The Young And The Restless

Next Wednesday, metromode's sister publication Model D continues its thought leader speaker series with Carol Coletta, President and CEO of CEOs for Cities and host and producer of the nationally syndicated public radio show Smart City.

A passionate advocate for cities, Carol consults with researchers, community leaders, economists and academics to understand what makes a great city tick.

metromode's managing editor, Jeff Meyers, caught up with Carol via phone to get a preview of her ideas and opinions about how Metro Detroit can reinvent itself as a globally competitive 21st century community.

What do Midwest cities like Detroit need to do to compete with the lure of the coasts when it comes to young, educated talent?

A big thing is to combat the sprawl that is so much a part of the American landscape today. We need to refocus, revitalize and concentrate on things like the design of our communities. Whether it's historic buildings, traditional neighborhoods with commercial centers, or economically integrated neighborhoods where people of different incomes live close together, we need to pay attention to the place itself. Detroit has wonderful cultural and education assets that, frankly, West Coast cities would kill for. Those assets have real power and we need to do a better job of putting them to use.

The second thing is that we need to learn is that no matter how predictable we would like the world to be, things are moving at a very very rapid clip. If we don't adjust our pace, outlook, and decision-making processes we're going to be left behind. That is inevitable. We have to pick up the pace. We have to learn to be more adaptable both at the leadership level and the citizen level. We need to seriously reevaluate what our community is, who participates and how its preparing itself for change. How do we inspire and provide tools for the next generation of talent, neighbors and leaders?

Finally we need to understand that there is nothing that ensures anyone a job or a continued place at the leadership table. It's no longer about having a particular college degree or union card or even being the best at what you do today… because tomorrow they may not need you.

You say leadership is no longer a given, that past skills aren't necessarily relevant in the changing urban economy. How do evolving communities get the leadership they need?

Someone said the other day –and I thought this was wonderful— that leaders think people are disengaged and don't care. The truth is people are engaged, they're just not necessarily engaged with their particular agenda.

The fact is, there is leadership in every community. It just may not be in the position it needs to be. The first thing to recognize is that guidance can come from all over the community and don't be so damn worried about positional leadership. If someone is making positive things happen in the community and has followers, then that's an asset and you should support it and get out of their way.

We need to adopt an E-Bay platform for cities. If you think about E-Bay all it is is a platform. Without buyers and sellers it's nothing. The company simply provides its users with a venue to do their thing. Urban leaders need to say; "My job is to provide the tools that enable citizens to really step up and make this a great city. I'm going to provide the platform and the tools then be the cheerleader."

Then how should cities prioritize their development and investment to build creative and globally competitive communities?

Well, first there's got to be a there there. For a long time in America we just ignored the fundamental understanding that people want to live in places they feel connected to. Most people want to rub elbows with other people and live in a community that is vibrant.

With regard to prioritizing investment: figure out where you have signs of life, so to speak, and invest in them. Where you can go wrong with a city –which we did in the 60s— is to put all the focus on rebuilding the most distressed areas. Instead, we should focus on the places that have potential and help them fulfill that potential; places that have sparks of redevelopment. Then you start connecting other neighborhoods to them. Look for your places of strength then build from there by connecting them to other places of strength.

You also need to develop a community that encourages people to move around inside it so that they run into other people. That's the way ideas get sparked. Tying the concept of innovation to the notion of place-making is important.

Finally, we shouldn't underestimate the value of economic diversity. Look at Seattle. Great if you work in the computer industry. If you don't… things are a bit tougher. I think that broadening the economy really needs to be encouraged. Michigan seems to be slowly learning that diversity can be its strength.

So, in the land of wide lawns, big cars, shopping centers and multi-lane highways, how do you sell people on creating density, investing in public transport and developing walkable and workable downtowns?

You don't have to sell it to the new generation of young Americans. They already get it. They are 30% more likely than older Americans to live within a 3-mile radius of the central business district and that number has gone up in every one of the top 50 metro areas around the country. Even in places like Phoenix and Salt Lake City. This is not a weak signal. These are people you don't have to convince.

For the others, there are signs that they're starting to get religion. Part of it is the realization that there are significant deficits to living farther and farther out. Some of it is the huge demographic shift to smaller families who will inevitably downsize their homes. And, of course, gas prices and congestion are starting to convince people there's got to be a better way.

One of the papers we're going to publish later this year examines the "green dividend." I think the economics are really going to surprise some people, especially with regard to the money that flows away from a community under certain lifestyles and the money that stays within the community when changes are made.

I think there are a lot of things working in favor of more density and more walkable neighborhoods. If you look at the last 10-15 years there's been a real explosion in new urbanism… even in suburban locations. What they're emulating, ironically enough, is old urbanism; what good cities already have. People are becoming discontent with the sprawling, car-dependent lifestyle. It's not that cars won't remain culturally important. They will. I just think people are beginning to feel like they don't want to be tied to them for every single trip they make.

In communities like Ypsilanti, there's a young and very vibrant blogger community who comment on every facet of their community. Could these virtual organizations be a weathervane, so to speak, for an emerging creative class or new urbanism?

You may be onto something there but the real question remains; can people get beyond talking about things and start doing something? It's really important that we don't mistake community input for community action. You can have thousands of people expressing an opinion but are they motivated and enabled to actually do something?

While recently touring Google's new office Ann Arbor I heard a lot of shocked and even dismissive comments about the company's non-traditional work environment. Yet this type of workplace has been the norm on the coasts for nearly a decade. How do we update the thinking of local employers and community leaders so that we can effectively compete with the coasts for talent, investment and ideas?

It's funny because about a month ago CEOs For Cities went out West to tour GooglePlex in Mountain View and I heard some of the very same reactions. My comment to them was, "if you don't understand it now, you will in 10 years." In other words, they're either going to understand it and adopt it or be left behind. As I said earlier, Midwest cities have to pick up the pace because the world ain't waiting on us to change. Business and innovation will gravitate to places that can handle change quickly and are adaptable and resilient.

I will say this, however, one of the greatest virtues we have over West Coast cities is that a lot of them haven't gone through long periods of downturn. They've had short economic busts but nothing sustained. We've weathered all level of economic downturn and long busts and still survived. We understand that life and the economy change and while dislocations really hurt they provide an opportunity for change. But we need to match our resiliency with a fresh sense of immediacy and innovation. If we don't, the chance to reinvigorate our community may pass us by.