tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post7258460216901532277..comments2023-10-27T03:16:03.213-04:00Comments on Burgh Diaspora: More Null HypothesisJim Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-34669302036604692792009-11-03T11:32:40.099-05:002009-11-03T11:32:40.099-05:00Now Joel Kotkin is getting in on the act:
http://...Now Joel Kotkin is getting in on the act:<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/y8t7rgs<br /><br />I'm in hell.Jim Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-91342455974149322872009-11-03T10:34:58.387-05:002009-11-03T10:34:58.387-05:00A few quick comments:
* I'm willing to believ...A few quick comments:<br /><br />* I'm willing to believe that, to some extent, people choose where to live as a reflection of their values. However, this "choice" is limited by a number of factors:<br /><br />* Career: Let's say you work in advertising. Well, if you want to have a successful career, you're limited to a few major cities in America (LA, NYC, etc.). It doesn't matter if you love love love St Louis; there just aren't that many advertising jobs there.<br /><br />* Cost-of-living: It doesn't matter if you love love love NYC and all that urbanist wonderland. The fact is, it costs a fortune to live there. So it's not like you're free to "choose" to live there necessarily.<br /><br />* Complete knowledge: As everyone who has read Adam Smith knows, the free market works when economic actors have access to all relevant information. That may be meaningful for, say, buying gasoline in a metro region (it's a commodity, the price is clearly indicated, etc.), but choosing a city to live in? It's not like there's some central city-information-exchange where potential residents can research exactly what they're looking for.<br /><br />* Although it's tempting to think of city governments as service providers that respond (or don't respond) to a market for residents' preferences. However, city government are a big mishmash of intersecting political interests. It's not like a corporation with a hierarchical system of control that ships out a product.<br /><br />Ok, so in sum I agree tentatively with the thesis that *some* people "shop" for cities. But there are significant limitations to that argument.Stephen Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08704949337738506028noreply@blogger.com