July 17, 2005 - Fort Wayne's first open-air music & education expo celebrating hip-hop & electronic music, art, and culture. This FREE event will be held from noon - 8pm at Freimann Square and noon - 10Ppm at the Barr St. Market downtown (Corner of Barr & Wayne. Live hip-hop performances, electronic dj's and a special performance by the Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble at 2PM in Freimann Square. Plus, Wild 96.3 will be giving out prizes and doing a live remote all day long!
For more information or to become a sponsor, contact 260-918-3663 or visit www.schemexpo.com. This is an affiliated event of the 3Rivers Festival.
Author examines slide in creativity in U.S.
Reviewed by Michele Wucker >Original article
In his 2002 best-seller "The Rise of the Creative Class," Richard Florida argued that the biggest economic change of the last half-century has been the rise of human creativity. In the United States, scientists, entertainers, architects, lawyers, financiers and others who make their livelihood "creatively" now outnumber traditional blue-collar workers. Though the creative class makes up just 30 percent of the U.S. work force, it earns nearly half of the nation's wages. In Florida's view, America's ability to attract the world's best and brightest to high-end, high-margin, creative industries has been the decisive factor in America's global leadership in innovation, economic growth and prosperity.
In his new book, "The Flight of the Creative Class," Florida warns that the U.S. now risks losing this competitive edge. Unfortunately, the book is sometimes not clearly organized or argued. Yet despite his meandering logic and fuzzy idealism, Florida, who teaches public policy at George Washington University, has sent a badly needed wake-up call to American leaders.
The biggest economic threat to America, he contends, comes not from emerging giants like India or China but from countries like Finland, Ireland, Canada and Australia, who will end America's advantages not with one great blow but with a thousand tiny cuts. Investing heavily in their universities and research centers, these nations are nurturing creativity through open immigration and urban planning as well as creating regional talent magnets in major population centers.
In New Zealand, for example, "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy catalyzed a whole new technology and entertainment industry in Wellington. Dublin, Taipei, Bangalore, Dubai and dozens of other "cauldrons of creativity" are building their own economic niches in hopes of luring global talent -- including Americans.
Florida argues that Americans' tolerant, open society has long been our greatest asset for attracting human capital. Yet today, after 9/11, we are making it harder for the world's most talented people to come here. In 2002-03, the number of green cards issued fell more steeply than in any other year since the 1953 McCarthy witch hunts. Foreign-student applications to U.S. schools are dropping prodigiously. In the face of rising demands for science and engineering graduates and the falling number of U.S. degrees in these fields, U.S. companies increasingly must go offshore to hire talent they ought to be able to find here. Florida also makes much of the rise of the religious right and opposition to gay rights as indicators of a decline in tolerance.
An economist to the core, Florida offers a trio of indices to quantify these changes in creative potential: talent (the education level and size of the creative class), technology (patents and R&D spending) and tolerance (values and respect for individuals, as measured by survey data on attitudes about such issues as religion, women's rights, democracy and science). Together, these make up his Global Creativity Index, which shows that the United States is no longer the undisputed leader of innovation and openness.
Out of 45 countries on his Tolerance Index, the U.S. is in a dismal 20th place. It ranks fourth on the overall Global Creativity Index, behind Sweden, Japan and Finland. If you usually see your glass of water as half-full, you might distrust an index that puts Japan's anemic economy (not to mention strict immigration rules) ahead of ours. If you're a glass-half-empty type, you may conclude that the rankings confirm how serious the U.S. decline is. A more convincing measure is Florida's comparison of the creative class as a percentage of a country's work force, where we rank 11th.
Why is America surrendering its lead? The very success of the creative class, this book argues, is feeding the tensions that have made the U.S. less tolerant and threatened its innovative ability. Florida gives ample ink to America's failure to address the creative economy's downsides, including widening inequality and the failure of the U.S. education system. After all, as creative wages have risen, manufacturing jobs have disappeared and service-industry wages stagnated. This also pits homogeneous, less populous regions left behind by the creative economy against diverse, urban centers of innovation. This fissure in American society -- the real red-blue divide -- alienates the creative class, whose members, Florida claims (not entirely convincingly), are apolitical and inclined to vote with their feet.
How, then, would Florida stem the loss of American creative capital? Above all, we must protect our open society, he argues, making only brief mentions of real post-9/11 security concerns. We also must invest in education, science and technology, cultivating new creative-industry sectors. Much of this is sensible enough, but Florida is frustratingly vague on the details. He urges the adoption of measures "as large-scale as the New Deal" and calls for "new kinds of social institutions and policies" but does not suggest what these might be. Perhaps this is all meant merely as a call to creativity on the part of business, community and government leaders who want to avert the grim scenario of which he warns, but the absence of specifics is irksome.
