Monday, May 09, 2005
Downtowns play a critical role in the knowledge economy. But EDPros need to develop investment strategies to continuously rebuild these centers. Providence, for example, is launching a new initiative to develop a twenty year plan. Read more.
On a smaller scale in Missouri, the Main Street program plays a critical role in developing a sense of place. Read more. In Western Illinois, EDPros are working on historic designations for Monmouth. Read more. And in Florida, tourism officials are promoting small, historic downtowns across the state. Read more.
If you do not pay attention, you can start seeing signs of decay. Birmingham, AL is in the beginning stages of this cycle. The warning signs: falling tax revenues. Read more.
Detroit is in the latter stages of this cycle. Some years ago, civic leaders in Detroit made a wrongheaded decision to divide the region between the African American central core and the white suburbs. Now, Detroit has lost much of the central core economic activity that it needs to survive. Read more.
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
The role of downtowns
