Comments on: To Each His/Her Own Hood? http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/ The source on how we live, work and play Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:10:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: John http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-192 John Sat, 27 Oct 2007 02:46:56 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-192 I've always preferred homogeneous communities compared to diverse ones. Now I'm not talking about Nuremberg law communities or places demographically similar to the Israeli settlements, but in general, I like areas no more than 2% non-European. My current neighborhood is located in the beautiful town of East Aurora NY. Its a typical "main-street USA" type of a town. We have one of the oldest five-in-dime stores in the country. I would have to classify it has a "Valhalla" community. In fact, "Valhalla" is a perfect description of EA. We have a saying in our town that I think sums it up perfectly: "East Aurora is not a place, its a state of mind." Indeed it is. I’ve always preferred homogeneous communities compared to diverse ones. Now I’m not talking about Nuremberg law communities or places demographically similar to the Israeli settlements, but in general, I like areas no more than 2% non-European.

My current neighborhood is located in the beautiful town of East Aurora NY. Its a typical “main-street USA” type of a town. We have one of the oldest five-in-dime stores in the country. I would have to classify it has a “Valhalla” community. In fact, “Valhalla” is a perfect description of EA. We have a saying in our town that I think sums it up perfectly:

“East Aurora is not a place, its a state of mind.” Indeed it is.

]]> By: Michael Wells http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-191 Michael Wells Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:30:14 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-191 I understand why you focus on younger creative class folks when you’re projecting future growth, their mobility, etc. But don’t forget the older (40-50+) creatives -- college professors, named partners in architectural firms, Principle Investigator researchers, senior engineers, established artists, successful entrepreneurs. They provide teachers, mentors and role models for younger creatives, hire them, finance them, advocate for them. I live in Portland’s Willamette Heights, a neighborhood with lots of established working artists, creative professionals, academics & teachers and nonprofit executives. Many of them moved here when property was cheap, which it isn’t anymore but the tone is set for newcomers. The age range (not counting children) is 30’s to 80’s, with most in the middle. We have neighbors who write bestsellers, show in galleries here and New York, etc. Not multi-millionaires but mostly upper-middle class at least. This may be a kind of BOBO-BURG, but I don’t think it’s that self conscious. Maybe it’s the CREATIVE ESTABLISHMENT. I think there are probably neighborhoods like this in many cities -- the Berkeley Hills and New York’s Upper West Side come to mind. I understand why you focus on younger creative class folks when you’re projecting future growth, their mobility, etc. But don’t forget the older (40-50+) creatives — college professors, named partners in architectural firms, Principle Investigator researchers, senior engineers, established artists, successful entrepreneurs. They provide teachers, mentors and role models for younger creatives, hire them, finance them, advocate for them.

I live in Portland’s Willamette Heights, a neighborhood with lots of established working artists, creative professionals, academics & teachers and nonprofit executives. Many of them moved here when property was cheap, which it isn’t anymore but the tone is set for newcomers. The age range (not counting children) is 30’s to 80’s, with most in the middle. We have neighbors who write bestsellers, show in galleries here and New York, etc. Not multi-millionaires but mostly upper-middle class at least.

This may be a kind of BOBO-BURG, but I don’t think it’s that self conscious. Maybe it’s the CREATIVE ESTABLISHMENT. I think there are probably neighborhoods like this in many cities — the Berkeley Hills and New York’s Upper West Side come to mind.

]]> By: sheri http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-190 sheri Tue, 13 Mar 2007 22:17:43 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-190 I moved to a small city (around 26,000) after college because I was starting out as a newspaper writer/editor, a job so low paying that I could have made more money if I had remained a waitress in a cheap-drinks bar. I had intended to go to NYC or Chicago, but I still had school loans to pay. Hence, small-city Indiana. I worked and excelled here, meeting wonderful, friendly and bright people, and surprisingly, I found socially tolerant people. (I spent next-to-no time in the Bible-belt part of town, so their only impact was on our community's inability to have a festival that served beer, nor did I have children who could only learn about evolution in the Catholic schools because the public schools didn't dare teach it.) I lived in an incredible downtown apartment with leaded-glass windows, great character and walking-distance proximity to many things. It was like living in the big city. I took a job transfer to Louisiana and became homesick for the first time in my life -- for this small Indiana city. What I came to appreciate was that having fewer obvious cultural and entertainment choices mean that I had deeper involvement in them, and deeper friendships with those I'd met. It didn't hurt that the amazing stock of older homes were -- and are -- dirt cheap. Another lesson: Big city, downtown living isn't that much different than living in a smaller city; you stick to certain neighborhoods most of the time. I moved back, and now live in a fabulous older house in walking distance from everything. I'm involved in our local Main Street group, which is trying to salvage downtown in sensible ways. As one friend on the board put it, we will never have a fabulous big city, but we can have a very cool small city. We even managed to get a festival serving beer past the naysayers. They're not socially tolerant, but the wisest ones realize that they can't be so intolerant. Small cities have potential, if we let them. I moved to a small city (around 26,000) after college because I was starting out as a newspaper writer/editor, a job so low paying that I could have made more money if I had remained a waitress in a cheap-drinks bar. I had intended to go to NYC or Chicago, but I still had school loans to pay. Hence, small-city Indiana.

