“Institutions are designed for stability. They are designed to protect the status quo. They are designed to resist change and are allergic even to the hint of transformation. They are not designed to reflect the will of citizens, consumers, students, patients, and entrepreneurs.” — Saul Kaplan, “The Business Model Innovation Factory”Some folks like to suggest that it is the biggest, most dense cities where the most serendipitous interactions tend to occur, the types of random encounters that lead to crazy innovative breakthroughs. I’ve found in … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
State of Chicago: The Risks of Recovery
This article is part of the State of Chicago. In comments to previous installments, some folks have highlighted recent positive news for Chicago - job announcements, the decline in unemployment rate, some indications of a housing market uptick, and improved hotel occupancy - as evidence that perhaps I spoke too soon or was wrong about Chicago. Well, if I'm wrong, I'd happily take that. If Chicago starts back up on a 90s-like upward trajectory, that would clearly be something to celebrate. On the other hand, there are risks that come … [Read more...]
State of Chicago: Explaining the 1990s Versus the 2000s
In my article "The Second-Rate City?" I noted Chicago's very strong economic and demographic performance in the 1990s and contrasted it with the very poor performance in the 2000s. Then I outlined several problems with Chicago I thought helped drive the struggles. A few people asked a very fair question, saying, "All the negative factors you cite about Chicago (e.g., clout, business climate) were equally as true in the 1990s as in the 2000s, so what really made the difference?" I want to try to respond to that today. First, let's ask … [Read more...]
State of Chicago: New Century Strengths
This article is part of the State of Chicago. Before I say anything else I want to give a shout out of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. I've been pounding on the idea that Chicago has been overly focused on "global" at the expense of its traditional domestic and regional role as "Capital of the Midwest," a role which, like it or not, still greatly shapes the city's economic fortunes. As recently as May, the Guardian (UK) was saying that, regarding luring the NATO summit to Chicago, "Emanuel is motivated by a desire to reposition the city from … [Read more...]
State of Chicago: The New Century Struggle
This is the second installment in my "State of Chicago" series. Last time I looked at Chicago's 70s and early 80s horrible struggles followed by rebirth and robust out-performance during the 1990s. Today we turn our attention to the first decade of the 21st century. During the 2000s, Chicago experienced a bit of a two-track performance. Parts of the urban core continued to grow robustly, fueled by the real estate bubble and perhaps the greatest urban condo building boom in America. The culinary, cultural, and other scenes in Chicago only … [Read more...]
Regarding Black Urbanism by Pete Saunders
[ Pete Saunders is an urban planner, and an articulate and insightful writer on cities. He also happens to be black. The writings on his blog Corner Side Yard are a mix of great thoughts on general urbanism, and some of the applications to the black urban experience. In the piece below, Saunders asks where the black participation is in the urbanism movement today. Definitely check out his blog where he has some subsequent installments that flesh out his thoughts on the matter - Aaron. ] African Americans have been perhaps the most urban … [Read more...]
State of Chicago: The Decline and Rise
This article is part of the State of Chicago. I've had it in my head for over a year now to do an in-depth exploration of Chicago, a project I've called "State of Chicago." Today I want to kick that off as a series of posts that expand on the themes in my recent article "The Second-Rate City?" First, I'd like to list three reasons why I wrote that piece: 1. To bring to the attention of Chicago the very poor statistical performance of the city on basic demographic and economic measures. 2. To write a corrective to the many … [Read more...]
Religion and the City
Note: This post originally appeared on November 7, 2010. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare. - Jeremiah 29:7 Religion is another one of those topics seldom discussed in urbanist circles. Though Christianity was originally an urban religion, modern Christianity has always had a bit of a problem with cities, with their licentious ways, anonymity, and the little bit of Babylon and Sodom they all contain. The religious in the US are … [Read more...]
Minneapolis-St. Paul – White, Liberal, Cold
Note: This post originally ran on December 12, 2010. As we are experiencing an early winter storm here in the Midwest, one that is particularly slamming the Twin Cities - the Metrodome roof just collapsed - perhaps it is time for a brief look at the Twin Cities. Minneapolis-St. Paul has always been a bit of an outlier in the Midwest. Its economy was originally based around grains and such, not the auto and metals axes that supported the rest of the Midwest. So it had a very different trajectory than most other regional cities. The … [Read more...]
The OECD Reviews Chicago
"Although still high in absolute terms, GDP and labor productivity growth rates are sluggish - both by US and international standards. The Chicago Tri-State metro-region's contribution to national growth has slowed over the past decade and the region does not stand out as a top knowledge hub. Despite a dynamic and numerically large labor force, the region has experienced virtually no growth in the size of its prime working-age population and displays limited ability to attract and retain talent when compared to its US peers. More worrisome are … [Read more...]