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How might we restore vibrancy in cities and regions facing economic decline? Read the challenge brief

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Create a BARTER MARKET! (updated)

Using abandoned space, host a regular weekend Barter Market. No currency is allowed, only creativity. Trade your unused stuff with neighbors, trade acts of service (e.g. paint a fence, guitar lessons), trade stories, trade your own artwork, etc.
Using abandoned space, host a regular weekend Barter Market. No currency is allowed, only creativity. Trade your unused stuff with neighbors. Or trade acts of service (e.g. paint a fence, let someone use your printer, guitar lessons), trade stories, trade your own artwork, trade hugs. Repurpose an old building or unused space while fostering a sense of community and fun.

Make this a weekly event that residents can get excited about to participate in.  They'll look forward to seeing what everyone brings to the table as well as be eager about what they're putting up for trade.  Such a unique and unusual practice can make strangers into neighbors and friends while instilling within them happiness and pride for being part of a community where this kind of friendly exchange happens.  It also re-enforces the idea that a community can support itself through the collective power of its people.

Build an online platform to compliment the project. Think some mix between Zaarly, Ebay, Craigslist, Couchsurfing, and Freecycle.org. Users would not be able to use currency; only through trade could they obtain things. Also, users would only be able to barter for things based in their city. The website should continue to foster a local community-building attitude and real world interactions.

PLEASE SEE IMAGES FOR EXAMPLE OF BARTER MARKET SITE

Site/App Features:
  • Site recognizes IP location and directs you towards info relevant to that city.
  • Listings of goods/services up for trade, viewable by category and location
  • Listings of goods/services wanted, viewable by category and location
  • Neighborhood maps that show locations of all listings
  • Every user has a profile that includes their up for trade and wanted listings, their neighborhood, thumbs up/thumbs down rating from other users, testimonials.
  • Instead of bids, users make trade offers on listings; user has discretion to select desired trade.
  • Trades are encouraged to take place at in-person barter markets which are also posted.
  • Barter markets are browsable by date, location, and users can view and join RSVP list.
  • Users can post new barter markets and invite other users to join.
  • Site highlights stories of trades in the form of videos and blog entries. These examples help encourage users to get creative and think about what they have to offer to others. Users can also post their own stories.
  • Neighbors--other users in your city--are also listed.

How can your idea be scaled so that it's implemented in cities around the world?

Through the online Barter Market platform, people will have the resources and examples to trade goods and services with their neighbors and to also develop their own local barter markets. As the site gains more traction, it will be adopted in more communities, host more listings, and generate even greater use. The spirit of community exchange will hopefully go viral. But because the site promotes local interactions, its global reach will still ultimately help sustain individual communities.

My Virtual Team

Many thanks to all those who commented. I was able to refine this idea with input from Ashley Jablow - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/ashleysbp/ T. Annie Nguyen - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/tudannguyen/ Jessica Rudder - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/jessicarudder/ Peter Marshall - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/peterpeter/ Duc-Minh Nguyen - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/600633/ Zeyen Wu - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/601501/ Alex Browne - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/abrowne/ Sean Jalleh - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/534694453/ Alana Aviel - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/avielart/ Callie Neylan - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/neylano/ André Lavergne - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/andrelavergne/ Meena Kadri - http://www.openideo.com/profiles/meanestindian/

What resources (money, time, people, technology, etc) will your concept need to be successful?

The biggest factor in this project is the willingness of the people. Residents have to be on board with the project and commit to the idea. It would be wise to win support from respected people within the community, people that everyone trusts, who would then lead by example. Additionally getting young people involved can help draw in families and encourage greater participation. Young people should be involved from the beginning and be asked to contribute just as much and perhaps more than anybody else. It would also probably be possible to take over an abandoned space under the radar for a while until the project builds steam, but it eventually it will have to win support from the landlord or city. Ideally though, enough people participate and this demonstrates the effectiveness of the barter market, so much so that all stakeholders embrace it. For the online component, like any other social media venture, the value is generated by the users themselves. For it to succeed, many people within a city would have to participate. In order to encourage this kind of participation, sharing the success stories of using the Barter Market becomes paramount. Spreading these stories online will help the site grow.

