Round Up: The Banking Shift, Global Growth Hotspots, Placemaking = Environmentalism?, Crowdfunding vs Grants

Four Trends Driving the Shifting Demand for Traditional Bank Branches

Gone are the days of seeing an overabundance of banks on every corner. Demand, technology, and customer mix are changing things up. Likely to have lasting impact on commercial corridor retail mix.

The Global Growth Hotspots of the Future Are Here

The takeaway of this Bloomberg piece is that urban emerging markets will see the greatest concentration of growth and will become "major contributors to economic performance."

Is placemaking a “new environmentalism”?

This piece bids the question whether placemaking is becoming a way of protecting the human habitat. Yes we need to build our environment to incorporate human growth but it proposes that it can be sustainably done.

Why You Should Consider Crowdfunding Your Neighborhood Project (Instead of Writing a Grant)

Grants can be tedious and impersonal to the community. This little tidbit shares ideas why crowdfunding a neighborhood project could be the real solution.