Posts

Returning to the Rust Belt

A man walks past a closed business in Youngstown, Ohio.   Bryan Snyder/Reuters Returning to the Rust Belt RICHARD FLORIDA   AUG 31, 2017 A new study explores the reasons why some people are coming home. SHARE TWEET For decades, the Rust Belt was synonymous with deindustrialization and economic decline. Images of shuttered factories and abandoned neighborhoods have been dubbed “ruin porn.” As factories moved to the suburbs, the Sunbelt, or off-shore, jobs and people followed. Those who could, moved away. Neighborhoods and entire cities lost their economic function and hollowed out. But in recent years, signs of comeback and revival have been bolstered by the return of young, educated, and sometimes prominent natives to their hometowns. This narrative of Rust Belt return is so powerful that it has made its stamp on popular culture. Three years ago, NBA all-star LeBron James announced he was returning to his hometown of Akron to play in nearby Cleveland. “B...
Post a Comment
Read more

No, Urban Tech Startups Aren't Transforming All American Cities

Many leaders in Akron would love to have the problem of excessive housing that Airbnb has allegedly created.  Shannon Stapleton/AP No, Urban Tech Startups Aren't Transforming All American Cities DAVID ZIPPER   OCT 1, 2017 If you live in a mid-sized city like Akron, the battles over Airbnb and Uber have likely had little impact on your life. SHARE TWEET Few issues in urban tech today are as controversial as the impact of short-term rental startups like AirBnB and VRBO on neighborhood housing. The battle lines are clear: Do these startups help residents earn much-needed extra dollars on the side, or are they so constricting housing supply and raising rents so high that locals are forced to move out? Billions of dollars—and the livelihoods of vibrant communities—are at stake in this debate, and regulatory battles royale have already been waged in cities like  Washington, D.C.,  and  Austin . Of course, urban housing isn’t the only bedrock element...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Rise of ‘Urban Tech’

A cyclist delivers food for Deliveroo in London.  Toby Melville/Reuters The Rise of ‘Urban Tech’ RICHARD FLORIDA   JUL 10, 2018 From food-delivery startups to mapping and co-living companies, technology focused on urban systems is drawing billions of dollars in venture capital. SHARE TWEET The terms high-tech and venture capital conjure images of industries such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. But the fact of the matter is that cities and urbanism represent the biggest new tech sector of all, what I like to call “urban tech.” Some of the most important tech companies of the past decade essentially work on and in cities. Uber and Airbnb are probably the best-known. They are two of the select companies that tech industry analyst Scott Galloway believes may be able to  join or compete with the “Big Four ” at the upper reaches of the tech stratosphere: Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Facebook. But they are far from the whole ball game. Uber,...
Post a Comment
Read more

London's Future: More People, Fewer Cars

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants a denser, beerier city.  Stefan Wermuth/Reuters London's Future: More People, Fewer Cars FEARGUS O'SULLIVAN   NOV 30, 2017 Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Draft London Plan sets out a vision of how Britain’s capital will change by 2029. SHARE TWEET The London of 2029 will hold more people, have fewer cars, and boast better public transit. It should also be easier to find a place to lock your bike or get a pint of lager—and harder to hit up a fast-food joint after school. That, at least, is the vision set out in London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s new  Draft London Plan , which sets out a vision of how Britain’s capital will change over the ten years following 2019. A blockbuster of a document still subject to public consultation that Citylab will be returning to as it develops, the plan put together by the mayor’s office nonetheless has some clear themes running through it. London is going to build a lot more new housing, and those homes are...
Post a Comment
Read more