apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you are going to roll out A.T. like a franchise you need to concentrate on quality first.

whatever happened to AT:Boston? We voted & everything last summer!

Maxwell, tomorrow I'm going to send you a horrendously long email about urbanism, design, and sprawl in Phoenix.

While I can't apply to be an editor (regulatory reasons), you know I'm always awash in opinions.

If you head to the southwest -- better concentrate on water conservation. With the unchecked growth in an area that does not have the water resources to support it - this is fast becoming an issue. For examples ... just look a little further west to California. Or Vegas.....Another USGS Link

Ditto on Boston! You already have a pretty broad readership in Boston, you'd for sure find lots of cool Scavenger stuff, plenty of furniture choices, etc.

I'm no expert but it seems like if you were thinking of expanding you'd want to go somewhere where you know you'd have an interested and vocal community built in, to help it get off the ground and generate more interest. I really think you'd find that in Boston. Maybe you'd find that in some of the other cities you mentioned, but for SURE you'd find it in Boston so....seems like an easy choice ;)

I would like for MrGreen to expand on "you need to concentrate on quality first". Is that to suggest there is not "quality" here?

Man, I would rather MrGreen NOT expand on his comment actually.

I live in Phoenix, and I know that plenty of us here do, but honestly? I don't know if Phoenix truly has its own identity yet anywhere near comparable to those of the four you've already got cities for. If I lived in LA, I'd want my place to really reflect that, and I could probably get a good picture in my head of what "LA style" means to me. But Phoenix style? I don't know if I *want* a bunch of posts on whether we should go with stucco or stucco on our 3500 sq. ft. house. I don't want to know what the newest countertop trends are in the miles upon miles (upon miles, seriously, most people will never see tracts this long and wide in their entire lives) of new development. Yeah, Phoenix has its own unique identity, but it's just not there yet. Not to mention, there aren't many apartments in Phoenix!

I'll be honest, though, there are definitely some issues about living in a sprawl town that I wish I could get help with...
- I've lived in tiny little places all my life. How do I fill up this 2000 sq. ft. house without seeming like I was trying to fill it up? On a budget?
- Our craigslist and thrift store are populated with stuff that could be described mostly by "Southwestern" or "overstuffed" or "really really comfy with THREE recliners and drink holders!" Where do we shop? If someone says Red Modern I'm going to slap them, because I don't have $2k to spend on a sweet lounge chair when the rest of my house is a ghost town.
- How do we live green when we live in the most energy-dependent city in the world? It's 114º today and that's not even that bad. We could never turn off our A/Cs. Nobody walks. People occasionally *die* having yard sales!

So maybe it's not time yet for an AT: Phoenix. But I like how AT:Europe fits in - every once in a while on AT:NY we get a post about life in Paris, perhaps. It's an interesting window for the people who don't live there, and often offers much-needed help to those who do, but it doesn't need its own site and it never threatens to take over NY. Perhaps that's the solution for us in huge cities who really need help, but can't yet offer enough to flesh out an entire AT site.

I third the "what about Boston?" question -- I think you should expand AT where your readers are. If there's a strong contingent for a SW city, then by all means...but why stretch to try and create a market when you already have one clamoring for its own AT?

That's a great shot at the top - I thought it was a painting.

Boston fourthed! Bring it on, we're ready and waiting!

I usually don't agree with anything MrGreen says, but I too have a concern about quality. A lot of blogs are attractive because of the person whose blog it is--in this case, Maxwell--and that's not easy to replicate when the founder retreats from everyday posting. I guess AT is still going strong, but I often find that the quality of the posting is not the same as when Maxwell did all the posting. It's true there are good blogs that have whole crews of people putting in the content - Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Lifehack, just to name a few. But, AT really used to reflect Maxwell a lot more and I miss that and haven't found that's been replaced by anything as good or authoritative (no reflection on the current crew). It feels like there's a lot more product posting, often on novelty products, and less of a community interaction feel. I don't know how to wrap this up. Just my two cents. There, I've said it. Anyone else feel this way whose been following AT a long time? Or is it just a case of nothing's as good as it used to be-ism?

DC! DC! DC!

I appreciate that my home city of Chicago has it's own identity but to me it's the NY site that anchors everything. Since the page automatically opens to NY, I would be happy with with the current setup or even a more streamlined setup of subcategories and links to the current cities and any other city.

Potentially, people from every city in the world with internet access could gain something from the AT community and conversely people from the AT community could gain something from people in other cities as we've seen from several international house tours or insightful comments from AZ, AL, MI and other states. I guess I'm just for a more user fed type of situation to expand the current one. I don't know how difficult it would be to organize something like this though.

I live in portland, oregon, and personally, I don't really care if we get our own AT:NW. I love reading AT:NY, and as long as national/international interests are occasionally covered, I think that is enough. Most products and ideas are applicable to more than one place. What about an AT:Everywhere to take care of those things?

