I’m in The Stuck
(I’m sorry, but almost anything from “Richard Florida”:http://creativeclass.org/ fascinates me. Even when I disagree with him.)
Here is “an interesting post”:http://creativeclass.typepad.com/thecreativityexchange/2007/03/the_stuck.html about people who leave the area they grew up in and the ones who stay.
Technically, I did leave the area I grew up in — I was mobile enough to move three hours away (however, Omaha is almost a different planet then where I grew up). Even before I read this article, I knew that I was “stuck” here. Why?
Not because I own a house, but, because of Midwest Values. Neither Gina or I had close relationships with our grandparents (for both of us: one set died when we were young and the other lived far away). We decided that we would give Leah an opportunity.
Florida thinks that everyone should be mobile to be successful. I think he totally ignores important cultural ideas. And I think that there has to be some consistency in our cities to make them worthwhile. If no one wants to put down root and love where they live, then it can never be better.
And I didn’t even mention that now it’s getting easier and easier to work for whoever you want wherever you want, thanks to VPN’s and other wonderful ways to collaborate over long distances.