The Economics of Place: The Value of Building Communities Around People

Livable Network St. Louis August 23, 2012

Dan  Gilmar*n,  CEO  &  Execu*ve  Director  Michigan  Municipal  League  

The Way We Were

• Quality of life and of place has declined §  (In 2010, 36th in per capita income—a drop of 18 places in 10 years)

• Manufacturing as we know it is gone • Not adapting fast enough to the knowledge-based economy • We’re under-investing in our:

§ Universities § Community colleges §  Infrastructure

• Talented millennials don’t want to live here • Entrepreneurs not being attracted

A Few Facts

Detroit  

Ø  Pop. 713,777 (decrease of 10.3% since 2000)

Ø  Metro Pop. – 4.3 M Ø  25-34-year-olds - 18.33% Ø  College attainment – 26.4% Ø  Per capita - Michigan – 36th (a

drop of 18 places in since 2000)

 

St. Louis  

Ø  Pop. 319,294 (increase of 8% since 2000)

Ø  Metro Pop. – 2.8 M Ø  25-34-year-olds – 19.1% Ø  College attainment - 28% Ø  Per capita – Missouri – 33rd (a

drop of 3 places since 2000)

 

• Knowledge-based • Education counts, degrees matter • Technology allows people to work anywhere; they are choosing the cities • Mobile population •  “Place” attracts people • Young people choose where to live first, then look for work • World-wide competition for talent

What we know

“The most valuable resource in the 21st century is brains. Smart people tend to be mobile. Watch where they go! Because where they go, robust economic activity will follow.”

Rick Karlgaard Publisher, Forbes

46% of college graduates leave Michigan

21-34 yr olds:

17.6% vs.

19.1%

Nationally

A decade of higher education cuts - 27%

Shifting Demographics

<25% of households considered “traditional”

13.7% VS.

20.8% in 1995 18.3% in 2001

Automotive miles driven by ages 21-30:  

Why urban places matter

24 – 34 year olds: • 1980 – 10% business district • 1990 – 12% • 2010 – 32%

 

•  Young people rent •  Walk less…suburbanites walk less, bike less, and

are less physically fit than city dwellers. •  Goal is to engineer more physical activity. •  Trulia/National Association of Realtors

§  Just 9 percent of the people surveyed said their ideal home size was over 3,200 square feet. Meanwhile, more than one-third said their ideal size was under 2,000 feet.  

Changing Patterns of Suburban Places

Incentivized Teachers

Culture Front & Center Zero Emission Public Transit

Open Source Government

Farm Fresh Food Venture-Capital Mind Set

Renaissance Neighborhoods

Smart Energy Car Sharing

What do we mean by “Sense of Place?”  

“Placemaking is about turning a neighborhood,

town, or city from a place you can’t wait to get through into one

you never want to leave.”  

“The difference between great cities and good cities is the quality of their public spaces.

Fred Kent Project for Public Spaces  

It’s more about place than design

•  When focusing on place, you do everything differently •  Build communities around happiness and well-being •  Importance of the ordinary citizen in planning •  Fosters a sense of pride and emotional connectiveness

•  Community driven

§  Citizens are the experts

§  Returning responsibility to the community

§  Need “zealous nuts”

•  Flexible, yet sustainable

•  Use drives design

•  Creates centers of energy & collaboration

Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper

Placemaking & The Power of 10

Detroit: Canfield Social Yard – Winner $2,000 Muskegon: The Fat Garden – 2nd prize $1,000 Detroit: Innovation Square – Runner-up $500 Hartland: Old Hartland High School – Runner-up $500

Physical Design & Walkability

Transit

Messaging & Technology

Multiculturalism

Green Initiatives

Cultural Economic Development

Entrepreneurship Education

Center for 21st Century Communities – 21C3

Need for strong metro regions

Placemaking “Civic engagement is at once motivated by and contributing to a

sense of place.”

Micro Governance “Expecting mid-20th century governance structures to handle the challenges of the early 21st century is

not realistic.”

Community Engagement

“Often the best ideas, the ones that have preservation and enhancement at their center, come from the community.”

Bold leadership

Global understanding

Knowledge-based economy

Higher education investment

Create quality of place

Regional focus

The Path to Prosperity

Dan Gilmartin CEO & Executive Director Michigan Municipal League E-mail: dpg@mml.org Twitter: @dpgilmartin Blog: www.economicsofplace.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/MMLeague