Here's what I've been thinking should happen for a while now:
a) Have one non-location specific page. Put all the non-location specific content here, regardless of where it came from, or what editor wrote it. This will cut down on duplication and bring a larger audience to the questions posed on the smaller site-specific sites now.
b) Post store reviews, local help questions, events, etc.... on the site specific sites. This will make it easier to have more of them if that's what you want. And I won't have to click over to 300 different pages to look for content, but if I go on vacation somewhere and want tips on where to go for cool stuff I know right where to look!

My 02¢.

How about AT Seattle? There is a rapidly growing urban population. In fact, Seattle just surpassed DC in terms of population size and is only a few 1000 shy of Boston. There is definitely a real interest in art and design, evidenced by the national success of local stores like www.velocityartanddesign.com, our newly expanded downtown art museum, and our nationally acclaimed sculpture park.

Another voice for Boston.

And one more Boston vote! I'd also be happy with a DC.

Why doesn't Atlanta get any of these cool websites? I read all four AT sites now. I don't know if Atlanta could support it, but perhaps Miami would have some interesting Apartments and Condos?

I'd love to see Portland and Seattle un-lumped from San Francisco. I think the aesthetics are wildly different.

I live in Phoenix too... While I agree with Melanie about its general lack of personality, I think that is exactly the reason we need AT. People here need help introducing character to their cookie-cutter houses and apartments.
I love reading ATNY, but it would be great to be able to get some more local perspective.

Vegas!!!!

As a NYer, I think AT: Miami might rock! Do you ever see anything bad in Miami? It definitely has it's own flavor. Of course, I still want those Parisians to ante-up more house tours...

I agree with the poster that said there should be one general site and then separate areas for city specific questions and stores. I'm in Ohio but I mainly check the NYC page with occasional jaunts to SF which has great house tours.

One interesting model could be that used on Chowhound.com

There's a main site, but then an array of buttons for satellite locations (including "Boston" and "Outer Boroughs").

Admittedly, it's not the same kind of site at AT, but I second the notion of keeping the focus on NYC, and then possibly having satellites that link through the main AT site.

I think one potential challenge is that many ideas on AT are quite specific to NYC, as are many products. Cooperative apartments, for example, are particular to NY, and sometimes there's a strange cacophany that emerges when posters in remote locations enter the dialog.

I don't have anything to recommend on this score, except (without being nostalgic) to suggest that while this site began as something somewhat specific to NYC, it seems to become more diffuse in its identity and 'brand' as there are more and more people sending in comments and entries from remote locations.

Since I read all 4 AT location sections already, and am always wishing there were a scavenger section for those of us not in those specific locations... if AT:Boston is a no-go, I'm totally intrigued by the suggestion for the non-specific section, especially if it were an amalgam of the areas that seem to have high AT readership (Europe, Boston, DC, etc.) but are lacking in direct representation.

De-lurking to put in another vote for Boston.

Voting for DC... it does seem like we have a lot of AT members here. As I've admitted before, we're not luxuriating in local (non-chain) design and shopping opportunites. Still, it would be nice to have a forum for dc-specific questions and to see a few local merchants discussed.

SYB_in_DC - Have you been to U and 14th Streets lately?

If you want something southern, but still with a modern, contemporary feel- I would suggest Austin, TX. I'll admit it is a small city, but it's growing like crazy! We're one of the few cities where the housing market it still doing really well. The city is a lone liberal area in a pretty conservative Texas. Austin is the "Live Music Capital of the World" and we're home to the first Whole Foods and the original Alamo Drafthouse. Austin is an active city (tons of hike and bike trails!) and into water conservation, environment preservation, etc. I think has enough of its own flair to hold up a website. Once you get into the blogger world, I think reaching an audience would be no problem. The University of Texas at Austin, located near downtown, adds 50,000 students to the city. I've heard Austin is similar to Boston and I think it may be a good step for AT. Could we have an AT:ATX? :)

And Dallas? not so great IMHO. Full of $30,000 millionaires, who all want suburbia. I don't believe it has enough character to sustain a website like AT. I haven't been in awhile though, so it could have changed in the past few years.

I live in Seattle, but I still love reading AT:NY. I don't know if there's really a huge need for a ton more region-specific sites, although maybe having broader focuses would be nice. Like have an AT: Southwest, or AT: Northwest, etc.

Chiming in to agree with those who are not encouraging other city specific sites. At the very most I think a city representing the west, east, midwest, and south is fine. That's almost already covered. Keep the NY quality up rather than spreading resouces thin over a bunch of other places.

I'm on the fence about the possibilities of AT:ATX. To me (and granted I've only been here almost 3 years after living in nyc for 15) the pockets of cool here are very small and random. The population is projected to double in something like the next 10 years and really expensive condos are being built like crazy all over the place. But basic things like newspapers, media, shopping outside of malls aren't quite up to snuff yet and if I get disappointed by yet another restaurant...

