Cities and Ambition - my perspective
May 31st, 2008 | by David |Two blog posts in one night. I’m on a roll.
Paul Graham writes a brilliant series of essays, mostly about the start-up world, and his latest really has me thinking. Isn’t that what a good essay is supposed to do?
In this essay Graham discusses the ambitions that drive a city. In New York it’s money, in LA its fame, Boston its intelligence and in the Silicon Valley area its innovation. As I prepare for yet another move, this essay make me think about the cities that I’ve lived in. One point that Graham makes is that not all cities have this single identifiable ambition. Great cities do. I’m not sure that I’ve lived in a great city yet, but here is my take on the cities I have lived in the last few years.
Colorado Springs: Colorado Springs is about being outdoors. Its takes great pleasure in being in the annual healthiest cities lists. It could be Boulder except it doesn’t have a great university. It has a very good college. It also struggles with the heavy impact the church and the military has on the community which tends to temper creativity. A nice place to live but not a place to grow.
Roseville/Sacramento: I only lived here for a year so it’s hard to provide a good analysis. Roseville was retail. Spending money, eating out, and driving new cars. The capital of California is in Sacramento but no one wants to go there. Try to setup a meeting in Sacramento and see what happens. This area is about being close enough to everything else. 2 hours to Tahoe, 2 hours to the Bay Area, 2 hours to Napa. It seemed like people lived here to be close enough to easily get away.
Houston: Again, only a year here so I’m no expert. The problem with Houston is that it’s huge, it doesn’t seem like anyone lives here by choice (birth or job is why they are here), and the economy is driven by energy which no one seems to be a big fan of these days. That being said there are some incredibly motivated people here that want to make Houston a destination for those with great ideas. I wish them luck.
The next stop on my migrant voyage is Salt Lake City. I don’t know what Salt Lake City is about. What is the ambition of Salt Lake City?
While I’m at it what are the ambitions of some of the cities that Paul doesn’t mention: Boulder. Austin. Atlanta. London. Tokyo. Seattle.
I would love to hear your opinions.
4 Responses to “Cities and Ambition - my perspective”
By Mike Warot on Jun 2, 2008 | Reply
Salt Lake City: You should be a good worker bee.
By Ben Rasmusen on Jun 15, 2008 | Reply
Great post. I really like your description of Colorado Springs, I think it’s spot on without being too critical (something I’m guilty of). I’ve often tried to describe Colorado Springs to people and it’s been pretty tough, but I think from now on I’ll quote your description or send them over to this post.
I grew up in central Mexico and moved around quite a bit before ending up in Colorado Springs where I’ve spent the last 10 years. In ten days we are finally moving out of Colorado Springs and heading to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. I’ll try to remember and post a comment once I peg the ambitions of Hawaii.
Best of luck on your move, if you haven’t already made said move. Take care.
By David on Jun 16, 2008 | Reply
Thanks Ben and good luck on your move. I checked out some of the projects on your website. Looks like you are doing some interesting stuff. You should sign up for the beta of Supplier View. I’d like to hear your opinions on it even if it isn’t your domain of interest.
By Maria on Jun 19, 2008 | Reply
Interesting - I live in LA and have no interest in being famous - what does that mean?