Ultimately, Florida worries about the rise of a global creative class seeking to "trump" the United States and "erode our lead." In fact, today's competition for talent is an opportunity for greater global growth, which eventually should benefit America, too. The threat lies only in America's failure to rise to the challenge. How ironic it is that much of the rest of the world understands what made the United States great -- and is busily outdoing America's own example of innovation, openness and competitiveness.
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"The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent" by Richard Florida (HarperBusiness). 326 pages, $25.95.
Meet us on Barr Street
Summer Walking Tour of downtown Fort Wayne
Every Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Want to know more about the City of Fort Wayne? Then grab your walking shoes and head downtown. This 1-1/2 hour journey highlights some of Fort Wayne's finest and most interesting historic and architectural features. Tours begin at the old Barr Street Market at the corner of Barr and Wayne Streets just south of the History Center.
Cost: $5 per adult. $2 for students ages 13-18. Kids 12 & under are free. Please park on the street at a parking meter. Reservations are encouraged, but not required. Tours offered through September 2005. Tours cancelled in case of rain or inclement weather. This weekly activity is offered by ARCH, Inc. - Fort Wayne's Historic Preservation Organization. Call ARCH at 260-426-5117 for more information
By popular demand...the Downtown Block Parties will go on this summer! Mark your calendars for the last Wednesday of each month:
June 29th
July 27th
August 31
September 28
From 5:00 to 7:30pm, join your Downtown neighbors and co-workers for a party in the streets - with free food, live music, cool beverages!
All Block Parties will be held at Columbia Street - on the Landing
Free parking in the City/County Parking Garage after 5pm.
Must be 21 or older.
Hosted by the Downtown Improvement District and the City of Fort Wayne
Details of the June Block Party - one week from today:
Live Music provided by:
C-Street Acoustic Showcase featuring:
Matthew Sturm
Chris Dodds
Michael Conley
The Brown Bottle Band
Sunny Taylor
SPONSORS of the June Block Party:
Nakos Law Office
Drek's LTD
Urban Chic Designs
CATER:
Columbia Street West
Many thanks to the sponsors and cater for their support. If you see these folks on the street be sure to thank them and support their businesses.
The Downtown Block Party Postcard is attached. See you next Wednesday!
The healthiest city dwellers in America live in San Jose, Calif., according to a new study released by Bert Sperling's BestPlaces and multivitamin-maker Centrum. The Centrum Healthiest Cities Study is the first-ever comprehensive "health report card" of the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. that’s based on key factors including health status, nutrition and exercise, plus mental health and life balance, which contribute to overall well-being. >Link
New Orleans is considered the unhealthiest city in America, according to a new study released by Bert Sperling's BestPlaces and multivitamin-maker Centrum. The Centrum Healthiest Cities Study is the first-ever comprehensive "health report card" of the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. that’s based on key factors including health status, nutrition and exercise, plus mental health and life balance, which also contribute to overall well-being. >LInk
Project for Public Spaces has a radical idea--transportation can create great places, not destroy them. We see the vast amount of urban land dedicated to cars, traffic, and parking lots as a huge opportunity to create public spaces that serve community. Transportation can be the handmaiden of this transformation. But we must follow some simple rules. >Link
Using the principles of Placemaking, it's entirely possible to undertake transportation projects--involving foot, bike, transit and even automobile traffic--that bring life to a place rather than take it away. >Link
...more traffic and road capacity are not the inevitable result of growth. They are in fact the product of very deliberate choices that have been made (for us, not by us) to shape our communities around the private automobile. We as a society have the ability to make different choices--starting with the decision to design our streets as comfortable places for people. >Link
As the president of the Project for Public Spaces, which is based in Manhattan’s West Village, [Fred Kent] has for the past 30 years been a buoyant and unremitting advocate for creating outdoor spaces in which people like to linger. “It’s just basic human common sense,” he says. “We need places that people feel comfortable in and connect to, that they can be affectionate in, smile, laugh, engage, tell stories. It’s about bliss, really.” >Link
More than 40 percent of the towns surveyed for a new report by the London-based New Economics Foundation are so overrun by chain stores that they have lost their local identity and become little more than "clone towns." >Link
The alley revival from Scottsdale to Buckeye and Surprise to Gilbert is part of a design movement called New Urbanism. It aims for traditional neighborhoods, with nearby shops and parks, a variety of homes with front porches, and garages built along alleys.The idea is to create a place where residents can walk or bike to the market and visit with neighbors on the porch or in parks near their homes. >Link
This year's survey reveals a growing number of diverse locations — both indoors and outdoors — where people can log on and connect to the Internet without wires. Today, wireless hotspots can be found at coffee shops, colleges and hotels, but they're also popping up at skate parks, pipe shops, gas stations, bowling alleys and golf courses. >See where Fort Wayne Ranks
Downtown revitalization plan starts to take shape.
