On the i10erary: The Urbanophile

I remembered Aaron Renn from his writings on the Usenet urban transit newsgroup more than a decade ago. He had always been one of the sharpest posters then, and his writing has only gotten better since. Take a look for yourself at The Urbanophile.

The long-form, almost academic-grade posts may at first appear to be the work of a tenured professor of urban affairs or sociology — possibly even an urban planning guru a la Richard Florida or a starchitect’s publicist. But, as his bio blurb says, Renn is “a leading independent urban affairs thinker and strategist based in the Midwest.” His background is in architecture — software, not buildings. Yet if Renn’s compositions are so insightful being outside of the professional realm, it’s all the more reason for everyone to take notice.

Renn’s bailiwick is the cities of the Midwest: the global city of Chicago; the regional powers of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Louis and his hometown, Indianapolis; and the perils and hopes of the once-mighty Rust Belt metropoles of Pittsburgh, Cleveland and of course, Detroit. His stories don’t claim to have a single elixir solution to make a city great; he draws examples of economic, political and social initiatives and even from the fields of architecture, urban planning and even a discipline as far out as graphic design!

What it does well: The Urbanophile is not only a must-read for most Midwest city-related matters, but it’s also a place for readers to expect the unexpected and still come away pleased. Renn calls himself the Urbanophile — a lover of cities — but he is not afraid to spend a great deal of time being critical of them. A lover of cities does not have to be a cheerleader. Because of this stance, Renn is free to give a straight-up assessment without the risk of alienating his audience.

Why you should read it: The Urbanophile covers every possible angle of the Midwest with the detail of an electron microscope. The Midwest is especially interesting, because the issues it faces forces its cities and its people to work harder to stay relevant. The harsh economic climate at least provides an impetus for innovation. Many Midwesterners can look at us Californians and see that we had taken our state’s prospects for granted and expected to coast along on good fortune. What are we going to do if our budget crises and population pressures will hang over us for generations? We could learn from the Midwest, who had to experience the shocks we are going through firsthand.

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aaron renn • i10erary • Links • midwest • the urbanophile • urbanism