What steps could you take to implement this idea today?

Get a core group of people together, pick a spot for the market, and host the event some Saturday/Sunday afternoon. This group would also encourage neighbors, friends, family, co-workers and classmates to participate. They could also advertise with signs and over the internet using social media. See who comes and gradually build on that from week to week. The core group should also develop a set of guidelines that would structure the market. This could of course be amended over time. A sample set of guidelines might say: - No currency should ever trade hands. - Each party of a trade must introduce themselves by name before the trade can occur. - Always bring at least one friend or family member to the barter market. - Always bring something to trade whether tangible or intangible. - Every trade agreement and transaction must be witnessed by a third party. - Music should always be playing at the barter market. For the online component of the project, find a web developer and a designer, possibly through college programs where students are looking for projects to sink their teeth into. Secure a URL and launch the site locally first. Advertise the site at the actual barter market and use the site to help make the in-person bartering more efficient by making goods/services offered known in advance and by also adding a layer of accountability to the people involved in the trades.

Evaluation Results

1

How well does this concept restore vibrancy to cities and regions facing economic decline?

This concept will definitely restore vibrancy to struggling cities
This concept has potential to restore vibrancy to struggling cities
This concept will not restore vibrancy to struggling cities
2

How scalable is this concept across struggling cities and regions worldwide?

This concept could be scaled for impact across multiple locations
This concept will take a fair bit of work to build and scale
This concept is not particularly scalable
3

Does this concept require a lot of resources (time, money, people, etc) to achieve impact?

Not really – few resources would be needed to get results
Somewhat – significant resources would be needed to get results
Yes – considerable resources would be needed to get results
4

How easy would it be for our community to design an early prototype of this concept?

Easy – we could start prototyping this today
A bit tricky – but we could figure it out
Not at all easy – we'd need help from outside experts on this
5

Overall, how do you feel about this concept?

It rocked my world
I liked it but preferred others
It didn't get me overly excited

Comments

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Nathan Waterhouse

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January 19, 2012, 11:17PM
Congratulations Brian, great concept and amazing collaboration along the way - I can't wait to see what this might become!
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Meena Kadri

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January 19, 2012, 06:50PM
Nice one, Brian! And I thought you might be interested in this article from today's Fast Company: http://bit.ly/yvWwCn
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 19, 2012, 07:07PM
Thanks Meena for this article. Somebody also mentioned Swap-o-matic to me earlier. Very cool! The one issue I have with it though is that like all vending machines, it reduces human interaction. But I definitely love the its kitschy style and barter spirit. I think what's important is that there are numerous avenues available to swap, to meet, to build community, according to whatever degree of comfort someone has.
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Shyam Vijayaraghavan

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January 11, 2012, 06:00PM
I posted a similar comment in the ShareFair concept: A complication to the barter system is that legally, one has to pay taxes on the bartered transaction (tax is due on services or any new goods), just as if one paid in cash. While it is difficult to enforce this on one-off situations, An institutionalized system like this would be large enough to cause concern.

Additionally, It might be possible to get a "tax exemption"for the premises from a local governing body to prevent sales tax from being charged, but it is unlikely that the federal government will exempt bartered goods and services from federal income tax.

One potential solution is to have each person estimate the monetary value of their good or service bartered or traded, so the appropriate sales tax can be included in the final transaction, either by having a "sales tax" booth at the site itself.

Another is to set guidelines for the value of specific activities (much like the Kelly bluebook sets guidelines for used car values). For example, if someone barters "mowing your lawn", a guideline can be set depending on the size of the yard that needs to be mowed.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 17, 2012, 07:25PM
Thanks for the comment Shyam. This is definitely one that warrants further investigation. Do you have a sense of how this applies to existing peer2peer goods and services sites? Do people that exchange over Craigslist or Freecycle pay taxes? What about Ebay? I'm unsure, but my guess is that they don't. I will definitely research this though to find out. Perhaps there are exemptions that could be applicable.
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Rebekah Emanuel's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Rebekah Emanuel

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January 17, 2012, 11:51PM
This might be a case where something like Decode the Code, but for lawyers might be useful. If lawyers in any given state could offer advice on decoding the taxes for the relevant style items on a similar type of online platform, anyone bartering could easily check the tax status of the items they were bartering.
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Jessica Rudder

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January 09, 2012, 04:42AM
This sounds like a great way to get people out and socializing with each other.

