"A woman with a plan" is the description the New York Times gives Dr. Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York.  In very short order, she has turned the "unloved colossus" into the best economic development hope for the state of New…

Regional economic growth is highly correlated with the presence of many small, entrepreneurial employers not a few big ones, according to a new analysis by Harvard professors Ed Glaeser and William Kerr.  Reported in the latest Harvard Business Review, the analysis found "that cities whose number of 'firms per worker'…

As we've tracked the trend of talent migrating to cities for the past five years, companies are following suit as is pointed out in an article in this month's Harvard Business Review. With firms such as United, Quicken and Walgreens relocating their staff to downtown locations in order…

The Michigan Prosperity Agenda is a monthly radio show that focuses on how to make Michigan communities better places to live, work and play.

The topic of the March episode was the role of talent in placemaking, and our President and CEO Carol Coletta was an invited guest.…

This is the subject of a recent policy brief by Ed Glaeser and William Kerr.  Published by the Rappaport Institute/Taubman Center, the brief links entrepreneurship and regional economic growth.  And to encourage entrepreneurship, the authors have four pieces of advice for urban leaders:

(1) Investing…

Complete College America, an organization focused on increasing college completion by focusing on state policy change, has just launched a 17-state alliance dedicated to achieving President Obama's 2020 goal of having the world's best-educated adult population.  It is exciting to have states tackling this ambitious goal alongside the…

CEOs for Cities recently traveled to Phoenix to introduce city leaders there to the Talent Dividend. A one percentage point gain in college…

Our collegue Kim Walesh, Chief Strategist for the City of San Jose, highlighted three key forces of change that the city should aim to harness in a presentation to the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce recently.

The three forces, summarized in this recap in the Santa Cruz Sentinel,…

This great video features our colleague and Senior Advisor Joe Cortright who recently spoke with leaders in Akron about ‘Attracting Talent Through the Development of Vibrant Urban Centers’.

Speaking as part of the Urban Innovators Speaker Series, Joe shared his insights on the ongoing transformation…

What should libraries do to become relevant in the digital age? That's the question Seth Godin is asking.

While there are many reports that library usage has increased during this recession, with librarians turning into job search counselors.

But Godin insists that libraries "can't survive as community-funded…

Congratulations to CEOs for Cities partner and President of The Ohio State University, Gordon E. Gee for being named the best college president in the country by TIME magazine.  With a view that higher education is a catalyst for economic development, Gee sees the…

Pittsburgh Councilman and CEOs for Cities member Bill Peduto fired back at Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's plans to tax the city's college students to fill budget gaps.  While the mayor is looking for new revenue, Councilman Peduto says this is not the place to get it.  Here are his comments…

Philadelphia's Center City District continues to innovate when it comes to retaining the young talent the city has worked so hard to attract by making the core appealing to that same talent once they couple and have kids.  Today the Center City District launched a new website, KidsinCenterCity.com,…

From the Baltimore Sun comes this sickening and all-too-frequent news:

City fire and police pensions: Heads we win, tails taxpayers lose

"There are plenty of problems with Baltimore's fire and police pension system, but probably the most egregious is an unusual benefit retirees there receive. When the stock…

Here is Ed Glaeser making the case for investment in education as the single factor that best explains the success of cities from 1900 to  2000. Rich nations that fail to invest in education, as shown by his study of Argentina, are bound to lose ground to nations that…

We are making the case for talent development in America.  So is Paul Krugman in today's NYT.

I just had to share this article from my hometown, Memphis, on County Commissioner James Harvey who, after not finishing college in the traditional timeframe, went back in 2007 and is about to graduate with his bachelor's degree at the age of 47.  Shelby County (where Memphis sits) has 132,000…

Today, I had an opportunity to interview Kirsten Kaufman, who calls herself Portland's Bicycle Realtor.  She is a real charmer, a working woman with three young sons who enjoys her life that is mostly car-free.  She admits to having a van, but she only gets it out "once or twice…

James Wagner, president of Emory University, makes a compelling case today in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on how universities are key contributors to a city's growth.  He cites their sustained impact, their role as large employers, and their ability to attract, develop and retain talent.

Wagner adds, "And unlike…

It turns out that people need people.  Ah, yes.  That's why cities were invented.  And that's why urbanness makes increasing sense to the way we live today.

The Washington Post has a story on today's digital nomads that makes the point.  Clad in shorts, T-shirts and sandals, these nomads…

The Portland vibe is so cool.  Via Twitter and texting, thousands of Portlanders managed to gather in Pioneer Square after 1 a.m. Wednesday morning to see an impromptu performance by comedian Dave Chappelle.  He, indeed, showed up, with a makeshift stage and a too-small amp, which the audience replaced with…

Reviews of Monday's remarks by the president on his plans for urban America have been mixed.  Some have praised simply the attention he gave to the subject while other have criticized the apparent lack of muscular policy response on behalf of cities.

