), lassoed nine of the top 16 spots on this year's Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index, which ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs.

Rio Wins 2016 Summer Olympics Bid

Clay Dillow — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:45:16 -0400

Rio de Janeiro? After years of speculation, a rigorous four-year $50 million pitch by Chicago’s bid team, and impassioned pleas by Oprah and, you know, the Obamas, Chicago was the first city eliminated as a possible host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics by the International Olympic Committee this morning, followed by Tokyo and finally Madrid.

Feedback

Fast Company staff — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:00:00 -0400

Changes

Thirty-six months, predicts Terminator director McG: By then, any content you want will be available on your choice of screens, from the one in your pocket to the 100-foot-long version at your local multiplex. That was one message our May cover subject delivered to an audience of media insiders and Fast Company readers (invited via our tweet-stream, @fastcompany).

Fast Cities 2009: The 13 Most Creative Cities in the World

Fast Company staff — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:09 -0400

Seattle, Fast Company's City of the Year, boasts the ingredients that we believe will bring our communities--and country--back to prosperity: smarts, foresight, social consciousness, creative ferment. This year, singular bright ideas have earned 12 other cities places on our honor roll.

Why Seattle is the Most Creative City of 2009

Fast Company staff — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:05 -0400

Where are the cool and the creative in Seattle? Ten Seattleites on the places that inspire them in their hometown.

"Seattle is a great city for runners, and one of my favorite places to run is along the Downtown waterfront. The views of Seattle on one side and the vistas over Puget Sound on the other are truly inspiring."

Adelaide - Company of Friends

Fast Cities: New Orleans

Anya Kamenetz — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

The recovery of post-Katrina New Orleans has unleashed a new generation of social entrepreneurs. A sterling example: the Broadmoor Improvement Association and its dynamic president, LaToya Cantrell. Broadmoor is a racially mixed, middle-class historic district dating to the 1920s. During Katrina, it saw 7 feet of flooding. The venerable association found a new mission after the storm, when much of the area was in danger of demolition and rezoning as green space.

Fast Cities: Taipei, Taiwan

Abha Bhattarai — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

Taipei has strived to achieve "zero landfill, total recycling" by 2010, 30 years ahead of the UN's trash targets. It will probably fall short, but its policies are still exemplary. The city has encouraged the private sector to build composting facilities and recycling plants, and requires residents to pay for trash collection by the bag. Garbage trucks playing Beethoven's "Für Elise" and Badarzewska's "The Maiden's Prayer" collect trash, which must be in city-approved bags, from residents, who toss the bags into the trucks themselves.

Fast Cities: Tucson

Ellen McGirt — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

It all began with a dare. In 2003, Tucson native and former surgeon general Richard Carmona challenged his friend, Mayor Robert E. Walkup, to turn their hometown into the model of a healthy city. He has done it, reshaping his city into a place where health and safety aren't an afterthought, but an integral part of municipal planning.

Fast Cities: San Francisco

Zachary Wilson — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

Many people joke about stashing their cash under the mattress, but what if that were really the only option? Bank on San Francisco, a public-private partnership formed by the city and several financial organizations, gives citizens access to bank accounts and financial education. When the pilot launched in September 2006, there were 50,000 unbanked households in the city. After two years, 25,000 of them had signed up for accounts. One reason many people hadn't had checking accounts is they lacked government-issued U.S. IDs.

Fast Cities: Cleveland

Abha Bhattarai — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

One of America's most blighted cities, hard hit by rustification and foreclosure, is also home to one of its loveliest urban initiatives, a plan to create acres of tree nurseries, oases of native plants, and community gardens with bees and chickens. Devised at Kent State University's Urban Design Collaborative, the strategy is part of Reimagining a More Sustainable Cleveland Initiative, funded by the city and the Surdna Foundation. It's meant to boost property values and community spirit in neighborhoods plagued by vacant lots and condemned buildings.

Fast Cities: New York

Ellen McGirt — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

Watching New York police commissioner Ray Kelly play the bongos alongside Cyndi Lauper at a recent NYPD Foundation fund-raiser, it's easy to forget that he has made battling terrorists part of his daily grind. His favorite refrain: "If we've been safe after 9/11, it's because of us, not the feds."

Fast Cities: Philadelphia

Abha Bhattarai — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

How do you save your home from foreclosure? Philadelphia's answer: communication. The city's Mortgage Foreclosure Protection Program relies on door-to-door outreach, free counseling, and meetings between those on the brink of losing their homes and their mortgage lenders. Judges serve as mediators. Since Mayor Michael Nutter's administration established the plan in June 2008, it has saved more than 900 home owners from foreclosure; 1,400 more are midrescue.