My cousin is an 'urban farmsteader' in a blighted part of an inner-city and he has said that one of the hardest things has been getting the neighbors to shift from a 'closed blinds, see nothing, report nothing" mindset to an 'open windows say hello and watch over your neighbors" mindset. The neighborhood is finally starting to open up (with the help of some free garden plots he helped put together for the neighbors) but it took effort.

What methods can be used to get community members to engage with the barter market in communities that have become very insular and shut in?
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 11, 2012, 12:14AM
Thanks for the comment Jessica. Transforming insular communities is certainly a major challenge. I think there are a few things we could try. First is to keep it very local, within one small neighborhood, or even amongst one block of a city. Then we need to win support from respected people within the community, people that everyone trusts. Third is to make sure the barter market has an open, welcoming, and fun atmosphere. It could feel more like a block party than a market with music, food, performances and socializing. Fourth, getting young people involved can really draw in families and break down some of those walls. Young people should be asked to participate and contribute just as much and perhaps more than anybody else. Lastly, it needs to be consistent and regular so that residents can rely on the event, look forward to it, and even be excited about it.
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Katarzyna 's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Katarzyna

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January 12, 2012, 10:29PM
This is a fantastic idea! I love the inclusion of an online catalogue of every item/service offered - a craigslist with a physical component makes this better than a flea market where you don't know what you will encounter (so if you need something specific, you might opt for the store where it's sure to be found).

In response to this comment exchange, I agree that the social networking component is incredibly important, exciting, and tricky - HOW could your neighbors become curious about one another and interested in the potential relationships as much as the goods traded? To that end, the element of social gathering - as you mentioned, Brian, a block party 'feel' - could be added to every time the market is held: performances by local art groups, a book club, a community potluck, a pre-game beer fest before the local high school football game. It could help to spend some time first learning about such ongoing activities, and try to fit into them - adding the market to whatever familiar and successful activities are already happening rather introducing the market as a totally new activity. This would also help to understand how residents already interact, and design the market events to work with existing practices. Great idea!
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Sonia Lee's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Sonia Lee

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January 13, 2012, 09:50PM
I agree that this is a really creative way of fostering strong communities by actually getting neighbors to interact with each other. There's a lot of evidence out there that suggests that strong social networks increases the resiliency of individuals and communities.

But what really stands out to me about the barter market is that it goes beyond the exchanging of goods. Rather, there is this aspect of recognizing human value and capacity that I really like. By people offering their services, ideas, and stories, I feel those are the community's assets. I think people's experiences, knowledge and wisdom can collectively contribute to finding solutions to problems, particularly in economically-depressed areas, as well as providing support to each other. Plus, when thinking about what they can offer to the market, it can get people thinking about what their strengths and skills are, build confidence and create a more positive atmosphere for everyone.

The possibilities are really exciting!
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 17, 2012, 07:21PM
Thanks Katarzyna for your comment. You're exactly right that the local identity of community must be taken into account for this project to succeed. The barter market must integrate with, rather than stand separately from, whatever else is already going on within a community. It should really reflect the community in its participants and practices.

And thank you Sonia for articulating exactly the motivation behind this concept, more so than I was able to do! The point is to encourage people to recognize that they have value and that they have something to offer to the rest of their community. The barter market is essentially community empowerment.
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Ashley Jablow

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December 14, 2011, 04:58PM
Brian, I'm loving this concept! As a quick build, you might also think about a site like Freecycle http://www.freecycle.org/ - it's a great place for people to exchange and offer their items for free and it could be a nice compliment to this idea.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 14, 2011, 08:19PM
Thanks for the suggestion! The site is pretty much the same idea, though when I first saw the name I thought it was a bike share initiative. Do you know if people are offering more than just material goods on the site? I think also exchanging acts of service could be really powerful.
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Ashley Jablow's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Ashley Jablow

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December 15, 2011, 01:35AM
I checked their website and it looks like it's only exchanging physical things. I love the idea that we could be even more creative about what we barter. It makes me think of a show I saw on TV where a woman was selling her own secrets to strangers in New York for a quarter! :)
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T. Annie Nguyen's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

