Beer Oriented Development

Cross-posted at Dirty South Beer Club

Twin Cities' Surly Brewing recently won a plea to change a law that allow it to sell beer in its Brewery. Prior to the ruling makers of beer could give out glasses of beer for free during tours but could not sell and make beer in the same place. This prevented them from opening a restaurant or bar in the brewery. The Brewery's owner, Omar Ansari, petitioned the state to change the law. It's a law that is on the books in about half the states.

The ruling paved the way for more of Omar's business ventures, including looking for a site to open a new brewery and restaurant. This week, it was announced that Surly bought a site in St. Paul. It moves them closer to the city(s) and allows them to create a "destination brewery" - making the site of beer production one that is more connected with other businesses and communities in the St. Paul area. Surly also choose a brownfield site that is eligible for grants to assist with environmental remediation. The site's proximity to existing and planned neighborhoods and economic centers also makes it elegible for transit-oriented-development grants from the county. The national, state, and local laws that incentivize remediation of industrial locations, develop sites near transit, and encourage awesome local beer production (and drinking) came together to produce a great example of a new economic development model for cites. That model is based in beer.

The "destination brewery" that Surly hopes to create is perhaps the new 'must-have' storefront for thriving downtown revival. I love that they chose a site that is strategically placed to be transit-(and maybe bike)-friendly. Omar, says the craft beer business is booming in the Cities and hopefully they can create the type of bike and beer atmosphere that already exists in a couple of places (if it hasn't already). In some cases, like in Portland and Asheville, the beer and bike culture has spurred more economic development in the city. The combination of biking and breweries is one that has caught the attention of more than one travel writer(Portland (again) and Madison (maybe). Asheville has even branded itself Beer City USA after winning a 2010 poll of craft beer aficionados. So, generally I love this move by Surly and the city and state. The only question I have is how long is it gonna take until the brewery realizes this obvious corporate partnership?

Tiny Libraries

Regular readers who have been with me since long, long ago may remember a discussion while in Bogotà about their mobile and distributed libraries. I am happy to report that I have found something similar in Madison. Here, The Little Free Library is everywhere: at the park, the grocery store, in tons of front yards. Books rotate in and out, you take what you're interested in an leave your old books if you wanna pass them on to others.

I love this idea and I think it is a great indicator for neighborhoods. The presence of the library is itself a great sign. It signals individuals striving to create community in some small form. The books inside give you an idea of some of the interests of folks in the neighborhood. For the libraries in folks' front yards I always assume they are filled with books from the homeowners and I am getting a view into their personal paths. People also customize their libraries: some have dual French doors, others are miniature versions of the house they stand in front of with matching trim colors, others are collective efforts of the community members adding accouterment over time. I guess they could be magnets for spray paint and/or other outlets for teenage boredom. Here is a piece on them from the Wisconsin Magazine.

Yesterday I walked by one in someone's front yard a noticed the Complete Guide to Homeschooling. I let it be, but I am thinking of picking up the Gaylord Nelson Biography from the one at Wingra Park. I'll see if I can get through it before Earth Day next week.

PhD

It has been a long time since I last posted. I have been spending more time tweeting and on Instagram, but a lot has happened since then. We elected a President, Birthdays March Madness (tear.), winter, and I finished my PhD. Just before the election I attended a conference in Cincinnati - where both candidates also found themselves that same weekend - and I headed directly to Atlanta and defended my dissertation on Monday Nov. 5th. I am happy to say that I passed and had one night to celebrate with some of my friends in Atlanta.

The title of the dissertation is Planning For The New Urban Climate: Interactions Of Local Environmental Planning And Regional Extreme Heat. It can be found here for those interested.

Since the defense I have been continuing to discover my role and develop ideas at Wisconsin as part of the Nelson Environmental Institute's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.