attracting talent
« Previous EntriesAre hip cities leveling economic disparity?
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009Many large cities have enclaves of depressing poverty and some of immense wealth. But getting past the extremes, there is some evidence that in expensive cities, the difference is diminishing between what people in typically higher paying professions (such as doctors) are earning and those in normally lower paying occupations (such as retail clerks).
From a […]
Tax breaks, recession, and cluster development
Monday, March 30th, 2009 An intriguing article ran in The Vancouver Sun on Friday about the video game programming industry. As of the Fall of 2008, 44% of the 14,000 Canadian “Entertainment software” employees were in metro Vancouver, 37% in Montreal, and 14% in Ontario.
“Vancouver is unique in that the industry has grown up without a lot of tax […]
Chicago: Creative Capital of the Universe?
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008Fast Company has released the 2008 Fast Cities report. Chicago and London are its cities of the year.
What intrigued me was the statement that Chicago is the creative capital of the universe (at least for 2008, presumably).
The article then offers discussion as to why this is from “creative” residents, including Grant Achatz (business person) […]
4 ways to read “Who’s Your City”
Friday, May 23rd, 2008Richard Florida, Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.
Where you choose to live may be the most important decision in your adult life — at least according to Economist Richard Florida. And he makes a compelling case for it in his […]
Floating semi-cities?
Saturday, March 29th, 2008The Creativity Exchange ran a post this week about The Freedom Ship - a floating city complete with airport, university, office space, and residences priced from $180,000 to $44 million. The Freedom Ship is supposed to circumnavigate the globe every 12 months, which seems a little challenging — those Atlantic and Pacific storms might be […]
Creativity, anarchy and civilization
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008From Journalist Frances Bula’s City States Blog:
My son, who does visuals for DJs … sent me an email from Austin today. He’s of course at the South by Southwest music festival … It seems he also has something to say about city policy.
“we went to a show last night that started at 3am […]
Clusters and (health) company towns
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 In the 19th and early 20th century many towns and small cities were dominated by one industry or even one company - the factory town. For example: Flint, MI and General Motors or Dearborn, MI and Ford.
Now, in the early 21st century some new company towns are emerging in the US — […]
The origins of the Federation of North American City States
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008What could happen if the divide between federal, state and provincial government policy and the needs of metropolitan areas is not resolved soon? How will future historians write about political organization in North America (and the world) during the early 21st century?
Here’s some “social science fiction” - a hypothetical student history paper from […]
Lessons from my own relationship with Vancouver
Saturday, January 5th, 2008Many urban policies now focus on attracting talented citizens. But they often focus on appealing to those in their twenties — people often without children who spend time at night clubs, cafes, restaurants. However, a successful city will find a way to embrace those 20-somethings as their lifestyles change — and to attract […]
San Diego - city or sprawling cool beach towns
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008Christmas Day on Pacific Beach in San Diego was warm. Surfers caught waves; children splashed in the ocean; families had their annual portraits taken. A few beach stalls, coffee bars, and stores were open and we enjoyed a beer or two (legally!) on the sand at sunset. That was our first day in San […]
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