T. Annie Nguyen

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December 18, 2011, 12:40AM
Barter system is great and definitely brings people together. It can be beneficial for all to have an organized system. If people can't make it, I was thinking what if people could leave items that others could take like the Swap-o-Matic: http://www.swap-o-matic.com/. It allows people to swap anything and get points for doing so.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 27, 2011, 06:35PM
Interesting point Annie. How might this function at an in-person market as opposed to online?
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T. Annie Nguyen's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

T. Annie Nguyen

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January 09, 2012, 07:22AM
Hi Brian, the barter concept is doing quite well - congrats! I think having a community shelf that lets people leave items and take items in person. It can be curated if this community shelf is at a coffee shop or bookstore. As far as online - it can be extended by having a hold sign on the item until the person comes to pick it up keeping the transaction more local.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 11, 2012, 12:02AM
I like the idea Annie. My only concern is that leaving things behind would result in less human interactions. Additionally, someone would have to monitor the community shelf or service the swap-o-matic style machine. I think this works for things like the Dutch Umbrella project in Philly where a single good is being shared by a community, but a multitude of different things being swapped could create complications.

Perhaps though, as long as the online interaction takes place where both parties agree to the leave-behind method, then that is enough interaction. This option however could be offered more as a last resort to prioritize in-person meetings. What do you think?
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dema Mittal's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

dema Mittal

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January 17, 2012, 10:25AM
Hi Brian, I used Freecycle.org and i did trade few things. However, what was missing was the human touch. The stuff was left at my place while i was not home. I think you are right. The direct interaction will help. However, if we have a place like a bookshop or we use the unused space (like Opencity), there will be one permanent stop to barter your things. You may not want to wait till the weekend, to trade your stuff. By mutual time agreement, both people can meet at this place. What do you think?
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 17, 2012, 07:15PM
Thanks for your comment Dema. I like the idea of a common meeting place aside from the weekend barter market. The danger though is that space becomes a drop-off point instead of a meeting point. I suppose if it's said outright that items cannot be left there unattended or else the barter is void, this could prevent such absentee trades. Perhaps as you say, if a space is identified as a meeting point for all people in a neighborhood, more users would be inclined to make use of it for barters. The two parties involved would simply have to agree on a time. That interaction would happen on the website and then lead to the in-person trade at the designated meetup point.
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Peter Marshall

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January 06, 2012, 07:41PM
I love the idea of a barter economy! I think the main hindrance is the difficulty in matching what you want with what you have. That's one thing that monetary currency facilitates. Money is a commonly accepted measure of payment that is easily tradable. But in cities suffering the most from the recession, money is hard to come by, so why not foster a bartering economy?

Maybe there could be an app that pairs people's wants with what they have. People list what they desire and what they have on the app and then the app pairs potential barter transactions and tells each person where to meet up and barter. There will always be a need for human to human interaction at a physical market, and I think this is the advantage of a face to face market over the online experience. It will foster real human connection in a city.

The limit on a physical market is that the range of goods offered will be smaller than the worldwide, state-wide, city-wide, online community. However, the website could be a great place to prearrange potential barters at the physical market. Online people could see what others in their area have on offer and then arrange to meet their potential barterer at the weekly barter market. This way the bartering is more efficient. You don't spend all day looking for who would be a good match to trade with. And you don't lug your stuff all over town, fail at making a trade, and then lug your stuff back home again.

I think the real, human to human element is important here. The online world can easily isolate us from one another if we choose to live on facebook etc., but the online world at its best should foster real connections in the physical world.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 11, 2012, 12:17AM
Thanks for your ideas Peter! I definitely used them as guidance for the website mockup I designed. Please take a look at the new images I uploaded and let me know what you think. I wholeheartedly agree with you that the online platform should serve to foster connections in the physical world, and that principle was what I tried to uphold in the design.
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Peter Marshall's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Peter Marshall

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January 11, 2012, 01:58AM
The website mockup looks great! Way to go!
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T. Annie Nguyen's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

T. Annie Nguyen

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January 11, 2012, 02:48AM
Ditto - Great way to visualize what people would see and what they want to know!
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Diksha Grover

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January 10, 2012, 10:30AM
Domestic barter, as practised within local and regional communities, in its most basic form, is simply the simultaneous transfer of goods and services agreed upon implicitly as being of equal worth and concluded under the one ‘contract’ (Birch and Liesch 1997).