I could see the majority of decent design offerings that are here being exhausted in the first 6 months of daily posting. The furniture section in our Craigslist is almost always appalling and the majority of the live music here isn't all that it's cracked up to be. The whole live music thing is touted at the expense of other arts and it really bothers me.

Beyond that I generally like living here mostly as an escape from the rest of the world in a way. It's naturally very beautiful and comfortable (except in the boiling hell of summer). There are quite a few architects and furniture designers that live and work here, and I know there are tons of MCM opportunities to explore (based on what I've seen on the Modern Austin site), but as a design center I think we've still got a long way to go. I could be missing something or maybe I'm overly critical. I think it would be interesting to see what this city is like in a few years.

On the other hand if you wanted to watch a city deal with rapid growth and a real estate market that hasn't seen the bubble burst quite yet, maybe Austin is the place.

I do think that AT needs a southern location next.

Re. 14th and U in DC... yes, I live nearby and I'm there a lot. And I agree that if we were to profile exciting design merchants in this town, almost all of them would be there. I don't mean to hurt our AT chances in DC, of course, but every victory of attractions and decent shopping in this town is tempered by the realization that the cool neighborhood created or revitalized is only a few blocks, after all.

On the other hand, if we had our own AT, we could have this discussion without troubling the New Yorkers!

Pixie: "Anyone else feel this way whose been following AT a long time? Or is it just a case of nothing's as good as it used to be-ism?"

I haven't been following AT for a very long time, but I've been awestruck and amazed at the difference in the quality of the threads when I dig into the AT archives, and I've often wondered if anyone else has noticed how different threads feel now.... There was a much nicer sense of community and useful information back then! And, since I wasn't there then, this observation can't possibly be a case of nostalgia for something that never was. The difference is just that obvious. Wish I could put my finger on what accounts for it.

charlenemcbride: Yes I would have to agree ideas might run out after awhile. It is still a small city. I don't think you're being overly critical- as a daily posting website, it might not do so well. Maybe in a while it will have enough design places to support daily posts. I think in a few years having condos downtown will help bring in more retail on the ground level, making Austin a more walkable city also.

It would be more interesting from a city-planning/developing view- to see how design changes as the makeup of the city changes. :)

Melanie, my frustrated neighbor -- to shop somewhere less pricey than Red Modern... all the usual mod suspects are in Scottsdale or out Camelback toward Biltmore. There are also huge antique stores in Tempe, in Apache Junction, up I-17 toward Thunderbird; decent-sized ones along 7th Avenue (not all pricey). There's a very nice estate sale shop next door to me on Camelback at 10th St. (Email me. We'll drink coffee, shop, and bitch about the heat. Seriously.)

I'm not necessarily thinking that AT:PHX would be viable, but we're not a complete wasteland here. Melanie's right that moving out to the new cities of the West really changes the focus from small-space living, though.

One way to estimate viability is to start trying to build a community pre-site-launch by having get-togethers or going en masse to design-related events, as happened in a very small way in San Francisco. (Yes, I'm volunteering. First Friday Art Walk in August, specifics to be announced later.)

I for one would love to see features like Scavenger: Boston, more focus on Boston-specific stores, events, sales, etc., while still looking to the NYC site for more general discussions of how we approach living, consumerism, our environment. A lot of this was already covered when we voted last year on where the next AT site should be.

I also think of this site as really focusing on SMALL space living - which Boston has in abundance!

Pixie, I definitely agree with you.

When I started reading about two years ago, this blog was much more about ways to live/organize, rather than some new slick chair or lamp, etc. The quality of the posts has likewise informed the quality of the comments; really, what can you say about the umpteenth prohibitively expensive chair?

Part of the problem, IMHO, is that the AT community has already addressed a lot of the interesting issues; perhaps Maxwell et al are trying not to rehash old (but very useful) topics like landing strips and closet organization.

I think it might be nice if Maxwell could address the change in the basic nature of the blog: how he envisions the blog going forward, how he intends to retain or inspire the kind of collaborative community that this blog had two years ago and that seems to be slipping as AT has expanded into multiple cities and arenas.

Pixie/JR/Sea--

I think the biggest change I've seen has been the tenor of the posting, and the fact that the audience is simply much broader now.

I don't think the posts have changed that dramatically, nor a big swing to product (but I personally like the product posts, so maybe that's why I don't notice a bias!).

And I think Regina and Aaron are doing great jobs in filling Mr. Maxwell's Crocs when he is not doing the posting personally (which he is doing pretty regularly, though).

Wende, I'd quite literally KILL to know about these antique shops you're talking about. Tempe? Seriously? I'm going to be so embarrassed if there's some treasure trove right down the street from me.
And I'm gone in the first week of August (to a... ahem... harrypotterconventionomg), but I'd kill to have some people to go to First Fridays with! My friends are not the least bit interested :(
Shoot me an email, we'll chat!
melanie wilke gmail.com

huh, it stripped out my brackets in my email...
that should be a (DOT) between the first and last name, and an (AT) before the gmail :)