A City’s Hidden Assets
Working with what we’ve got.
Every city has hidden assets.
Things — sometimes hiding in plain sight — that have many uses.
Last month in London I went to an evening concert at the Vauxhall Farm cafe. This cozy spot is run by a charity that maintains city farms in dense neighborhoods. Everyone took their shoes off, sat cross-legged on the floor, and listened to a cellist play a Hungarian love song while ducks slept in the pond outside.
Sofar Sounds is an entertainment company throwing pop-up concerts in unconventional venues around the city. You sign up for a neighborhood, date, and time and get the location a day in advance. It’s a little adventure. I remember hearing about a barbershop moonlighting as a salsa dance studio when I lived in Brooklyn. It feels like you are playing peek-a-boo with your city when you walk past events like this.
I’ve been interested lately in business models that leverage a city’s hidden assets.
These Hidden Asset Businesses keep neighborhoods vital because they weave in and diversify services by working with what’s there. They are usually going to deliver services at a lower cost than building up new infrastructure while maintaining local character.