When Russia’s ruble had that horrible plunge in 1998 people in many areas were forced to resort to the barter system, just as Germans did when the Weimar Marks became more useful as paperweights (bundled together) than money.

However, the barter system has come about in these countries during the time of extreme poverty. The fact that currency is a stable predictor of value, is accountable, portable, allows competition it is quite interesting, to read more on why we resort to barter system when the currency begins to fail.
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Paul Reader's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Paul Reader

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January 10, 2012, 01:33PM
Interesting comments - here the tax office seeks to regulate (and tax) bartering. In places where bartering is free of regulation it is a highly useful means of people assisting one another within and between communities. I thoroughly support this concept as not only does it provide the opportunity to share goods and services in so doing it builds trust and true sense of community. Sadly the use of currency and the 'drive to make money' often does precisely the opposite.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 10, 2012, 11:52PM
Thanks for both comments. I think certainly a city in economic decline parallels the situations Diksha mentioned. I think in our current global economic crisis, the need to live more simply and to eliminate unnecessary consumption is felt more and more, making a barter system a palatable idea. Currency will no doubt continue to be a societal standard, but bartering and other forms of economy can co-exist and serve as a counter-balance. With the rise of the internet we've seen this happen in numerous crowdsourced initiatives where users are giving time, labor, and sometime money for nothing in return. In a barter system, users give to each other based on a similar notion that everyone has something of value to offer and that something does not to be rewarded with cash.
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Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka

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January 06, 2012, 04:58PM
Congratulations Brian! Hope we give away the cash economy and create real values through exchange.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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January 10, 2012, 04:52PM
Thanks Sai! While I doubt that we can do away with the cash economy any time soon, I do think that bartering serves as a nice counter-balance reminding people that we can live more simply by living more cohesively. Instead of over-consumption, we get community building, interaction, trust, etc.
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OpenIDEO

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January 05, 2012, 09:31PM
Congrats on your shortlisted concept Brian! The advisory panel was really excited about your idea enabling spontaneous, currency-free opportunities for community interaction and exchange. During Refinement, let's take a look at other commerce-free events like Burning Man to see if there are any crossover lessons there. Also, perhaps you or another community member might design a mockup of what the website might look like?
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 27, 2011, 06:36PM
Perhaps someone could trade their transportation services for your goods.
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LiSuan Poh

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December 18, 2011, 03:11PM
I like this idea, it's a great vehicle to barter and not allow curency as it will allow people to focus on what they can offer and prioritize what they want in return. It seems as though it needs a few organizers who can put energy and effort into it to build momentum and successes. Hopefully it goes on to people exchanging ideas enough to create projects and projects that can progress to sustainable small businesses, and get jobs going. Great idea!
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 27, 2011, 06:34PM
Thanks LiSuan! Yes, hopefully the concept becomes popular and executed well amongst a core group of people and from there it would spread virally throughout a community and ideally a city.
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Zeyen Wu

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December 17, 2011, 09:52PM
This is a great idea. My suggestion is that maybe there could also be a medium of exchange for barter-market currency. If a nonprofit or other organization served as a clearinghouse for goods which they would later donate or repurpose, people who had goods (or services, but this could take some extra coordination) that may be difficult to barter could also participate. Not sure if this idea is counter to the whole barter idea, but it could facilitation participation and make the barter more efficient.
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Alex Browne's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Alex Browne

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December 22, 2011, 09:54PM
I agree with this to a certain extent. The addition of a point system can certainly make the system easier to navigate, and knowing that any goods and services are accepted would be a huge relief (after all, they could be eventually donated if never picked up). Overall, this could easily lead to more people actually attending the market, one measure of the market's success.

