Archive for the ‘Mobility - Who's Your City?’ Category
Americans keep on moving. Roughly 40 million U.S. residents moved in 2006-2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (h/t: Kevin Stolarick). Of these, more than 12 million moved to a new county or a new state. Young people in their twenties were the most likely to move – roughly a quarter of all Americans in their twenties moved during this period. And jobs are not the most common reason people move. Finding a better house or neighborhood and family reasons are the most common reasons; employment is third. Renters are far more mobile than homeowners.
Get this: almost one-third (29 percent) of renters moved in 2006-2008, compared to less than 10 percent of those who lived in owner-occupied homes. And this was before the mortgage crisis hit. Single family homes were part of the industrial economy’s “spatial fix.” Many workers had long-term secure employment and the suburban model fueled fordist consumption. But single family homes suck up resources and energy and act against the the mobility and flexibility demanded by the creative economy. What might replace them as the new spatial fix for the creative age?
A great article from an upcoming issue of Macleans magazine on “Canada’s Smartest Cities” research done by the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) indicates which cities offer the most opportunities – with Ottawa and Victoria topping the charts. Calgary is labeled as the country’s most cultured city with Guelph taking the prize as the most caring city. Check out the rankings and experiment with the interactive mapping of more than 4,700 cities conducted by the CCL here.
Why should you care how smart your city is? According to the CCL, having more opportunities for lifelong learning can mean “higher wages, better job prospects, improved health and a more fulfilling life.
The CCL’s index is created with data from 25 indicators, which in turn are grouped into four pillars of learning, originally developed by the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The four pillars are: Learning to know, Learning to Do, Learning to Live and Learning to Be.
Thumbs up to Bert Sperling and Kevin Stolarick for their insights provided in the article. Oh, and watch out Canada… Who’s Your City: The Canadian Edition is coming to a bookshelf near you in March of next year, chalk-full of analysis and rankings on Canadian cities.
What do you think makes a city smart? Is it cultural opportunities, volunteer activities, workplace training? Or are there other elements that rank high on what you believe a smart city should be?
In Who’s Your City?, I wrote that the old trend of kids moving home after college was beginning to give way to a new one – boomer parents following their kids to more exciting cities. According to this New York Times report, it’s starting earlier than that. I’d heard about affluent parents buying condos for their kids to live in during college. But now, apparently, parents are following their kids to college and buying their own homes there. And to think: I went “away” to college (30 miles down the New Jersey Turnpike to Rutgers College) to get away from my parents’ ever-watchful eyes. I guess it’s less distance to travel to get the laundry done.
A new, international version of the popular board game ‘Monopoly’ is out next week.
The new version of the game has 22 international cities included. The most heavily represented nations are (drum roll please!) – Canada and China. Three cities each from each of those two nations are among 22 selected by more than five million fans of the game who voted online for the best cities.
Of these, Montreal received the most votes and will be paired with Latvian capital Riga as the most expensive property group on the board. Next in rank are Capetown, Belgrade, and Paris. Last-placed of the 22 was Poland’s Gdynia and no German, Indian, Russian, or Scandinavian towns made the list.
Click here to see if your city made the cut. What cities do you feel are missing from Monopoly’s new international edition? Which places would you include?
The Department of Transportation is making way for thousands of new bike racks around the city. Mr. Byrne’s will be the most visible, a fact that may position him as the symbol of the civic virtues of cycling. But soft-spoken, curious and culturally omnivorous, he’s never quite been the celebrity spokes-model type. Besides, he said, “I don’t think people are going to switch over to bikes because it’s good for them or because it’s politically correct. They’re going to do it because it gets them from A to B faster.”He has a similarly plain-spoken explanation for his own riding. “It’s a little faster than walking,” he said. “It feels good if the weather’s O.K., and if you see something that interests you, you just stop.”Mr. Byrne isn’t anticipating a revolution, but he does sense a shift in the wind. Riding a bicycle, “used to be completely uncool,” he said. “Now it’s cool in different ways: for some people it’s cool if you have an old junker. For other people it’s cool if you have a racing bike.
Anyway, it doesn’t immediately relegate you to nerd status anymore.”
National Geographic Magazine is out with its list of the ‘50 next great adventure cities’ (h/t Zoe B).
Selection criteria included both outdoor offerings and urban settings with job variety, cultural activities, and available green space. Sarah Tuff and Greg Melville from NGM write that: ” We looked for innovative towns that aren’t just prime relocation spots for now, but also smart choices for the future… Not only do the selected towns have the action, they’ve also got a plan.”
The top 12 picks, moving across the country are as follows
West Coast:
Seattle, Washington
Hood River, Oregon
San Francisco, California
Rockies:
Missoula, Montana
Ogden, Utah
Carbondale, Colorado
Central:
Grand Marais, Minnesota
San Antonio, Texas
East Coast:
Brattleboro, Vermont
Boston, Massachusetts
Islamorada, Florida
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Some familiar names on NGM’s list that mesh with our own rankings from Who’s Your City include San Francisco and Boston. What do you think about these adventure towns? Do you feel that any others should have made the cut? Would any of these cities be on your list of places to visit this summer?
Dear Rana,
“Are there any Richard Florida rankings of Canadian cities? Currently, I’m reading Richard Florida’s Who’s your City? book. It got me curious about what are his rankings of Canadian cities. I haven’t lucked out with searching for this information on Google. I did do a quick search on the Cyburbia Forums, but didn’t find anything. So, do any of you know anything about whether or not there are rankings of Canadian cities done by Richard Florida’s school of thought? I’d be somewhat surprise if there isn’t any as Richard Florida now lives in Toronto, Canada.”
The answer is YES! Coming to a town near you soon. The Canadian Edition of Who’s Your City? by Random House will be flying out of bookstores on March 10, 2009. Look for the ever so popular singles map, best cities list, and lots of other great data on Canada.
Rana
Send your questions on work, life, and play to rana@creativeclass.com
“When malls become a meeting place, it’s a sign that a
city is sick.”
Enrique Peñalosa, urban theorist and former
mayor of Bogotá, via Tyler Brule.
The New York Times Business section reports:
We’re in the midst of a boom in devices that show where people are
at any point in time. Global positioning systems are among the hottest
consumer electronics devices ever … All of these devices churn out
data that says something about how people live. Such data could
redefine what we know about consumer behavior, giving businesses early
insight into economic trends, better ways to determine sites for
offices and retail stores, and more effective ways to advertise …It’s
hard to make sense of such data, but Sense Networks, a software
analytics company in New York, earlier this month released Macrosense,
a tool that aims to do just that. Macrosense applies complex
statistical algorithms to sift through the growing heaps of data about
location and to make predictions or recommendations on various
questions — where a company should put its next store, for example … The Macrosense tool lets companies engage in “reality mining,” a phrase coined by Sandy Pentland, an M.I.T. researcher who was also a co-founder of Sense and now advises it on privacy issues. Sense is not the only company engaged in reality mining. Inrix, a Microsoft
spin-off, uses traffic data to predict traffic patterns. Path
Intelligence of Britain monitors traffic flow in shopping centers by
tracking cellphones.
Not so long ago universities were closing down their geography departments. For my money GIS, (geographic information systems, high-tech mapping data and software) looks like it has to be one of the hottest fields around.