by Matthew A. Doss, Esq.
I applaud the efforts of the many persons who had the vision to bring Dr. Florida to Fort Wayne. I was reassured by his comments that Fort Wayne can, once again, become an economic and cultural leader of the midwest. I was also reassured of my choice to return from a Chicago Law School with a goal to challenge the status quo, to identify and overcome obstacles to create a more successful city and to enhance our postive aspects to ensure economic vibrance.
Dr. Florida used Austin, Texas as a model of a city influenced by it's "Creative Class". I served as an Infantryman in the Army at Fort Hood, Texas which was located just 50 minutes North of Austin. If you were young and wanted to be a part of vibrant community, Austin was the place to go! I believe Fort Wayne can be too. We honestly have the fundamentals and we must capture them before they depart.
At his speech, I had suggested that his creative class approach had many similarities as the "Smart Growth" development approach. In fact, Smart Growth can be one of the many tools to make Fort Wayne the kind of community that our brightest and most talented creative minds would want to reside.
As a current member of the Executive Committee of the NAACP I have come to realize that our community is in trouble:
Economically,
Culturally, and
Politically
The answer is not to weaken our city by continuing this current direction or lack thereof. More importantly, the answer is also not to weaken the diversity that we share in this city.
The answer is to strengthen it with a change in thought and to celebrate our ethnic and cultural mixture through progressive restructuring of our small business development plans.