Don't do this at home Sunday, June 25, 2006 I recently received an e-mail from a colleague in Shreveport. For some years, group of us have been promoting the development of the area around the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport. You can see the results of our plan here. Part of our plan involves establishing a digital media center. A delegation from Shreveport came to Cleveland last week to make a presentation to the national meeting of the New Media Consortium. Our Shreverport plan represents the one of the first plans to use digital media as a catalyst for regional economic growth. My friend writes: "[In] the week following the trip, a digital media company interested in locating in Shreveport came to town... I met representatives in our office to show them the plan. They see and want to be part of the vision..." Despite the national recognition that our plan has generated, Mayor Keith Hightower and his staff have been fighting our proposal. Their idea: Tear down the surrounding buildings and turn the areas around the historic Munnicipal Auditorium into more parking lots. Urban renewal strategies in the 1960's were generally a disaster for American cities. Shreveport, luckily, did not participate in these programs, because the city's leadership was oppposed to federal funding. The benefit: Many of Shreveport's old buildings -- it's authentic urban fabric -- are still standing. This authenticity -- rough edges and all -- provide a remarkable economic development opportunity. But Mayor Hightower can't seem to get his head around the possibilities. Instead, he wants to tear down buildings and pave parking lots. Remarkable. A corporate attorney -- a member of our design team -- once told us the challenges we face in coming up with a bold idea for Shreveport: "You're dealing with a lot of ignorance down there." My sense is that the reasons go deeper. The Hightower Administration has been plagued by rumors of alleged corruption. This brings to mind a Bob Dylan lyric that is applicable to Shreveport: "The pump don't work because the vandals stole the handle." posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 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. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. 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.

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