By Blake Sebring in The News Sentienel
Fort Wayne got a glimpse of its potential future Tuesday night.
Residents must become involved in the planning process and apply political pressure if that future is to materialize, however.
"You are expecting 300,000 new visitors per year to the Grand Wayne Center and library, but what will they do? Will they just walk by? The challenge is to develop downtown into a regional destination," said architect and planner Gianni Longo.
About 50 people showed up at the Embassy Theatre to check out Longo's part of the city's Downtown Blueprint Plus Action plan. Mayor Graham Richard began the effort in April at the midpoint of the five-year downtown revitalization plan.
"We are trying to find the vision of what downtown Fort Wayne could potentially become, and we want then to translate the vision into the policies, to guide public policy and private investment in downtown," Longo said.
"We want to design the public places and the buildings to be the interpreter of the vision. Then we want to identify the site-specific catalysts that we can use to invest in the city and attract other investors."
Those catalysts include a number of suggestions: a youth sports complex that would include an aquatic park with recreational and competitive pools, an expansion of Lawton Park, a new baseball stadium next to the Grand Wayne Center, converted lofts to encourage people to live downtown, and a buildup of business along Harrison Street. Existing property and empty lots could be converted to make it work, he said.
Longo, whom the city hired for $62,000, said the core of downtown has a walking distance of 1,200 feet, and the key is to expand that area with more parks and more attractions people would be willing to walk to. He envisions rebuilding downtown into an area that would draw pedestrians and families.
"We have to work on the notion that good parking does not mean always finding a spot three feet away from where you are going," he said. "We need to start developing the notion of parking and walking. Do we have to have parking available three feet away all the time? You need to change the attitude of people toward downtown."
Longo said part of the plan might include restructuring current traffic patterns and building onto existing infrastructure.
"What you have now is a vision, but it's going to take time," he said. "As you move forward, everything you do should point toward that vision. I have no intention of presenting a plan that can happen overnight. Many of the things we talked about can happen, but may take 10 to 15 years."
Longo, whose firm, ACP Vision and Planning, also is working with the city and county on the Plan-It Allen! comprehensive plan, said his next step is to develop directions for the city on how the plan could be put in place. He said Fort Wayne residents need to become involved to keep pushing the process along. He'll return to Fort Wayne in July for a final public meeting.
The city has issued a $10 million income tax-backed bond for downtown development and hopes to leverage the money with private investment.
"What do we want Fort Wayne to be like 20 years from now?" Richard asked. "We're going to continue to see good ideas that can be added to this."
Mayor will also attend U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Chicago
Fort Wayne, Ind. -- Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard will participate in the New Cities Project meeting in Chicago June 9-10. The New Cities Project is comprised of mayors from around the country working together on metropolitan development.
The topic at this week's meeting will be "Building a Competitive Advantage for Cities in Transportation and Energy." Mayor Richard will share how the City of Fort Wayne is working to conserve energy and make its transportation system better.
"We are committed to reducing ozone pollution, improving government services, enhancing the quality of life for our community, and reducing unnecessary travel by using technology," said Mayor Richard. "I look forward to sharing how our broadband programs and Green City initiative can serve as models for other communities across the country."
Mayor Richard will also attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Chicago June 10-14. The annual conference will focus on community development block grants, homeland security, tax reform, and unfunded federal mandates.
by Seth GodinIt's one thing to say, "yep, of course, small is the new big." It's quite another to actually do anything about it.
For the last six years, I've had exactly one employee. Me. This has changed my worklife in ways that I hadn't predicted. >Link
by Seth GodinBig used to matter. Big meant economies of scale. (You never hear about “economies of tiny” do you?) [...]
And then small happened. >Link
Want to be part of the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Centennial celebration and keep our streets green? The City is offering a low-cost way for residents to help maintain our long tradition as a Tree City USA and have trees planted along our city's streets. But time is running out for this year's program. The deadline for tree planting applications is July 1st; trees will be planted in the fall.
For an easy way to get involved, purchase trees for a $30 fee per tree and the City will provide and install a landscape size tree in appropriate locations along an applicant's street frontage. The fee may be waved for low-income citizens.
