Physicists explain how cities work: as they grow, they change in a predictable way. “Cities are living organisms — they are life,” via The Atlantic.
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There was a lot of discussion this week on Portland, the millenial retirement community, as a model for other cities:
Pacific Standard claims that the price for moving to Portland “is a job that won’t pay the rent in such a lovely and popular place. Joe Cortright would have us believe that this is not a problem, sweeping his own research under the rug in the process. Pushing up the college educational attainment rate should not be a policy goal. Also, attracting/retaining the Creative Class should not be a policy goal. The goal should be better wages for residents and a way for all to share in the prosperity. Portland is a model for what not to do.”
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The Urban Institute provides a new view of the boom and bust with this mapping tool that breaks down mortgages by race from 2001 to 2013. You can zoom in on your city and watch what happens over the decade-plus.
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Is “fly-over” country (ahem!) the next site of thriving innovation and start-ups? Steve Case thinks so, and he’s telling the Washington Post:
“Entrepreneurs in these regions are innovating in ways specific to the economic heritage of their region. While many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs (and investors) have a “hits” mentality — if they don’t strike it rich quickly they often quit and move on to the next thing — the Midwestern work ethic leads to a more patient approach. This approach should bode well in the third wave of the Internet, where patience, perseverance and partnerships will play more of a role. We’ve already seen some huge companies in the heartland built this way: e-mail giant ExactTarget in Indianapolis, social shopping’s Groupon in Chicago, yogurt power Chobani in upstate New York, and fast casual dining king Chipotle in Denver.”
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The speedy evolution of Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, via Governing:
“No one would have expected Over-the-Rhine to become a selling point for the city. It was the scene of race riots in 2001, which led Reason magazine to describe the district as “ground zero in inner-city decline.” Actually, the riots simply accelerated the type of decline and disinvestment that had already plagued the area for decades. Just a few years ago, it was considered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country. Now, it’s become a fashionable urban playground. The change has been so rapid that for undergraduates at local colleges, Over-the-Rhine has gone from no-go to must-go in the time they went from being freshmen to seniors. ”
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Via USA Today, Detroit faces new competition for the future of the auto industry from Silicon Valley — or should we say “Motor City West”?