Fast Cities: Vancouver, British Columbia

Abha Bhattarai — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

The host of the 2010 Winter Games is going for green, using its big moment as a chance to catalyze change. All 18 buildings in Vancouver's Olympic Village are being built to LEED Gold standards, except the community center and one residential building, which are targeting LEED Platinum. Heat recovered from wastewater treatment will warm the Olympic Village's buildings. Elsewhere in the Olympic complex, the granite for paving and weirs is being harvested from demolished buildings.

AI 2.0

Fast Cities: Houston

Zachary Wilson — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

A street, a few gray parking lots, and a little patch of unused green. Dreary. When the property in downtown Houston came up for sale, city leaders knew they could find a better use for it than yet another condo/office building or a parking garage. They proposed Discovery Green, a 12-acre, $122 million park in the heart of downtown that has reminded urban planners of the power and potential of green space. Year-round programming -- exercise classes, concerts, films, festivals, a farmers' market -- have helped Discovery Green beat attendance forecasts.

Fast Cities: Chicago

Zachary Wilson — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

It seems almost too simple: one card that gives access to the trains, buses, and a local car-sharing program. The Smart Card is Chicago-based nonprofit I-Go Car Sharing's idea to extend public transportation to include public cars. According to a recent study, most cars in Chicago -- Fast Company's 2008 City of the Year -- sit parked 95% of the time. "We have to make better use of our assets," says I-Go CEO Sharon Feigon.

Fast Cities: Denver

Zachary Wilson — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

The arts may often be associated with money and power, but the Mile-High City's Five by Five program opens the doors of Denver's cultural institutions to some of its youngest and poorest residents. Five by Five gives all children and families in the Head Start program free access to 12 museums and cultural venues, including the Denver Art Museum, Colorado Ballet, and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. In 2008, 3,000 participating families clocked 30,000 visits.

Fast Cities: Malmö, Sweden

Abha Bhattarai — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

After recession nearly wiped out Malmö's industrial base in the 1980s, the city had a chance to start over. It created eco-friendly neighborhoods of transformed tenements and old shipyards. Much of Western Harbour now runs solely on renewable energy, including wind and solar, while organic waste from the area is turned into biogas. In Augustenborg, roof gardens reduce runoff and insulate homes, while a carpool system and pedestrian- and bike-friendly roads help cut vehicle use.

Fast Cities 2009: Seattle Is the City of the Year

Noah Robischon — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:42:51 -0400

Seattle, the city that sprawls across seven hills, is Fast Company's city of the year for 2009. A visit to the city last month reminded me of all the reasons it was chosen. The car rental agency at the airport handed me the smart key to a Toyota Prius--the first time I'd ever been offered a hybrid from a rental agency.

Will New Yorkers Walk More Because of the Subway Price Hike? At Least They Can

Alissa Walker — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:18:33 -0400

New Yorkers today are upset over mass transit fares being hiked from $2 to $2.50, and nationwide, many light-rail and other mass-transit projects await stimulus funding. The best way to blow off some of that steam? Take a walk!

Fast Cities 2009 Reader Nominations: Des Moines, IA

Fast Company staff — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:08:12 -0400

Nominations for the 2009 Fast Cities of the Year are pouring in. Here's an entry on behalf of Des Moines, IA: Des Moines is like no other city. Whether you are a guest, a transplant or a home-grown DM dweller, you are welcomed with open arms.

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Fast Cities 2009 Reader Nominations: Washington, DC

Fast Company staff — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:56:50 -0500

Nominations for the 2009 Fast Cities of the Year are pouring in. Here's an entry on behalf of Washington, DC: DC is one of the most diverse cities in the world. We have people of so many different countries because we are where all the embassies of the world are located. Additionally, being in the city where the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo are located makes this area so creative and cultural. It also helps that they are all free.
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Vote for Fast Cities 2009

Fast Company staff — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:00:02 -0500

Chicago and London topped our 2008 Cities of the Year list. This year we're asking for your help in choosing the most exuberant, diverse and growing city to top the list of Fast Cities for 2009. Click here to submit your nomination.

What Makes Chicago the Creative Capital of the Universe?

Kate Rockwood — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:15:08 -0400

Here leading Chicago business people and artisans weigh in on the pressing question, "Is Chicago the creative capital of the Universe?"

“Big yes! A great creative place has to have great art, great food, and a combination of beauty and grit to be inspired by. Chicago has all of that.”
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