How do you know a city that takes pride in itself? It's often the littlest things. Consider this stop sign from the city of Chicago. At first, this looks like any ordinary stop sign. But take a closer look at the bottom and look at what we see. The people who make street signs in the Chicago care enough, put enough pride into their work and their city, to sign the city's name at the bottom of every sign. This tells us something very powerful about the that place. Think it is an accident of geography, luck, or history that made … [Read more...]
Archives for 2008
Detroit: Do the Collapse
I enjoy swapping "war stories" about work as much as the next guy. I've heard a lot, but some of the most incredulous came from a college buddy who used to work for General Motors. He was a manager level employee in field operations, but was often called in to work auto shows and the like. What was his job at the auto show you might ask? Well, at one Chicago Auto Show, his first responsibility was to make sure the hotel room for the executive was prepped correctly. This exec had very specific detailed requirements as to the brands of soft … [Read more...]
Why I Love Jury Duty
As we approach election season and participation in one of our great civic duties, I am prompted to reflect on another civic duty, jury duty to be precise. Most people view this as an imposition. Practically speaking, I'm inclined to agree. But I find that when I actually end up going, not only do I enjoy myself, I come away with my faith in America stronger than ever. There's a vast literature on juries and their role in a republican system. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote extensively on it, for example. But the aspects that stands out for me … [Read more...]
Chicago: Corporate Headquarters and the Global City
Chicago is the Midwest's only "global city" (or world city if you prefer). There are many paradigms of the global city, but the most widely cited is Saskia Sassen's. The Cliff Notes version goes something like this. As businesses became more globalized and more virtualized, this created demand for new types of financial products and producer services - notably in the law, accounting, consultancy, and marketing areas - to help businesses service and control these far flung networks. These financial and producer services are subject to clustering … [Read more...]
Deepening the Linkages Between Indianapolis and Indiana
This article is a bit out of sequence. I had intended to write at least one precursor first. But recent news and a recent experience caused me to switch things around. As I noted in my Pecha Kucha presentation, there can't be a successful Indianapolis without a successful Indiana. Why should the Central Indiana region care whether the state as a whole is healthy? Two reasons: Indy is ultimately dependent on the state for significant support such as money for highway construction. A struggling state won't be able to afford these. What's … [Read more...]
What is Your Ambition?
Paul Graham is a noted technologist, venture capitalist, and writer. He may be best known for his essay "A Plan for Spam" which popularized Bayesian spam filtering. His web site contains a collection of his essays, many of which are well worth reading, particularly if you are interested in starting a software business. One recent entry called "Cities and Ambition" caught my attention. Here is the opening: "Great cities attract ambitious people. You can sense it when you walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a … [Read more...]
Smart Economic Development Strategies: MusicCrossroads
I didn't originally intend it as such, but this is the third in a series of postings highlighting good economic development strategies. (The first covered Indianapolis' amateur sports strategy and the second its motorsports strategy). Today I'll discuss something I mentioned in passing before, the MusicCrossroads initiative. MusicCrossroads is an organization whose mission is to advance the quality of life for all through the attraction, support and collaboration of leading performing art entrepreneurs and organizations. It is operated by … [Read more...]
More Smart Economic Development Strategies
In my recent posting about the brand promise of Indianapolis, I advocated that far from rejecting Indy's traditional brand image, the city should instead embrace the best of it, updating it for the future with optimism and ambition. Core to this was motorsports, which is the brand image of Indianapolis for many people, especially outside the United States. There was some lively debate around this in the comment thread to say the least. Interestingly, an article in the Star [dead link] shows that motorsports isn't just a good brand, it's good … [Read more...]
The Brand Promise of Indianapolis
After my most recent pecha kucha presentation, someone came up to me and asked a question: "What is Indianapolis' identity?" She noted that when you think "Texas" a whole series of associations comes to mind: ten-gallon hats and cowboys, "everything's bigger in Texas", a certain exaggered masculinity combined with traditional "Yes, Ma'am" manners. But Indianapolis didn't seem to conjure up anything for this person or those she worked with. It was a constant topic of conversation. This is, perhaps, not uncommon in the area. I noted how … [Read more...]
Nashville: The Next Boomtown of the New South?
I traveled to Nashville for the first time in 2007, spending most of my time in the downtown area. I posted my impressions here, noting the high growth and high ambition level as well as the fantastic freeways, but also the generally unimpressive development and built environment. I did another fly-by in April of this year. I made a conscious effort to try to get out and see different areas this time around. My tour guide was an Indy native who had spent the last decade or so in the northeast. He'd moved to the city about a year previously, … [Read more...]