As you've probably noticed, there's been a slow-down in the posting frequency in 2019. Last year I tried to publish almost every business day. That was going well and readership was up. But it was also very time consuming. So I made the decision to cut back and essentially eliminate blogging. My plan is to continue to post here the articles and such that I do elsewhere, and also podcast episodes as I create them, but not to do much in the way of blogging that's original to this site, though I may still do some from time to time. The truth … [Read more...]
Seven Ways Life Has Gotten Better in Rural America
Rural America is taking a beating in the news. Part of it is deserved. I grew up in rural Indiana and am shocked at some of what is going on there: severe hard drug problems, HIV outbreaks, serious crime, etc. Things are a long way from when I was a kid there in the 70s and 80s and people not only left their doors unlocked, they left their keys in the car. While I don't want to minimize the challenges facing rural America, there's a lot that has flat out gotten better since I first moved to Harrison County in first grade around … [Read more...]
Why the Republican Base Hates the GOP Establishment and Loves Donald Trump
My father, who still lives back in Southern Indiana, is my proxy for the Republican base. I've found him very insightful into their point of view of the years. He came to NYC over the weekend for his first visit since working on a consulting project here in 1978 (quite a shock to his system). After listening to him talk about the Republican Presidential nomination race, I had to record a podcast with him on the topic. One takeaway I had is that some of Trump's support may be less people who love him, than people who are delighted that he's … [Read more...]
Why Twitter Is Really in Trouble (And What Might Actually Kill It)
Many of you know I do a lot of tweeting out of links to interesting urbanist articles, with some other things that catch my eye. I've attracted over 18,000 followers through purely organic growth. You can follow by clicking over to @urbanophile. There's been a lot of press about Twitter's struggles lately. The company always had a revenue model challenge, but the real problem hitting their valuation is stagnation in their user growth. What caused this? It's pretty simple: Twitter deliberately shut down product innovation, most of which … [Read more...]
In Case You’ve Forgotten How Much Damage Freeway Construction Did to Our Cities
Curt Ailes recently pointed me at this post from Historic Indianapolis showing the before, during, and after of freeway construction in the southeast quadrant of Indianapolis. The pictures say it all: Before: During: Today: You may also want to check out my post on the even worse damage done in Cincinnati. … [Read more...]
Rebranding Columbus
It's no secret I'm a fan of Columbus, Ohio, one of those under the radar cities that's a whole lot better than its external brand image would suggest. That frustrates local civic leaders, who've undertaken a major re-branding effort, as discussed in a recent NYT piece, "There May Be ‘No Better Place,’ but There Is a Better Slogan:" Quick, what do you think about when you hear the words “Columbus, Ohio”? Still waiting.... And that’s the problem that civic leaders here hope to solve. This capital city in the middle of a state better known, … [Read more...]
An American Commonwealth
A commenter in my Detroit posting said, "The Feds absolutely should not get into the game of helping turn around Detroit or Cleveland or Michigan or Ohio or anywhere else. It is the competition for jobs, talent, investment, and population that should be protected. The problem with usurping that natural competition among locales is that you fail to address the poor leadership and local inertia that contributed to the urban decline in the first place." I agree with a lot of this. People and businesses have choices about where to locate, and … [Read more...]
Detroit: Do the Collapse
I enjoy swapping "war stories" about work as much as the next guy. I've heard a lot, but some of the most incredulous came from a college buddy who used to work for General Motors. He was a manager level employee in field operations, but was often called in to work auto shows and the like. What was his job at the auto show you might ask? Well, at one Chicago Auto Show, his first responsibility was to make sure the hotel room for the executive was prepped correctly. This exec had very specific detailed requirements as to the brands of soft … [Read more...]
Welcome to the Urbanophile
Welcome, and thank you for reading. Camus claimed that whether or not to commit suicide was the question of philosophy. Well, for blogs, the question is, "Why create yet another blog?" So I feel compelled to offer this apology. This blog is going to be something I've seen no where else: a no-hold's barred, spare no illusions look at aspiring cities, focused on the smaller cities of the Midwest and Indiana. You'll find my ofttimes contrarian take on urban planning, economic development, transportation, what it means to be "world class", and … [Read more...]