I worked and excelled here, meeting wonderful, friendly and bright people, and surprisingly, I found socially tolerant people. (I spent next-to-no time in the Bible-belt part of town, so their only impact was on our community’s inability to have a festival that served beer, nor did I have children who could only learn about evolution in the Catholic schools because the public schools didn’t dare teach it.) I lived in an incredible downtown apartment with leaded-glass windows, great character and walking-distance proximity to many things. It was like living in the big city.

I took a job transfer to Louisiana and became homesick for the first time in my life — for this small Indiana city. What I came to appreciate was that having fewer obvious cultural and entertainment choices mean that I had deeper involvement in them, and deeper friendships with those I’d met. It didn’t hurt that the amazing stock of older homes were — and are — dirt cheap.

Another lesson: Big city, downtown living isn’t that much different than living in a smaller city; you stick to certain neighborhoods most of the time.

I moved back, and now live in a fabulous older house in walking distance from everything. I’m involved in our local Main Street group, which is trying to salvage downtown in sensible ways. As one friend on the board put it, we will never have a fabulous big city, but we can have a very cool small city. We even managed to get a festival serving beer past the naysayers. They’re not socially tolerant, but the wisest ones realize that they can’t be so intolerant.

Small cities have potential, if we let them.

]]> By: Richard http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-189 Richard Wed, 07 Feb 2007 04:11:17 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-189 Sara - Never too late. Thanks for sending this in. Sara – Never too late. Thanks for sending this in.

]]> By: Sara http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-188 Sara Tue, 06 Feb 2007 04:23:57 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-188 Judging by the dates, I'm pretty late with my comment, but I just moved to DC from Phoenix, AZ to attend grad school (I am an MFA candidate in painting). I chose Dupont Circle because it is generally known as a gay area and as a young woman who is used to a car culture I feel very vulnerable walking everywhere. It was important that the area I live in has an active night life, not because I want to party, but because that means there are eyes on the street at all times. It doesn't matter if it is 2am, I am never walking alone. I lived in a ghetto area in Phx, but the difference is I didn't walk anywhere! My place here is situated between Dupont proper and the 14th St / U Street Corridor. I am able to attend gallery openings and go to some great spots, but conduct my everyday living in Dupont (which is easier with an accessible metro). I feel like for my varied lifestyle in which creativity and flavor is important, I like living in the in-between places where I can have my cake and eat it too! Judging by the dates, I’m pretty late with my comment, but I just moved to DC from Phoenix, AZ to attend grad school (I am an MFA candidate in painting). I chose Dupont Circle because it is generally known as a gay area and as a young woman who is used to a car culture I feel very vulnerable walking everywhere. It was important that the area I live in has an active night life, not because I want to party, but because that means there are eyes on the street at all times. It doesn’t matter if it is 2am, I am never walking alone. I lived in a ghetto area in Phx, but the difference is I didn’t walk anywhere!

My place here is situated between Dupont proper and the 14th St / U Street Corridor. I am able to attend gallery openings and go to some great spots, but conduct my everyday living in Dupont (which is easier with an accessible metro). I feel like for my varied lifestyle in which creativity and flavor is important, I like living in the in-between places where I can have my cake and eat it too!

