What is Your City Telling YOU?

I had to chuckle reading a piece titled “”Chicago:  The Cost of Clout,” in which the author laments that the reason Chicago’s economy is apparently now lagging is because it exalts the acquisition and wielding of clout above all else.

By contrast, other cities focus more on  . . . well, other things.

“Great cities attract ambitious people. You can sense it when you walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a message: you could do more; you should try harder. The surprising thing is how different these messages can be. New York tells you, above all: you should make more money. There are other messages too, of course. You should be hipper. You should be better looking. But the clearest message is that you should be richer.

In Boston (or rather Cambridge) the message is: you should be smarter. You really should get around to reading all those books you’ve been meaning to. In Silicon Valley, the message is: you should be more powerful.

–Aaron Renn, “Chicago:  The Cost of Clout“; New Geography (1/26/2011), quoting Paul Graham’s essay, “Cities and Ambition”

Funny, I always thought that that’s what your parents told you — or when you grew up, your Significant Other (or, if you’re unlucky, your parents and your Significant Other). 

Are Minneapolis’ Children All Above Average?

So, what is family and kid-centric Minneapolis telling its citizens?

That your children  should be more ambitious, hipper, read more, etc.

Runners-up (tie):  ‘take better care of your yard’ (summer); and, “learn how to play ice hockey — or at least put on a pair of ice skates, for God’s sake!!” (winter).

P.S.:  I haven’t seen it, but apparently there’s a new TV series that spoofs Portland called — appropriately enough — “Portlandia.”

In one episode, the very PC restaurant patron asks whether the chicken on the menu is free range, antibiotic-free, etc.  Assured that it was, he then queries, “lots of friends??”

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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