I read it this way.  It is still…

it's a trend the Chicago Tribune documented earlier. Now the NY Times has got the story of how families are making downtown Chicago their second home.  According to the NYT, "Chicago has become a second- and vacation-home hot spot, fueled by its market of new condos and converted high-rise…

In a presentation last night to young professionals in Chicago on the ways to turn around America’s global image, Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide and the founder and president of Business for Diplomatic Action, offered an interesting perspective on ‘recruiting’ people to the U.S.…

Share your experience in this survey by our colleague, Stacey Randall of SBR Consulting.  As smart cities continue to focus on talent as a key lever for success, this study could shine new light on unemployed young talent and perhaps what you can do to snatch them up. …

This San Diego collective is an example of a group of artists who have come together “to connect creative people and create a new art culture”, developing their own DIY collective.

Yeller is working to connect up local artists with each other, generate new markets for their…

This message came this morning from Mr. Peter Ong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore, who is on a world tour of global cities.

"Carol

Seattle is interesting.  People come here first without a job because they
have first decided…

Traveling around San Francisco over the weekend, I noticed that every cool coffee shop was surrounded by babies and strollers.  (And many of the strollers were doubles.)  Surely, urban leaders are seeing this new baby boom and planning to keep these young families in their cities, right? 

Wrong, according to…

That's the headline on a piece from MSNBC.  When I started working to redevelop downtown Memphis in the mid-70s, a headline like that was unthinkable. And yet, there it is.

To quote from the article, "Most demographic and market indicators suggest that growth and development across the country are…

Tell us how you really feel, Sean.

You may remember Sean Safford's presentation on community networks at the CEOs for Cities meeting in Chicago in 2007.  Since then Sean's book, Why the Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown, has been published, explaining why loosely networked communities are more resilient than those…

Sounds like another routine business release:  SAIF Corp., which runs Oregon’s workers’ compensation system, will move its Portland operations and 128 workers downtown.

Doesn't sound like a big deal.  But it represents the second major suburban tenant in Portland to choose a more urban location.

More significantly, the…

Joe Cortright wrote an important piece for today's Oregonian on why Oregon's economy has faltered and how Oregon should prepare to come back.

Joe warns against believing that when the economy comes back, it will look just like the economy we knew before the recession hit.  Clinging to the…

That's the headline of a letter than ran in today's Chicago Tribune from a 17 year-old Lake Bluff resident.  Here are excerpts:

"I'm 17 and I am a senior in high school.  When the subject of teen drinking comes to mind, I am here to defend the underage drinkers.

"In…

As the birthplace of Pringles and the 3-light traffic signal, Cincinnati has a history of invention. Launching today, Cincinnati Innovates is a contest open to anyone with a connection to Cincinnati and an innovative idea. With top prize of $20,000 this is one way to encourage local talent…

Two interesting approaches to leveraging the knowledge, creativity and abilities of people previously un-tapped I came across this week:

“Targeting the more than 2 billion literate mobile phone subscribers in the developing world, txteagle aims to help alleviate high unemployment levels in many rural areas of countries…

Here’s one example of a program exploring how to foster a system of opportunities for learning to build the creative capital of our future generations.

Thriving Minds emphasizes the importance of developing opportunities for children to be creative as a key to improving the lives of children,…

Speaking to the R.J. Daley Global Cities Forum today in Chicago, Vice President Joe Biden cited the importance of the work of CEOs for Cities on the Talent Dividend.  He was using it to make the point that education is one of the most critical investments we…

How do we help mobile talent connect with place?  Better yet, our place?  This is one of the big questions for cities. 

Lavonzell Nicholson and Ishaneka Williams have won a competition for the best business proposal to do just that: help the 23 – 35 year olds who…

As the Talent Dividend tour continues, one of the questions we get at every stop is, "With so many lay-offs occurring. why should we be focused on increasing our number of college graduates?" 

Some facts in the current Newsweek bolster the answer we always give.  Newsweek reports, the unemployment…

Today, we held our second Talent Dividend Summit in Atlanta where we were joined by a number of VIPs including Mayor Shirley Franklin, Superintendent Beverly Hall, Penny McPhee of the Arthur M. Blank Foundation and other community, corporate and civic leaders.   The meeting was convened by Peggy…

A couple of times a week (or more) I am on the road talking about our work at CEOs for Cities.  Since talent is fundamental to the successs of cities, it is one of the big themes of my speeches.  As I talk about the need to increase the number…

This story is a must-read.  Detroit's cheap housing is attracting (at least three) artists and dreamers who are then attracting friends.  "But the city offers a much greater attraction for artists than $100 houses. Detroit right now is just this vast, enormous canvas where anything imaginable can be accomplished."

