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What Is the 15-Minute Ci...
What is the 15-minute city? It's every city ever built by humans on this planet until a century ago, but with a catchy new name. And if the old parts haven't been destroyed in the last century, it's where the tourists go. And people travel across oceans to see the best of them.
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Forty years ago, a few pioneers decided to start building 15-minute cities again. Actually, they built 5-minute cities because they didn't think people would walk 15. This is Seaside, Florida where it all began. Time magazine called it "the little town that changed the world."
The term "15-Minute City" is much newer; Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo laid out the 15-Minute City idea in her 2020 re-election campaign. It was a sticky term, and has spread around the world since then. People who understand it realize it's much like the most-loved parts of the city.
This 🧵 is about what the 15-Minute City is and what it includes, not what it's not. The first thing it includes is neighborhood groceries. Ideally there are several in a 15-Minute City because I'm of the few people happy to walk that far with a bag of groceries.
Every 15-Minute City should include an old-line hardware store that includes 95% of your hardware needs. Sure, for the other 5% you'll need to go out and fight traffic on the highway to get to Home Depot, but having a store like Anders nearby gives you choices.
The 15-Minute City makes it easy for people to open a business and become an entrepreneur. It's important to be able to start small with a Single-Crew Workplace like these food carts at Seaside.
Places that transform themselves into 15-Minute Cities attract a lot of young talent because they have a much higher Cool Factor than places with much fewer choices. Boomers & older grew up with few choices (ABC, NBC, CBS), but young talent won't tolerate that. Have more choices.
If you build higher Cool Factor, you'll have more visitors. So 15-Minute Cities need a good supply of B&Bs scattered through their neighborhoods, but not on the quietest streets.
A good 15-Minute City doesn't just have lots of choices on where to do business within walking or cycling distance, but also lots of choices on where and how to live. Here's a great cottage court in New Town at St. Charles, just across the river from St. Louis.
A 15-Minute City also has a wide range of home sizes. This cottage and this mansion are just a few blocks away at the Waters near Montgomery, Alabama. The lady of the mansion said "I love living in a place with many home sizes; it's far more interesting this way.
Most people don't want to, but some love living over the shop where things are hopping at the town square, or on Main Street. America was largely built by people living over Main Street. The 15-Minute City brings back this fundamental choice.
Wherever you choose to live in a 15-Minute City, you're more likely to get to know your neighbors because places not dominated by cars make it easier to get acquainted. After these two finished visiting, the lady on the porch said "that's a new neighbor I met just then."
Back to other ingredients: every 15-Minute City should have a Maker Space or two. It's part laboratory, part classroom, where future entrepreneurs are figuring out new stuff and learning new skills that will serve them (and maybe you) well for years to come.
Single-Crew Workplace shops around a court have a long history in 15-Minute Cities. This is Perspicacity at Seaside, but this goes back to the forums, markets, and bazaars of antiquity. No 15-Minute City was ever complete without them.
