The Future of Our Cities and Economy

Professor and theorist Richard Florida has written a thought provoking cover story for the March, 2009 issue of The Atlantic titled How The Crash Will Remake America . Some of his visions are relatively generic, including increased emphasis on public transit and the continuing trend of urban renewal. But many are more disconcerting. He believes the home ownership emphasis of the American dream should become a thing of the past, advocating banks to carry on with foreclosures, then offer to rent the properties back to the foreclosed individuals or families at the going market rate. The banks as landlords? I'm not so sure. Would they care enough to maintain properties the same way an owner occupant would? My home owner associations can't get the banks out here just to cut grass, let alone more complicated outdoor tasks. And let's not even think about them needing to get people to do anything inside the house.
I'm forever hearing that one part of our crisis is that we don't make anything anymore. He sees that trend continuing and potentially causing deeper pain for the Rust Belt manufacturing communities unless they're able to re-invent themselves, like Pittsburgh has been able to do. He sounds positive on financial centers like New York and Charlotte, NC. which have both experienced some pain, but are more likely to stabilize.
That part of this leads me to think about South Florida, where I live. I married a Hispanic girl, so I'm no raging racist. But I still bemoan the loss of things more "gringo" as they've been replaced, one element at a time, by businesses and attractions catering more to Hispanics, blacks, or Caribbeans. He confirms what we already know about this area being the finance capital for Latin America. Certainly, geography has a lot to do with that, but I also believe the sheer numbers of Hispanics here is a factor in that as well. Could that fact help soften what threatens to be a difficult, deep slowdown?
He also mentions that the energy producing areas of Texas and Oklahoma have fared better so far than most areas. In my vision, that changes. Desperation always incubates innovation. It's my hope that, at this critical and late hour, we have a serious investment in research and capital that gets us off the internal combustion engine and on to some truly renewable energy source(s). Something that won't consolidate the benefits to particular regions of the country, or, especially, to certain areas of other continents. This could provide a wholly new economic driver that would have virtually everlasting economic and security benefits.
I'll link to the piece again here. But be warned that it's quite long, but worth it, I believe, if you have the time.
Also, Mr. Florida recently did an interview with National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation about his piece that I'll link to here. It runs about 30 minutes and says many of the same things. One moment I found interesting comes toward the end where he agrees with a caller's friend who happens to be an urban planner who believes that today's far flung, recently built suburbs are tomorrow's slums.

David Halberstam-Still Clueless

The title of this blog "The Nuanced Perspective" is an attempt to show that on many things, there's a lot of gray area in my thinking and not as much black and white, conclusive, narrow reasoning as some people may have. You'll see many of those nuances in this space. But this is not one of those times. Some of you may remember the author of Top 50 Sports Announcers, David Halberstam (note: this is not the more famous author of the same name) from his days as radio play-by-play guy of the Miami Heat. Simply put, he was awful, contrary to the opinion of local radio talker Neil Rogers. This list solidifies his insanity. Putting Vin Scully, easily one of the top 3 or 4 sportscasters ever at #16, boarders on ignorance. Putting him behind the likes of Brent Musberger, Pat Summerall, Jim Nance, Joe Buck, and the God awful Frank Gifford leads me to wonder if he's deaf, too. Also, how do Harry Carey, Skip Carey, and Jack Buck get left off?

A Plea For Life

Well, this is my first entry into this new blog. But, it's late and I don't have a lot of time, so I'll be brief about what's at the forefront of my mind tonight, which is the Daytona 500. After seeing various drivers experience tire issues over the last several days, and hearing Tony Stewart's repeated dissatisfaction with Goodyear, it's my sincere hope that Sunday's Great American (not)Race(ing) will unfold without anyone getting seriously injured on the extremely dangerous restrictor plate, leader following tri-oval known as Daytona International Speedway. And keep an eye out for my guy, the #96 Hall of Fame Racing, Ask.com Ford of Bobby Labonte.