You know it when you see it, “Anywhere USA.” Towns that should have their own character and sense of place; but instead are confused by a reckless abundance of asphalt parking lots, big box stores, and grids of housing.
What are these communities thinking? – That’s what The Orton Family Foundation asked themselves when they decided [...]

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A few weekends ago Sally and I brought the last couple bags of fleeces we had put aside to get processed at Hope Spinnery. Check out some of Peter’s pictures of the space, and read about this incredible Maine business.

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If you have never listened to T. Boone Pickens, you will likely be pleasantly surprised.

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In celebration of “Independents Week“, Portland Buy Local circulated several copies of the Declaration of Independents– an opportunity for you to declare your support for the independent businesses that make Portland “a singular city and great place to live”.

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Submit a design for the Portland Buy Local T-shirt design contest. I’ve included submission instructions and guidelines in this post.

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I was in New Orleans over the weekend as part of a convening of grantees of the Andy Warhol Foundation. Walking around the Warehouse/Arts District I spotted this urban infill project.

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I finally got around to making some final updates to the Indie Biz Awards site. Perhaps most importantly, I added an “Acknowledgements” page, giving thanks to the incredible volunteer committee (Avery, Susan, Peter, Dave, Heather and Brianna!!) that worked with me to organize the event, as well as the event sponsors, the silent auction and [...]

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Peter and I are staying for a few days at Meg and Dave’s lovely new home in Bartlett NH. They built the house from scratch over the last year or so, from 100% non-toxic materials (no plywood, glues, formaldehyde’s, etc)– many of our regular readers are familiar with the house already.
Curious enough to come to [...]

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Last Friday and Saturday I joined more than 500 other business-people and “local” activists from around the country for BALLE’s 6th Annual Conference in Boston, entitled Grow Deep. BALLE (the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) is a nationwide organization that provides resources to local and regional networks of local and independent businesses working towards [...]

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D&D created a sand sculpture on Fore Street a few weeks ago.

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Earlier this month Sally and I were in Cincinnati for a wedding. One of our tours included lunch at the original Rookwood Pottery factory in the Mount Adams neighborhood. A wonderful building which once employeed 200 people producing fine collectable ceramics and architectural ceramics. Rookwood produced work from 1880 to 1941.
In 2004, 124 years after [...]

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MAY 22nd at SPACE Gallery
6:30-10pm
This event has been one of my recent obsessions- I hope folks in town can make it out! The Indie Biz Awards is Portland Buy Local’s first fundraiser, and it looks like it might even raise some funds! Amazing!
Anyway- the voting is going on as we speak, and this is your [...]

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The St. Lawrence Arts and Community Center in Portland has begun deconstructing its sanctuary. The historic Congregational Church on Congress Street began its transformation into a community arts center in 1998. The first phase of the project included the renovation of a small 100-seat theatre that is now used for theatre performance, music, church worship, [...]

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While we were in Baltimore last weekend for Bill’s birthday party we were able to schedule a last minute tour with organizers of Community Greens, a back alley park project. Sally will post more about Community Greens later. I posted these photos because one of Bill’s early projects involved the renovation of row-homes up [...]

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Heading to the train station while we were in Baltimore last weekend we passed by what looked to be a new community bike shop. On return we caught a flock of bikers locking up shop. Great opportunity for a follow up…
At Velocipede’s cooperative bicycle shop, people can buy ready to ride second-hand bikes, claim and [...]

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Daniel from Sumner Farms in Sumner, Maine wins the prize (bragging rights) for the first farmer at the Wednesday’s Farmers Market for a second year running.
I do have to point out that Simone from Thirty Acre Farms, and Daniel from Freedom Farm have been making bi-weekly deliveries all winter. So they definitely win the year [...]

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Peter and I are on the event committee for the First Annual Portland Indie Biz Awards– a fundraiser for Portland Buy Local and the Portland Independent Business & Community Alliance (I am on the Board).

We’re asking that everyone and anyone nominate their favorite Portland Businesses for an award. The awards will be presented on May [...]

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This one comes to us via: Vigorous North. As it turns out, you can train crows to collect change using reward behavior principles - drop change into the vending machine and peanuts dispense bellow. The interesting economic piece of this invention is that according to its inventor, americans loose $250 million of change annually. With [...]

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Over a hundred people attended a recent transportation planning session organized by the City of Portland’s Transportation Committee. The committee recently launched a Peninsula Transit Study to evaluate potential methods and benefits of expanding and optimizing a transportation system for the Portland Peninsula that emphasizes public and human powered transit as a preferred feasible alternative [...]

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Port City Studios will now be found in our new store front. More details available soon…

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