Peter is a partner with Creative Cities Productions and the founder of the Creative Cities Summit, which will be held in Detroit, October 13-15th. He consults for the Creative Economy by focusing on entrepreneurs, arts & cultural organizations, cities and technologies... which is, oddly enough, what he'll be writing about.
Peter Kageyama - Post 3: Cities We Love & Cities We Hate
Posted By: Peter Kageyama
Posted: 9/23/2008
I have been thinking a lot lately about what it is that makes us love or hate a place. We use these terms pretty easily and without too much consideration, but think about the things that really make you love or hate a place.
The things we hate about cities tend to be BIG things. Things like the transportation system (or lack thereof), the school system, the "good old boy" networks or crime. Big things. When we think about what we love about cities, they tend to be small, intimate things. A certain park bench, a local restaurant, a street festival, a view or a place where you take your dog.
Cities spend an awful lot of time and resources trying to solve these big problems, and rightfully so. But even if they get these things right, we will never love a city for its transportation system or low level of crime. We expect those things the way we expect clean sheets at a hotel. The things that we love on the other hand can often be had for relatively little money or resources.The things we love are the chocolate on the pillow in the hotel.
If cities spent a little more time and effort on increasing the little things we love about cities, it would make the things we hate seem more remote and less dire. And it would give cities the space and momentum they need to face those big challenges.