Latest Posts
- Notice to “Spectator” readers
- So Long. Farewell. Auf wiedersehen. Goodbye.
- Magazine maven Bonnie Fuller poised to market her toughest brand yet: Herself
- John Macfarlane grabs The Walrus’s tiller
Tools
Categories
- General
- Bay Street
- Black Watch
- Television
- Radio
- Internet
- Newspapers
- Gossip Hound
- Egos
- Across the Ocean
- Over the Border
- Books
- Magazines
- American Election
- New York Times vs Wall Street Journal
- Gaffe of the Week
- Livent Trial
Postings by date
Hey, Toronto, why should we take Richard Florida’s word for it?
Posted on March 31, 2008 by Douglas Bell
A while back, my colleague Philip Preville and Toronto’s newly minted urban affairs media guru Richard Florida crossed swords over the perils and opportunities of civic boosterism in T.O. On the whole, they grudgingly agreed to disagree. Florida acknowledged that he was something of an optimist: “I have been wondering for some time now why people like Preville are so negative and insecure about what Jane Jacobs said is North America’s greatest city.” And Preville agreed that “being a negative kind of guy, I’d rather focus on problems and prod people toward solutions.” I raise all this because I spent part of the weekend traipsing around Philadelphia and came across a column by Florida in The Inquirer titled “Why Philadelphia’s economic future looks so bright.” It’s essentially a love letter to the city:
Greater Philadelphia’s economic future is in large measure being shaped by its role as a key node in the second-largest “mega-region” in the world—a megalopolis that economic geographers in the early 1960s dubbed “Bos-Wash.” Running from Boston through New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore to Washington, Bos-Wash is home to about 54 million people and more than $2 trillion in economic output, making it one of the five largest economies in the world—nations included.
Philadelphia has become a place of choice in this mega-region and in the United States as a whole. After losing population for decades, Philadelphia is projected to grow. It’s a hot place in a hot mega-region.
All of which is fine, except that don’t all these worthy abstractions—“mega-regions,” “$2 trillion in economic output”—neatly obscure the fundamental problem of North American urban life? I’m speaking of the growing disparity between rich and poor and the diminishing prospects for political engagement between these increasingly polarized classes. Anyone who’s seen even a few episodes of The Wire, David Simon’s brilliant study of urban alienation, knows that it is exactly this sort of high-minded obfuscating that drives us further and further from recognizing this simple truth.
I raise all this because walking around Independence Hall on the weekend I noted that the buildings wherein the constitution was debated and signed are more and more hived off from the fabric of Philadelphia’s urbanity—fenced in and guarded—rendered more and more a fetishized Fabergé egg: liberty under glass.
• Why Phila. economic future looks so bright [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• Mr. Negative [Richard Florida and the Creative Class Exchange]
• Dr. Florida and Me [Toronto Life]
- Back to Spectator Home
- Categories: General, Television, Newspapers, Egos, Over the Border
- Permalink
Comments
Neither the author nor Toronto Life necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Editors will not correct spelling or grammar. Toronto Life reserves the right to edit or delete comments entirely. Read our full policy
You must register to post comments. Please register here.
GravityLevity2 March 31, 2008 at 11:54 a.m.
In a longish article, which is a more circumstantial about the details of the yummy goodness of Philly than Doug lets on, Florida does have something negative to say: "Philadelphia has plenty of challenges. As in all cities, there's work to do on crime and urban education." No details are given. One wonders why; since a mere two challenges--crime and urban education--qualify as "plenty of challenges", they must be big ones indeed.
Lit_200 March 31, 2008 at 1:14 p.m.
Much of urban America (and Canada) is a worsening hell-hole, but equally, there are elements of city life that make it a grand. It's episodic; we can be appalled at the atrocious conditions in the inner city but, within minutes, be admiring a painting, a building or a busy street full of grumpy people scurrying about like ants.
Writers like Bell and Preville are predisposed to be negative. It's not only their personal bent but their profession. They're trained to see the the contradictions and vagaries of city life, to expose problems and "nudge" the body politic "toward solutions." It is a calling and, to them, someone like Florida is just a shameless huckster.
As the consumers of information and opinion, we can only hope that both the nay-sayers and the pollyannas live long and prosper. A little of each is good but too much of either sends us to the vomitorium.
Often, professional fault-finders don't really offer viable solutions. As John Gray said of women: they are really not looking for solutions to the problems in their lives: they just want a sympathetic listener when they need to vent.
Let's give it to them, I say.
jade_lee March 31, 2008 at 1:38 p.m.
Investment into the urban poor can only be achieved by the rich so.......it's a recipe waiting to be discovered. Too bad more things of value were not better taken care of.
jade_lee March 31, 2008 at 1:41 p.m.
Nice sexism for display lit. Not even amusing.
Lit_200 March 31, 2008 at 3:13 p.m.
Kimmy
is so.
Lit_200 March 31, 2008 at 3:21 p.m.
Kimmy
And if you have a problem with it, take it up with John Gray, author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.
Lit_200 March 31, 2008 at 3:28 p.m.
And since you are in a feminist mood today, why not address yourself to the propensity of certain posters, [Fintan, Barb in BC and Casey], who refer to males as women as a means of insulting them.
You overlook a rocky mountain range of misogyny to find fault with a pebble.
jade_lee March 31, 2008 at 6:04 p.m.
LOL relax Lit, consider the source!
Lit_200 March 31, 2008 at 7:41 p.m.
Yes. Good advice. Taking a deep, relaxing breath.
Barbara_in_BC April 1, 2008 at 11:46 a.m.
Re: John Gray’s book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus:
That book makes some good points but misses the major problem according to feminists like myself: Women don’t just want men to hear their complaints and nod their heads, they want good jobs that pay well and some damn power sharing!
Post a comment