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ChineseFulton vs. Kotkin III — For all the marbles
[tags]los angeles, urban planning, bill fulton, joel kotkin, richard florida[/tags]
Bill Fulton promised a three-part salvo against Joel Kotkin on his blog, ever since the latter criticized Los Angeles for “Manhattanizing.” Kotkin believes the cities of the future are the ones who stick to mid-20th-century suburbanization.
In the coda, “Cool v. Uncool Cities: The Battle For The Soul Of Economic Development,” Fulton has Richard Florida caught in the Kotkin crossfire. Florida’s thesis is an economy driven by 40 million workers that are a part of the “creative class.” This class desires an urban space with lively arts, commerce and architecture. Kotkin, meanwhile, asserts cities must stick to modernist planning to keep local economies relevant — “Irvine-izing” rather than “Manhattanizing”.
This series has been a fascinating read. MetroRiderLA has recaps of this debate in the following posts:
Discussion
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San Buenaventura City Councilmember Fulton is a bit touchy on the subject of a true “creative class” city because of the civic time and treasure he has personally directed into a public subsidy experiment in his own town; NeoTrad, mixed-use, cool city style, transit oriented development. If it can be made to work the Cenurbist Redevelopment Infill Planner Elite Socialists will have a poster child to push their agenda elsewhere. A sort of mini Beaverton Round II.
Rob that post is so full of neologisms that I can’t undestand what you are trying to say!
Fulton has push for anywhere from 25 to 38 million dollars in direct and indirect subsidies depending on who you ask to ram through an “Artists Enclave” development in Old Towne Ventura. I do not throw “ram through” in here lightly. It was massively opposed by huge crossections of the city residents. Fulton and Cole have invested their reputations in this experiment with other peoples’ money. It is really far too early to tell but there are no bright spots yet if that means anything. The only thing that has generated any interest is the ultra swanky penthouse market rate condos.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess my private predictions but unlike the planner cabal that has couped the city I am not willing to come right out and say it out of respect for the 108,000 victims of this human subject experimentation.
And people wonder why I moved away from Ventura back in 1989.
Because high civic participation makes transit advocacy and other forms of social engineering difficult?