An Open Editorial to Your Town

In his book, "The Rise of the Creative Class - and how it’s transforming work, leisure, community, and everyday life," Richard Florida concludes that ..."creativity has emerged as the single most important source of economic growth, [and] the best route to continued prosperity is by investing in our stock of creativity in all its forms, across the board." He lists the arts, music, culture, design and related fields as a means of attracting and keeping the talented, creative members of society that are the catalyst for today’s economy. Just as importantly, he lists the character of the physical community; its sidewalks, parks, natural resources, infrastructure, bridges, train stations, courthouses, shops and other buildings. All those tangible things that make a place authentic also attract the kind of people that attract and build wealth.

I think Mr. Florida has the same obsession with old towns and their main streets that I have. For me, it is the buildings that represent a moment of tremendous craft and pride. But it was also a moment when America received abundant, cheap, and skilled laborers who found an opportunity here in all the places that were reveling in the industrial expansion of our cities and towns. I have always been attracted to the physical characteristics that made the 'place' interesting. The towns that had the most interesting landscape, or the most ornate architecture would captivate me. We don't seem to do it that way anymore.

I have left my hometown three different times in my lifetime. Each one was for good. But, I kept looking back, and eventually I found my way there again, and again. Each time, I was reminded why I left. First it was the street trees. Mostly maples and london planetrees, they were cut in order to preserve the sidewalks. It didn't seem to occur to anyone that the sidewalks had already been heaved - maples are notorious for this. Now, my hometown has broken sidewalks, and no trees. Walking is tanning.

The second time I was reminded by the fact that none of my friends were still around. They moved all over the country for different jobs and different lives. Living in a rural area is not for everyone, and high paying jobs are scarce. Their priorities were elsewhere as mine have been. I have wondered once or twice what it would be like if we all moved back home, with our skill sets rightfully compensated, in a weird kind of after prom life and soap opera community. Well, I guess I've already imagined how that would turn out.

The fact is, there is nothing left there for me and my generation. The population is aging and people are moving away. That has been the trend in rural Pennsylvania for decades. It is only getting more profound, and Mr. Florida is right - other places are really good at mixing the ingredients that attract my generation. I have lived in some of those places and they are really fun. Baltimore is still my favorite, and Camden Yards is but one attraction to a city that I look at as a second home, one that is really authentic.

Most towns in Pennsylvania are losing their authenticity. Maybe that is one of the reasons why my generation has looked elsewhere. It isn't always about the job. Most people have strong enough family bonds to stay in some kind of proximity to their home town. But if the authenticity of a place is replaced with something less than unique, it might not be interesting enough to stay. It follows that the wealth builders will leave to find an authentic place that provides the amenities that they seek, beyond a high paying job. Sometimes the amenities are as simple as a coffee store, a bagel shop, or a bookstore, where people gather, can meet and linger and attract other people. Other times, it is history. Historic architecture and historic street patterns add to the charm and interest that many people seek.

Just as I always have, many people search for just the right character in a house or neighborhood or city block. If they bring an idea or business with them, they can dramatically add to the local economy by providing jobs for others. But the "place" needs to be right. When the place is compromised, the innate charm of a community diminishes, and so the community may not attract the talented person with ideas and jobs to give.

Every old building that is torn down and replaced by a generic office space or parking lot is another strike against a town’s economic future. One building at a time, a city can chip away at its charming foundation to become a city that is not special, and therefore not attractive to the kind of investment that will support and create new and interesting architecture. Any town can let a big-box retailer come in, rip apart a hillside, build a berm for temporary swamps, pave over acres of field and forest, and then send all of your local money to a main distribution area somewhere in the southern U.S. But it takes a special place to resist such easy tax money, to build on its past, renovate downtown buildings, and provide specialty retailers with a rich and diverse place to sell their wares.

These towns attract interesting and clever people. These people react by reinvesting in their community and the community grows and prospers. Too many times, the leaders of a community take the easy way out. Instead of combing the region’s business leaders for investment in their own community, a town opts to push a building over, erasing one legacy of triumph and authenticity for a new legacy of mediocrity.

The local business that does reinvest in a community should be commended and made as an example for smart growth and preserving a town’s economic future. The responsibility of a community lies within every member of the community. But, the leaders must lead, sometimes by painful example, other times by quiet philanthropy. Your town is special - for now. Keeping it special is up to each of you.


Retaining talented young people should be the most important goal of your town. Think of how many intelligent, talented young people you helped to raise that no longer live in your town. They are giving freely, their talents, to someone else’s home town. They went to school, found a job in a creative center, and are now enjoying the benefits that a different "place" is giving them. The place they live is interesting and lively and provides them with many options to entertain and employ. That place has found the key ingredients to attract and keep new residents. The specific ingredients can be found and implemented anywhere, in any town, whether or not jobs currently exist. When investment is made in placing the ingredients, creative people and then jobs will follow.

Almost every town has physical, historic, and natural assets to provide initial interest. When these are identified and enhanced, they will attract attention. At one time or another almost everyone looks back to their hometown for new opportunities and a chance to succeed. If the right ingredients are there, they might be willing to "come home" and bring their, now worldly skills and experience with them. But if they come home to find that extremely rich and elegant four story brick building on the corner that they loved as a kid, in a heaping pile of bricks pushed into the middle of a desolate city block replaced by a plywood sign hanging on two posts with a colorful piece of vinyl stretched over it advertising the bank, the builder and the new Rite Aid, they might think twice. After all, they already have a Rite Aid, and it looks just like the one they’re building in that spot where they used to buy their Keds and get a fountain soda.

These talented young people have the ability to enrich your town in ways that no one can imagine. It is as important to bring talent back as it is to retain talent in the first place. When people go away, they see the manifestations of other creative genius. They may be inspired to greater genius, or they may just provide the vehicle to transport a good idea back home. Regardless, they, and your town, are better off if they return home and stay. They provide new ideas and change that is required for a town to grow and prosper.

Those service jobs that the big-boxes provide don’t add to the creative faculties of your citizens or the economic future of your town. They might as well be a signal for your imminent decline and the death of your downtown. Nourish your old town, provide the ingredients to attract and retain your young people, plead with your business leaders to invest in young talent and old buildings, and watch your town have an awakening.