I was asked by Fortune to contribute a piece about Trump's Carrier deal. They had gotten a lot of people criticizing it and were looking for someone who would give a different perspective. I think many of the criticisms are valid in a sense, but miss the larger context. So I wrote the piece which is now online. Here's an excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out that one of the keys to America’s unique success was its sense of enlightened self-interest. Americans worked and competed hard for themselves, their families, and their businesses, … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2016
Where Does Columbus Go From Here?
Columbus, Ohio has been doing very well as a city in recent years. It's the fastest growing major Midwest city in population and second fastest in job growth. They recently won the US DOT's Smart City Challenge grant, which has been generating some buzz. I was in Columbus this week to speak again at the Columbus Metropolitan Club. I talked a bit about Columbus' performance, where it goes from here, some of the challenges it faces, how to build a better national brand, etc. The video of the event, which I'm told will also air on public … [Read more...]
The Most Important Commandment for Writing on the Internet
Albert Camus said that the most fundamental question in philosophy was, Why not kill yourself? In blogging, that question is, Why start yet another blog? As part of sharing what I've learned in nearly a decade of writing for an internet audience, today I'll give the most important thing you need if you want to grow an audience online: something unique and compelling to say. A lot of urbanist blogs started about the same time as mine, but few of them took off at scale. I pondered why mine did and came up with a few factors. One is … [Read more...]
Art Responding to Architecture in Columbus, Indiana
I've written about the incredible small city of Columbus, Indiana before. It's arguably the most successful small industrial city in America that is neither a college town nor a state capital. It's also home to one of the world's great collections of modern architecture. One of the reasons that Columbus has done so well is that it hasn't rested on its laurels, and has looked for new ways to keep making the community better. One of their new efforts is an arts initiative called Exhibit Columbus. I talked by phone with Richard McCoy and Anne … [Read more...]