Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Why Milwaukee is not a happening place Richard Florida is a big name in urban theory circles these days. His Rise of the Creative Class is on the reading list of most people interested in making cities both more viable economic entities and more livable places. The basic thesis is that cities who attract writers, artists and techies are the ones that thrive. Rob Goodspeed suggests that one way to identify the presence of the creative class is by tracking local blog communities, and participation in sites like Meetup.com, Craigslist and Upcoming.org. By all these measures, Milwaukee is not a happening place. While there are 7555 Meetup members in the Milwaukee area, there are few functioning Meetups (that I can tell) outside the  electoral campaigns. Milwaukee Craigslist is just getting going. Upcoming is barely a blip on the radar here; we have 21 members. John Schmid of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel  provides even more evidence this week on why Milwaukee is not a happening place. While focused on the destruction of the African-American working class in Milwaukee, you can see what has happened to working people of all races here. It's not pretty. There is much work to be done. We have to put the interests of working people first. May we find leaders who understand that. 10:53:07 AM    comment []