My latest piece is online in City Lab. It's another look at urban branding. Here's an excerpt. The problem with the typical approach extends beyond just marketing. It has tangible consequences. A brand is really a city’s conception of itself. By selling itself as a facsimile of something its not, a city ends up turning that into reality. Thus, so many urban places today seem vaguely the same—a blur of Edison-bulbed eateries and mid-rise “one plus five” apartment buildings (in which up to five stories of wood frame construction are built atop a … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2019
President Pete?
My latest piece is online at City Journal. It's a look at the improbable presidential candidacy of South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg. Some excerpts: Buttigieg has the impressive résumé one would expect from an aspiring presidential candidate. Born in South Bend, he was valedictorian of his high school, then went to Harvard and received a Rhodes Scholarship. He became a Naval Reserve officer and served in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer. He’s worked in elite business and Democratic political circles, doing a stint at McKinsey and … [Read more...]