Rich Florida says it will.  Citing research from a number of sources, he makes a case  in the current Atlantic Monthly that can be summarized as follows:

+ The current crisis makes the end of a whole way of life in America. 
+ The recession will accelerate the…

Eduardo Padrón, President of Miami Dade College and CEOs for Cities partner, has a compelling piece in Tuesday's Miami Herald on the importance of talent to the nation's economy.  From Padron "We reassure ourselves that we are still the greatest country on Earth, with the most creative and…

In response to Carol's recent post on NYT Magazine's The Big Fix CEOs for Cities partner Diego Kolsky gives us a global perspective on universal access to higher education:

"As you know I come from Argentina. To this day the university is free to citizens and…

Only in Portland?  Here's an ad from the Red Cross Chapter there for Singles CPR.  (Hat tip to Ethan Seltzer)

Alone on Valentine's Day? Find that special someone by attending our first-ever Singles CPR class!…

Read The Big Fix in Sunday NYT Magazine, and you'll find that the answer to our economic woes is more college graduates.  Yes, that's right.  It's the Talent Dividend, exactly what we've been saying.  And it's worth $124 billion to the nation... every single year.

Note writer David Leonhardt's conclusion:

Detroit is a wonderfully complex city.  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with a group of Detroit civic leaders (members of the CEOs for Cities City Cluster) who are working to bring 15,000 college-educated young adults to Detroit by 2015.  And they are focused on making Detroit an appealing…

The New York Times is reporting that President Obama will tell federal regulators Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards.  It's hard to imagine that car…

"The Obama Effect" is what researchers are calling it.  The performance gap between African-Americans and whites on a 20-question test administered before Obama's nomination disappeared in tests given after Obama's acceptance speech and again after the presidential election.  Apparently, the model set by the president helped blacks overcome stereotypes that…

CABE and English Heritage have collaborated to release a new site that helps teachers “exploit the world’s biggest teaching resource” by providing resources, suggestions and information on learning “through the whole built environment, from grand historic buildings to the streets and neighbourhoods where we live”.  It also connects…

An email from Portland State U colleague Ethan Seltzer started an interesting conversation I thought I'd share...

First, Ethan pointed me to this excerpt from Willamette Week: 

"[Musician]Liz Harris is about to quit her job. It’s not a stretch by any means to say it’s a risky idea;…

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…

Here is a great example of under-utilized talent being put to work in new ways.  In this initiative that taps young people’s intuitive grasp of technology, students aged 12 - 16 take on a mentoring role as cell phone ‘coaches’.

“The program’s goal is to improve their…

The things that make a city delightful -- like parks, historic sites, museums and beaches - disproportionally attracted highly educated individuals and experienced faster housing price appreciation, according to "City Beautiful," a paper published this month by Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia economists Gerald A. Carlino and Albert…

Bob Yaro, who continues to lead on good regional planning from his post as head of New York's Regional Plan Association, has prepared a statement to the new administration on the economic stimulus plan that outlines a five step program for infrastructure investment as part of the America 2050 Coalition:

Paul O’Connor, former head of World Business Chicago and one of the smartest urbanists around, was my guest for a recent video conference.  Paul always has provocative things to say. Reviewing my notes of our conversation tonight on a flight from LaGuardia to Chicago that I almost missed, I was…

NYT notes the demographic changes brought on by NYC's renaissance. 

Since 2000, the number of young children living in parts of Lower Manhattan has nearly doubled. The poverty rate declined in all but one New York City neighborhood. A majority of Bronx residents are…

Austin is one of the nation's most successful cities.  The nation's 14th largest city with 800,000 population, Austin is bigger than Washington, San Francisco and Boston.  It is also the nation's youngest big city.

Mayor Will Wynn is contending with the addition of 85 new cars on Austin…

Beginning this month, a local Cleveland grassroots think tank wil run a social marketing campaign to convince kids -- specifically black boys 10-13 years old -- that education pays.

PolicyBridge, the group responsible for the campaign, says its goal is to supplant the anti-education and other negative…

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who has been mentioned as a possible choice of the Obama administration to head the Office of Urban Policy, has been named to U.S. News and World Report's list of Best Leaders of 2008.  He shares the honor with Jeffrey Sachs, Stephen Spielberg, Amory Lovins…

"How do we recapture the value of the investments we've already made?" 

If ever there were a time in the life of this nation to ask that question, it is now.  And if asked in a public sense, the answer leads inevitably to the need to re-focus on cities.