Cool Space Locator

Website Links

Description

Cool Space Locator (CSL) was developed and initiated in 1999 as a project of the South Side Local Development Company (SSLDC) in Pittsburgh. Founded by Kyra Straussman and Deborah Baron, the idea grew into a partnership of three community development corporations (CDCs) in Pittsburgh: SSLDC, Oakland Planning and Development Corporation (OPDC), and East Liberty Development Incorporated (ELDI). With the generous support of a number of local foundations and community development corporations, Cool Space Locator set out to see if we could programmatically have an influence on the pattern of business in-migration into the inner city. Our project relates to several goals that align with smart growth and community development because we are proponents of reusing and recycling existing buildings, or stabilizing the urban grid with new structures, as opposed to building business facilities out in greenfields or sending start-ups to suburban office parks. We want to influence the way the average CEO looks at her options for a business location so that urban options are considered, requested, and preferred more often. In the existing climate of funding for community revitalization we see that influencing and harnessing the dynamics of the marketplace may be a more powerful tool than mounting a series of publicly funded projects in the inner city. CSL connects young, innovative, or transitioning companies with the unique but forgotten spaces in Pittsburgh and southwestern...

Companies nearby