How Much Talent Does It Take?

At his always interesting blog, The Bellows, Ryan Avent poses the fascinating question, How many talented people would have to move to Detroit to create a tipping point that becomes a self-sustaining movement?  What started as a Twitter joke ("Let's all go buy a mansion for a $1.") turned into an interesting thought experiment.

In certain rare cases, such as in the creation of a famous artist colony, a very low population will suffice -- maybe 5,000 or so.   "Similarly, should I manage to open up a university of sufficient quality and amenities, then we could probably make it with anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 people," he concludes, and he figures the same is true for a "unique natural attraction."

"But," he writes, "if we’re hoping to create a true industry center, either tech or media oriented, or both, then the necessary population of professionals is probably much higher — I’d guess at least 100,000."

Why?  Because cities are complicated economic ecosystems.

Read the rest of post here.  In fact, scan his entire blog.

  

There are no comments for this entry.

Post a Comment

Name:* E-mail Address: URL:

Comment*

Please type the word below*

Please leave the following field blank:

*Required fields (your email address will not be published)