tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post1255715595869290283..comments2023-10-27T03:16:03.213-04:00Comments on Burgh Diaspora: Talent Migration ModelsJim Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-69683048593143030432011-03-31T00:22:21.617-04:002011-03-31T00:22:21.617-04:00Andy,
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I'll...Andy,<br /><br />Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I'll try to explain my remarks about Ottawa County.<br /><br />First, my main mission in blogging is to archive information and knowledge that will help me understand the relationship between Rust Belt cities and talent migration. Seemingly cryptic prose is usually a mark for me that will cue me to circle back and click on the link.<br /><br />Second, I want to catalyze conversations with other bloggers like you. I think that's where the valuable knowledge production happens.<br /><br />Chicagoland is a signifier of the proximity argument. Being close to Chicago is a boon to economic development. That's the main Southwestern Michigan advantage. You find something similar going on in Milwaukee. I know from second-hand experience that the University of Wisconsin sells its proximity to Chicago to prospective hires.<br /><br />Richard Longworth brought the Michigan divide between Chicago and Detroit to my attention. I'm intimately familiar with the NYC sphere of influence, which you see strongly in NE PA. Check out what is going on in Reading, Scranton, Allentown, and Bethlehem.<br /><br />Beyond the gravity of Chicago to the East and the gravity of NYC to the West is the no man's land of the Rust Belt. I think Aaron Renn refers to it as mating dinosaurs.<br /><br />Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh are in the middle of an economic desert. That's tough on a bright spot such as Ann Arbor. Morgantown is stuck with Pittsburgh. Columbus has to compete with a bunch of other Ohio cities for state love. But Madison can piggyback on Chicago. Boulder has Denver.<br /><br />I'm interested in redevelopment success stories that don't benefit from the proximity advantage. To the extent that Ann Arbor breaks free of Detroit's gravity bears watching.Jim Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-32388904888380653582011-03-30T21:51:28.168-04:002011-03-30T21:51:28.168-04:00I think this post just earned itself a follow up/r...I think this post just earned itself a follow up/response on my own blog... stay tuned. <br /><br />I think you're on the right track about Ann Arbor. The city is totally in its own bubble in Michigan. I find while a large proportion of the staff at UM commute or are from metro Detroit, most of the faculty and students (especially grad students) are from out of state, and have virtually no experience with or interest in Detroit. It might as well be Mars to them. It's definitely getting better, as the university is starting to realize it has a big stake in Detroit (ex:http://annarborchronicle.com/2011/03/19/um-regents-focus-on-detroit/), and cooperation between Wayne & Washtenaw Counties (ex: the aerotropolis) has been increasing. I started my blog partly as an effort to help bridge that gap.<br /><br />I don't get your point on Ottawa County, though. Have you been to Holland? It's extremely conservative, extremely white, wealthy and for the most part rural. (Don't get me wrong, it's totally beautiful as well.) My guess (I haven't bothered to check the census numbers yet) is that a lot of the growth has come from Hispanic agricultural workers and their rapidly growing families. In no way is it urban, and it is starting from a much smaller population base, so it doesn't need much of an influx to register big percentage gains. Livingston County, about 15 minutes north of Ann Arbor, has a similar story. "The Michigan part of Chicagoland"? I am not seeing it. And certainly it is attracting an entirely different demographic than Ann Arbor. <br /><br />2000-2010 was an exceptionally horrendous decade for Southeast Michigan; in that light it is not surprising that Ann Arbor suffered too. I will be surprised if the 2010s do not see it erase most of the gap with, say, Madison.Andyhttp://motowntotreetown.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com