However, I also feel, as you mention, that this might go against the whole bartering concept. If community building is a principal goal of the system, a personal trade of goods and services between two people would foster the desired sense of community more than using a middleman and trading with points. I think the apparent difficulty of a direct bartering system is part of what makes it so appealing, allowing for interactions like the one Sean described earlier.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 27, 2011, 06:33PM
I think I agree with Alex on this one. By incorporating an intermediate entity into the process like a non-profit or some other agency, I think we would lose the one-to-one community interaction afforded by a direct barter system. However, I think there could be some individuals who serve as 'representatives' of say a non-profit and rather than asking for services in exchange for their unwanted goods, they could ask neighbors to trade their time spent volunteering for the non-profit.
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Sean Jalleh

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December 17, 2011, 05:22AM
Like the idea. I think you can build on www.u-exchange.com which allows the bartering of services, goods and even homes. It might be interesting if you could think of how to tease out services/skills from people who might not believe they have something to offer such as the elderly,etc. An elderly man who has difficulty moving about might offer personal war stories or gardening tips in exchange for someone to transport him to and from the nearby park every Monday evening. Everyone has something to offer, we just need to help them find it?
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 17, 2011, 06:52PM
That's definitely a concern. I think perhaps we can use the site to also tell success stories of the bartering process through different forms of media. We could encourage people to submit their cool, interesting experiences with bartering, and that way encourage other users to bring out their own creativity.
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OpenIDEO

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December 16, 2011, 10:19PM
Congrats on this post being today's onsite Featured Concept!
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Alana Aviel

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December 14, 2011, 09:24PM
This project could totally apply to the Change a Space Overnight Project!
http://www.openideo.com/open/vibrant-cities/concepting/change-a-space-over-night-/
The best part is, it could be part of the movement to activate the new renovated/restored space! After a transformation occurs a Barter Market would be a great way to gather people in the space and get to know the people who can share and activate the previously ignored urban space! I hope we can evolve this great activity into the Change the Space project!.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 14, 2011, 09:54PM
Great idea! I like that it encourages people to repurpose a space in a short amount of time and with the resources they have readily available. I think that would seriously catalyze creativity.

It also reminds me of this concept: http://www.openideo.com/open/vibrant-cities/concepting/change-a-space-over-night-/ and this other one I proposed: http://www.openideo.com/open/vibrant-cities/concepting/challenge-students-to-re-purpose-public-spaces/ The key difference is shorter amount of time and resources.
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Callie Neylan

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December 14, 2011, 09:01PM
Love this idea. Have you seen Rachel Botsman's TED talk on collaborative consumption? http://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_botsman_the_case_for_collaborative_consumption.html
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 14, 2011, 09:45PM
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing! The reputation currency idea is really interesting. I wonder though how will people who live on the other side of the digital divide be impacted by these things.

I'm also reminded of this TED talk on living simply: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang///id/1238
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Meena Kadri

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December 14, 2011, 09:31PM
Fab start, Brian! We're anticipating discussions to flourish here and your ideas to evolve. You can make updates to your entry at any time using the Update Entry button up there on the right. Here's an example of how built up ideas can get over the course of a challenge: http://www.openideo.com/open/localfood/winners-announced/public-kitchen/ Let's bring on the builds and spell out the specifics!
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André Lavergne

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December 14, 2011, 08:52PM
Well done, Brian. I like everything about this concept, except for the title you gave it, which seems to imply that barter markets should replace farmers' markets. Rather, I think both types of markets can complement one another quite nicely, perhaps by sharing a space on an alternating schedule, or simply by occupying adjacent spaces. Each event can benefit from the success of the other, giving residents more reasons to gather there more often, and building a reputation for the site as a hub of activity.
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 14, 2011, 09:24PM
Thanks Andre, I agree with you. Farmer's market definitely goes hand-in-hand with a barter market. It's all in the spirit of community, doing things locally, and changing the way people support themselves.
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Gabriela Flores

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December 14, 2011, 05:07PM
Love the idea!
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Brian Redondo's reply to Nathan Waterhouse's comment

Brian Redondo

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December 14, 2011, 08:14PM
Thanks Gabriela!
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A visual representation of the connections between this and other concepts.

Related Themes

Create Connections Re-purpose Spaces Foster Local Identity

Inspirations this built upon

Community bartering Thumbnail : Bartering bank
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