Here’s an excerpt of an interview where I discuss some of my favorite Midwest cities – from Dayton to Pittsburgh – by Tracy Certo of Pop City and Soapbox:
Help me better understand the connection between living in a
powerful mega-region like Chi-Pitts but in a city in that region that’s
in transition.
Chicago’s growth really sucked up all of the services and
headquarters functions and lawyering and financial and accountancy that
used to be done in the Detroits, the Pittsburghs, the Cincinnatis, the
Akrons, the Toledos. Chicago has become in a way the business and
financial center for the Chi-Pitts regions, and it’s become
extraordinarily expensive.
So, one can make quite a nice life in a Cincinnati if they find
ways to connect to that Chi-Pitts mega region. The places in the mega
region that are really at an advantage are places like Ann Arbor. So,
the college towns in that mega region have a particular advantage.
How can a city in this mega-region, like Cincinnati,
Detroit or Pittsburgh, better compete in the global economy? Is it a
matter of amenities or mindset or both?
First of all, I
think they all have this great advantage, in a nearly 2 trillion dollar
mega region which is one of the most innovative on the planet. They’re
also close to the second largest mega-region on the planet, the number
one in North America which is the Bos-Wash (Boston-Washington). The
question is how do they want to compete?
I was just in Cincinnati and in Dayton, another city I love.
They’re historical centers of innovation, every one from steel
innovation to aluminum innovation, to electronics, to the Wright
Brothers, to the car. This is one of the greatest innovative and
entrepreneurial centers in the world. They have probably one of the
greatest clusters of universities, in the history of the planet.
They’re producing phenomenal talent, but unfortunately, that talent
leaves. So, in Rise of the Creative Class, I said the one thing that it needs to become is more open minded and tolerant. It needs to be more diverse and inclusive.
Some of that’s happening in certain parts of the region. More
foreign people are moving in, though not enough, in the Cincinnatis and
Pittsburghs. They’re becoming more open minded to the gay and lesbian
population, though by no means, not enough. I don’t think it’s a
question of making jazzier restaurants or hipper bike trails. I think
it’s a question of being more open-minded.
Another
thing the region suffers from is really poor leadership. And I think
the reason that is, it really bears the imprint that as the economy is
changing to newer things, away from manufacturing, the leadership still
reflects that top-down, vertical, 1950s organization mentality so you
get these conflicts between old-style democratic political machine and
business-led organizations. Those conflicts become very dysfunctional.
I think one of the other things is that if older cities could achieve
better leadership, leadership that was more in tune with the future.
We were working with 30 community catalysts in greater Dayton a
couple weeks ago and I was blown away by what’s happened in downtown
Dayton. It’s a more interesting and exciting place, filled with arts
and restaurants and renovated houses and buildings. But too how these
thirty catalysts, black, white, young, old, Hispanic, Latino, how much
they cared about making their city better. And I think that’s the kind
of thing you see in parts of Ohio and Illinois, there’s this incredible
sense that people care, and I think unleashing that energy in people is
really key.
The rest is here.
March 26th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
This is exactly the trouble with my city. I moved here to the Niagara region after having lived my whole life in Toronto because my husband got a job at the College in the next city. Although there are many benefits to our city of 18,000, The differences are striking. There is almost 0 population diversity which leads to a great deal of prejudice. There is a huge population imbalance with the majority of citizens being seniors, which leaves our schools in jeopardy and the general thinking in the community stuck in the 50’s. There is an enormous Roman Catholic predominance, of all nationalities, which feeds anti-gay and lesbian sentiment.
There are other differences too, but the main frustration felt by my family is the poor leadership of our community. Our old City Hall falls to pieces when we were offered a Federal grant to turn it into a much needed Seniors housing facility. We cannot organize a spaghetti sauce contest because of warring factions in our Italian community. There can be no fireworks or bands in our parks. We cannot marry gay couples at our local landmark or the peoople in charge will be fired.
The latest in this plethora of backward thinking debacles is a deal we were offered by a wireless internet company. we were given the chance to be the first wireless city in Canada. All wires etc would be provided, installed and maintained by the company for free. We would have free wireless from anywhere in the city in perpetuity.(what a boon to attracting desperately needed new businesses) All new products/services would be tested here first, so we would be on the cutting edge.They employ a great number of people and need 300 more right now.
Why did our City Council turn this deal down? The company required the city to make a one-time purchase of space on the phone lines costing $8,000. Apparently this is too much to ask.
I would love to know what you or anyone else can suggest to deal with such poor leadership. My husband and I tried to change things when we first arrived,working on and chairing several committees etc., but now we have given up in frustration.What can you do when the head of the parade committee won’t even let you see a list of participants, EVER, because that would be giving up power?
frustrated and cursing……
Dianne
March 30th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Having spent nearly a decade in Chicago, and a frequent visitor since, this is the first time that I have ever read of a connection to Ohio or Pennsylvania. The Chicago sphere of influence, or focus of attention, doesn’t seem to go beyond NW Indiana and Benton Harbor, MI in the east. But to the west, north and south, I would think THAT is the mega-region around Chicago … no?