Applications are available at www.fortwayneparks.org (click Park Information/Street trees, and download a form from the question and answer section). They are available at the Community Development offices on the eighth floor of the City-County Building or at the Parks and Recreation Department, 705 E. State Blvd. Also, call 427-1140, and one will be sent in the mail.
Many varieties of shade trees are available, as the City wishes to maintain diversity among its tree types. Certain types have limited availability. Appropriate trees are listed with the application. Fort Wayne has been planting and maintaining street trees since the 1920's.
"I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. And I'm asking you sir, at the top of my lungs, unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." From The Loax by Dr. Seuss.
John Perlich, City Public Information, 427-6957
John McGauley, County Public Information, 449-3242
Fort Wayne, Ind. -- The City of Fort Wayne and Allen County are working together to reduce ozone pollution. For the past year, an ozone task force made up of city and county officials and community leaders have been meeting to develop strategies to improve government performance and raise public awareness about the impact of ozone pollution.
The City has implemented several programs to help reduce ozone. Seven hybrid vehicles have been purchased to replace older vehicles. The new vehicles will save the City $112,000 in fuel costs. The hybrid vehicles increase fuel efficiency and reduce ozone pollution. More than 300 City vehicles that previously ran on diesel fuel now run on biodiesel fuel. Emissions have been lowered at the City's asphalt plant resulting in a savings of $40,000. Cleaner burning methane gas is now used at the City's Water Pollution Control Plant. As a result, the City no longer purchases nearly 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year.
"We are moving in the right direction to reach attainment levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency," said Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard. "We must be committed to a clean environment to attract new businesses and jobs to our community. Quality of life issues are key elements to building a better city."
In 2004, the Allen County Commissioners created the Ozone Task Force to develop ways to reduce the amount of smog-producing materials emitted into the air during the warm summer months. Recommendations focused on education and voluntary steps for reducing emissions. County departments with older diesel-fueled equipment will install retrofits in the future to lower emissions. On ozone-action days, the County will post signs at the City- County Building, highway barns and other facilities to alert employees. The Allen County Highway Department has undertaken several road projects to reduce congestion that leads to ozone pollution. Those projects include expansions and extensions of Hillegas, Coldwater and Union Chapel roads.
"Ground-level ozone pollution is the most wide-spread air quality problem in the United States," said Linda Bloom, president of the Allen County Board of Commissioners. "This is an important quality of life issue that our community needs to address. Children, people with lung disease and even active, healthy adults feel the effects of ozone pollution. Fortunately, this is a problem that we can do something about."
"Ozone can cause significant health problems for people with asthma, especially children, and others who enjoy exercising outside," said Dr. Deborah McMahan, Health Commissioner. "Therefore, we need to develop the habit of checking the ozone levels when planning our outdoor activities."
Citilink will again this year provide its free downtown summertime lunch trolley. The free rides began today. The trolleys will be powered by soy biodiesel fuel. Citilink has also purchased 12 small buses with more efficient diesel engines.
City Utilities and AquaIndiana customers will receive a bill stuffer focusing on ozone in their June bill describing ways they can help reduce ozone pollution. Below is a list of some of those proactive measures.
- Delay lawn mowing until after 6 p.m. -- an hour of lawn mowing produces as much harmful exhaust as driving an average vehicle for 200 miles.
- Refuel your vehicle later in the day -- gas vapors escaping while filling your tank and especially "topping-off" contribute significant smog producing chemicals into the air.
- Slow down -- driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph reduces air pollution by 10%.
- Avoid using drive-thru windows -- sitting in a vehicle while waiting for food or a bank statement can increase engine run time by more than 20% per day.
- Conserve energy -- turning off lights and turning up the thermostat can improve air quality by reducing energy needs from power plants.
Gianni Longo to again lead second round of public input sessions.
Saturday, June 4, 9 a.m.-noon
Monday, June 6, 5-6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 7, 6:30-9 p.m.
The City of Fort Wayne will host a second round of public input sessions in an effort to take downtown revitalization to the next level.
Nationally-recognized architect and planning visionary Gianni Longo will again facilitate the meetings. He is founding Principal of ACP Visioning & Planning, New York City and Columbus, Ohio.
The schedule for public participation is listed below. The events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, June 4, 9 a.m.-noon
Design Workshop -- this will include small group discussions
Performing Arts Center, 303 E. Main St.
Monday, June 6, 5-6:30 p.m.
Open House
FourthWave Building, 300 E. Main St.
Tuesday, June 7, 6:30-9 p.m.
Final Presentation
Embassy Theatre, 125 W. Jefferson Blvd.
The first series of meetings were held May 17-19. The City is looking to build on the significant progress already achieved through the Downtown Blueprint for the Future.