The problem of the suburbs is one of the great challenges facing urban America today. Older suburbs across America are struggling with population declines, decaying commercial areas, and increasing poverty. As ever more suburbs start to fall into the aging category, this problem seems likely only to grow more severe over time. Even the currently shiny new suburbs on the edge seem unlikely to hold their allure when they too are full and old, with even newer edge burbs just down the road. Enormous amounts of time, money, intellectual … [Read more...]
Chicago: A Declaration of Independence
"One might fear the degree to which the city had declared its independence from nature, but at the same time one could hardly help feeling wonder at its audacity.""Other cities soon had railroads and elevators and refrigerator cars as well, but it was Chicago that first revealed the importance of such things to the West." - William Cronon, Nature's Metropolis As promised, I commence my year of looking back at the Burnham Plan of Chicago on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. To set the stage, let us first take a look at Chicago - its … [Read more...]
Retrofitting Suburbia
What to do about the suburbs? This will be the great urban development challenge in coming decades. As growth radiates out ever further from the central city, older suburban areas lose their allure. They are selling an obsolete version of the same basic auto-oriented development style as newer suburbs, but with higher taxes, more crime, and worse schools. This puts them in a strategic rough spot. Inner ring suburbs across America are starting to decay. The first sign of trouble seems to be decayed, abandoned strip malls and commercial … [Read more...]
Urban Alumni Networks
If you didn't read the comments on my recent posting "Our Product is Better Than Our Brand", I strongly suggest clicking through to see them. There are some very thoughtful and insightful contributions from readers that are very worth checking out. One thing a couple people suggested was tapping into people who moved away. This is a great idea. Jim Russell has been exploring the concept for quite some time over at Burgh Diaspora. There are a few examples out there of cities that have done it. Boston is working on one, for example. But this … [Read more...]
“Our Product is Better Than Our Brand”
Beyond the obvious of climate and such, why is it that so few people choose to move to the Midwest, which continues to see very high levels of out-migration with comparatively little in-migration in most cases? You see, I've always been struck by an interesting point: when people move to Midwestern cities, they fall in love with them. I know a lot of people who have left Indianapolis for various reasons, but don't know anyone who left cursing its name and saying how much they hated it. In fact, just the opposite is more likely. People are … [Read more...]
Pride of Place
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...]
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...]