]]> By: MPS http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-187 MPS Mon, 06 Nov 2006 15:08:53 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-187 I just wanted to add something here that I believe Mr. Florida once mentioned - enumerating these neighborhoods reflects the notion that a good metro area should have "something for everyone", and goes to show there is not a one-size-fits-all environment for the creative class. Mr. Florida, in the case of Chicago, noted that "size matters" - it helps to be a big enough metro to encompass many types of neighborhoods. Kind of like in investing, it prevents a metro from putting all of its eggs in one basket. I believe even smaller metros can benefit from this. Where I live, Columbia, SC, actually has about 3-4 different "downtown urban" environments, albeit on a smaller scale than DC or Chicago, and 4-5 different suburban environments. This makes it easier to attract people and let them figure out how their personality and needs fit with the various neighborhoods' personalities. There is no need to fall into a false dichotomy, for example, between hip urban hood and boring suburb (or conversely, dangerous, edgy city and safe, quiet suburb). Those metros that only provide two or three such options will not be as competitive, I believe. We have many more options in many metros. I just wanted to add something here that I believe Mr. Florida once mentioned – enumerating these neighborhoods reflects the notion that a good metro area should have “something for everyone”, and goes to show there is not a one-size-fits-all environment for the creative class. Mr. Florida, in the case of Chicago, noted that “size matters” – it helps to be a big enough metro to encompass many types of neighborhoods. Kind of like in investing, it prevents a metro from putting all of its eggs in one basket. I believe even smaller metros can benefit from this. Where I live, Columbia, SC, actually has about 3-4 different “downtown urban” environments, albeit on a smaller scale than DC or Chicago, and 4-5 different suburban environments. This makes it easier to attract people and let them figure out how their personality and needs fit with the various neighborhoods’ personalities. There is no need to fall into a false dichotomy, for example, between hip urban hood and boring suburb (or conversely, dangerous, edgy city and safe, quiet suburb). Those metros that only provide two or three such options will not be as competitive, I believe.

We have many more options in many metros.

]]> By: RF http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-186 RF Thu, 02 Nov 2006 20:01:25 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-186 MPS--thank you!!!!! MPS–thank you!!!!!

]]> By: DJM http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-185 DJM Thu, 02 Nov 2006 18:18:11 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-185 MPS, Great comments. As a chicago native and a resident of DC, I find your categories and examples very insightful. Thank you for joining the conversation. MPS,
Great comments. As a chicago native and a resident of DC, I find your categories and examples very insightful. Thank you for joining the conversation.

]]> By: MPS http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-184 MPS Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:11:41 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-184 I've actually toyed with this idea of classifying neighborhoods over a year ago and came up with a clunky "system" myself. I've applied it (imperfectly) to several metros, but here I'll try to show it for the Washington DC and Chicago areas, respectively, the two large cities I'm most familiar with: GENTRIFIED GHETTO ("DESIGNER DIGS"): Georgetown, Lincoln Park HIP HOOD ("HIPSTER HAVEN"): Adams Morgan, Wicker Park/Bucktown EMERGING HIP HOOD ("URBAN MOSAIC"): SW Waterfront or Columbia Heights; Ukrainian Village or South Loop NERDISTAN (Joel Kotkin's term), or TRADITIONAL EDGE CITIES (Joel Garreau's term): Tysons-Dulles Corridor or I-270 Corridor, Naperville or Schaumburg EDGELESS CITIES (Robert Lang's term) or EXURBAN FRONTIER: Loudoun County (Ashburn/Leesburg) or Howard County (Elkridge), Kane/McHenry Counties (Geneva/St. Charles/Huntley) GENERIC SPRAWL or NEAR MIDOPOLITAN (Joel Kotkin's term): Hoffman Estates or Northern DuPage County, parts of Prince William County BLUE-BLOOD-BURB-CUM-COOL or GENTRIFIED/BOBOFIED UPSCALE SUBURB (what I called "ELITE BOOMER BURB" above): Hinsdale or Lake Forest, Potomac or McLean LATTE BURB (borrowing from David Brooks) or GENTRIFIED MIDOPOLIS: Oak Park or Evanston, Bethesda or Alexandria EMERGING LATTE BURB (GENTRIFYING MIDDLE/UPPER MIDDLE CLASS SUBURB): Skokie or Libertyville or Elmhurst, Gaithersburg/Silver Spring or Vienna/Fairfax MATURING NERDISTAN or GENTRIFYING SPRAWL (Subset of NERDISTAN above): Schaumburg, Reston STAGNANT MIDOPOLIS: Elmwood Park or Tinley Park or Hillside or Harvey, Langley Park (MD) or Upper Marlboro (MD)) or Woodbridge (VA) (DISTANT) LATTE TOWNS or VALHALLAS (credit to Brooks & Kotkin, respectively): Lake Geneva (WI) or western Michigan lake towns or Door County (WI), Charlottesville or Annapolis or Maryland/Delaware beaches (currently) UNPRETENTIOUS (but promising) FUTURE: Aurora/Elgin/Joliet, Frederick/Manassas I’ve actually toyed with this idea of classifying neighborhoods over a year ago and came up with a clunky “system” myself. I’ve applied it (imperfectly) to several metros, but here I’ll try to show it for the Washington DC and Chicago areas, respectively, the two large cities I’m most familiar with:

GENTRIFIED GHETTO (“DESIGNER DIGS”): Georgetown, Lincoln Park

HIP HOOD (“HIPSTER HAVEN”): Adams Morgan, Wicker Park/Bucktown

EMERGING HIP HOOD (“URBAN MOSAIC”): SW Waterfront or Columbia Heights; Ukrainian Village or South Loop

NERDISTAN (Joel Kotkin’s term), or TRADITIONAL EDGE CITIES (Joel Garreau’s term): Tysons-Dulles Corridor or I-270 Corridor, Naperville or Schaumburg

EDGELESS CITIES (Robert Lang’s term) or EXURBAN FRONTIER:
Loudoun County (Ashburn/Leesburg) or Howard County (Elkridge), Kane/McHenry Counties (Geneva/St. Charles/Huntley)

GENERIC SPRAWL or NEAR MIDOPOLITAN (Joel Kotkin’s term): Hoffman Estates or Northern DuPage County, parts of Prince William County

BLUE-BLOOD-BURB-CUM-COOL or GENTRIFIED/BOBOFIED UPSCALE SUBURB (what I called “ELITE BOOMER BURB” above): Hinsdale or Lake Forest, Potomac or McLean

LATTE BURB (borrowing from David Brooks) or GENTRIFIED MIDOPOLIS: Oak Park or Evanston, Bethesda or Alexandria

EMERGING LATTE BURB (GENTRIFYING MIDDLE/UPPER MIDDLE CLASS SUBURB): Skokie or Libertyville or Elmhurst, Gaithersburg/Silver Spring or Vienna/Fairfax

MATURING NERDISTAN or GENTRIFYING SPRAWL (Subset of NERDISTAN above): Schaumburg, Reston

STAGNANT MIDOPOLIS: Elmwood Park or Tinley Park or Hillside or Harvey, Langley Park (MD) or Upper Marlboro (MD)) or Woodbridge (VA)

(DISTANT) LATTE TOWNS or VALHALLAS (credit to Brooks & Kotkin, respectively): Lake Geneva (WI) or western Michigan lake towns or Door County (WI), Charlottesville or Annapolis or Maryland/Delaware beaches

(currently) UNPRETENTIOUS (but promising) FUTURE: Aurora/Elgin/Joliet, Frederick/Manassas

]]> By: RF http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/comment-page-1/#comment-183 RF Thu, 02 Nov 2006 03:13:25 +0000 http://zstation/creativeclass/v3/creative_class/2006/10/31/to-each-hisher-own-hood/#comment-183 Great comments all. Very useful. John good call on Logan. And U Street too. Sean, thanks for the shout for Manhattan, tell us more about Manhattan's many hoods, seems like it has many of the kinds we outline here... Fred, tell us more about Seattle's hoods, if you have a minute. I know some but not all.... Vanna, we know and love Cary, right Sean.... I've written an article with Jim Goodnight, actually we give Cary a nice shout out as a family-friendly, child friendly community later in the book.... MPS, great comments. I love the idea of elite-boomer-burgs. Yes on Potomac, and double yes on Birmingham. My wife Rana is from there: I always ask her why so many people wear designer fashions to get their morning coffee at Starbucks. RF Great comments all. Very useful. John good call on Logan. And U Street too.

Sean, thanks for the shout for Manhattan, tell us more about Manhattan’s many hoods, seems like it has many of the kinds we outline here…

Fred, tell us more about Seattle’s hoods, if you have a minute. I know some but not all….

Vanna, we know and love Cary, right Sean…. I’ve written an article with Jim Goodnight, actually we give Cary a nice shout out as a family-friendly, child friendly community later in the book….

MPS, great comments. I love the idea of elite-boomer-burgs. Yes on Potomac, and double yes on Birmingham. My wife Rana is from there: I always ask her why so many people wear designer fashions to get their morning coffee at Starbucks.

RF

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