Twin Cities lessons

In a branding capital, how do we sell ourselves?

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081019/COL01/810190355

 

What is the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky "story"?

 

That was the question civic leaders were asking each other during a three-day trip to Minneapolis-St. Paul last week to study how that region is spurring a thriving economy.

 

In the Twin Cities, the story line was clear: exceptionalism. Like Garrison Keillor says on public radio every week: It's a place where all the children are above average.

 

More at above link.

It's good to hear about local leaders looking to see what other cities are doing well and coming away with ideas like: a comprehensive transpo plan, investing in education, getting the business community to invest in the arts and nonprofit, and creating a unique image of who we are

 

Another thing I think Cincinnatians need to notice (from the additional comment box in the story): "I was impressed by the Minnesotans' self-esteem. They really seem to believe they are exceptional."

Something to keep in mind.  Minneapolis is great, don't get me wrong.  OTOH, it's one of America's whitest cities.  It's easy to have a Scandinavian viewpoint when your population is almost entirely Scandinavian.  Hennepin County is 10.8% black.  Hamilton County is 25.0% black.  It should come as no surprise that as Minneapolis as become more diverse via international in-migration, it's politics have shifted to the right, as the Republican governor there attests.

 

By the way, Multnomah County, Oregon (Portland) is 6% black

Denver County, Colorado is 10.6% black

Travis County, Texas (Austin) is 9.0% black

King County, Washington (Seattle) is 6.1% black

 

My hypothesis, which I call "the White City" and to be a forthcoming blog post if I ever get done doing the full research, is that urban progressivism is mostly a policy for cities without large historic minority populations and whose politics and culture where not shaped by slavery, jim crow, the great migration, etc.  What's more, one can argue those that those polices are implicitly racist, in that they impose a high cost base on a city that is in effect racially exclusionary.  Note, for example, how "diversity" in the modern age is almost entirely defined in terms of immigrants.  The incredible lack of domestic racial diversity and the lack of programs in these cities (to the best of my knowledge) aimed at boosting the local below par black population indicate places that don't exactly live by the progressive credo they profess.  And as near as I can tell not one of them have been called on the carpet for it.

 

There is a big difference between these smaller hipster havens and America's large global cities (say, the 5 million+ metros).  Those places have long had robust minority populations that are part of the essential cultural and historic fabric of those cities.

 

Those of you who read my blog (and all of you should be :) know that I have long believed that Midwestern cities like Indianapolis have squandered the key asset that is their black population and black heritage.  The city that steps up and goes beyond the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion, daring to see its black population as a pillar of its growth strategy, will reap a huge advantage IMO.  I don't think it is any accident that the 'city too busy to hate' Atlanta became the great growth success story of the deep south.  Being one of America's black meccas has been absolutely core that city's success.  Unfortunately, most Midwestern places can't seem to get beyond their polarized race relations to seize the possibilities

Completely agreed.  Well put.

You are pretty much right on. Austin is really the outlier being in Texas and all. The Pacific NW has long been one of the most racist regions in the country (and also anti-religious esp. Catholic). Denver is complicated by its relatively large Hispanic community. All in all, yes.

One thing that Minnie and Charlotte has going for them is the unity they have with the state, but where in Cincinnati we have 2 and even 3 different states to deal with.

^ Charlotte is close enough to South Carolina that its sprawl does spread there.

arenn bravo. let's call them out again. portland, austin, seattle, denver. what the heck let's throw williamsburg, brooklyn and silverlake, los angeles in there too. all popular with upper middle class white youth. indeed america's hipster havens. well nice to visit and not that there isn't a lot for ohio to learn from them city-wise, it doesn't take long until i get the same crink in my neck about those places and their wealthy white haven uniformity.

My hypothesis, which I call "the White City" and to be a forthcoming blog post if I ever get done doing the full research, is that urban progressivism is mostly a policy for cities without large historic minority populations and whose politics and culture where not shaped by slavery, jim crow, the great migration, etc. 

 

How Cities Work, by Alex Marshall

 

Chapter 7 Portland and Oregon

 

Page 169, section entitled "Race, Why the Center Holds"

 

"In turning away from the expanding suburbs, Portland turned back toward the center. And at the center it found...a whole lot of white people."

 

The section goes on, and there is this paragraph at the bottom of the page:

 

"The presence of the 'Other', whatever its color, serves as a reverse magnet, propelling the middle class of all colors out of the center....It is sobering to think that most cities with relatively prosperous downtowns are in regions that lack the burden of a racially defined underclass.  The Northwest as whole as more cohesive center cities because of this"....

 

This section continues on to the top of page 171. 

 

Something for you to read, Aaron, as it seems you are on the same track.

 

 

What is one thing Charlotte and Minneapolis both have that Cincinnati doesn't? Rail

Thank Jeff, I'll check that out.

I'd add the northside of Chicago to this list (Wrigleyville et al.) especially along the lake.