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The ephemeral city: ...nomadic rich and restless leeches ...
We often hear about globalisation and mobilitiy and almost never about the displaced. Well this is not about the displaced either, but about the "nomadic rich" - the other side of the glamorous "global city".
This is an extraordinary interesting article. Below are some except from it and the link to the full article.
San Francisco has lost its middle class, become a 'theme park for restaurants,' and is the playground of the nomadic rich and restless leeches living off them
Joel Kotkin
San Francisco Chronicle , Sunday, May 8, 2005
San Francisco today represents the ultimate expression of a new kind of urban area -- the ephemeral city. This urban form, dominated by the nomadic rich, the restless young and those living off them, has emerged across the advanced industrial world, but perhaps nowhere more clearly and arguably nowhere more successfully than in the city by the bay.
(...)
What does an ephemeral city do? Not much by traditional standards. It exists not primarily to conduct business, dispense power or worship divinity. Stylish living is its major expert. Once a city with small factories, dockworkers and dives specializing in carved turkey and roast beef, it's now as "a theme park for restaurants," according to San Francisco native Kevin Starr.
(...)
Sadly , San Francisco's shift to being an ephemeral city also means the loss of many things that made great urban places through the centuries. It certainly threatens the existence of the middle class urban family -- San Francisco has the lowest proportion of children, 15 percent, of any city in the nation.
It even violates the holy grail of diversity: San Francisco is one of the few cities in America where the African American population is dropping.
(...)
Joel Kotkin is an Irvine Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. He is author of "The City: A Global History," just released by Modern Library. E-mail us at insight@sfchronicle.com
Find the full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/08/INGFACJGS51.DTL&type=printable
For a counterargument: "The city isn't Disneyland -- that's just goofy"
John King-San Francisco Chronicle , Thursday, May 12, 2005: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/12/DDG0MCN1RE1.DTL
This is an extraordinary interesting article. Below are some except from it and the link to the full article.
San Francisco has lost its middle class, become a 'theme park for restaurants,' and is the playground of the nomadic rich and restless leeches living off them
Joel Kotkin
San Francisco Chronicle , Sunday, May 8, 2005
San Francisco today represents the ultimate expression of a new kind of urban area -- the ephemeral city. This urban form, dominated by the nomadic rich, the restless young and those living off them, has emerged across the advanced industrial world, but perhaps nowhere more clearly and arguably nowhere more successfully than in the city by the bay.
(...)
What does an ephemeral city do? Not much by traditional standards. It exists not primarily to conduct business, dispense power or worship divinity. Stylish living is its major expert. Once a city with small factories, dockworkers and dives specializing in carved turkey and roast beef, it's now as "a theme park for restaurants," according to San Francisco native Kevin Starr.
(...)
Sadly , San Francisco's shift to being an ephemeral city also means the loss of many things that made great urban places through the centuries. It certainly threatens the existence of the middle class urban family -- San Francisco has the lowest proportion of children, 15 percent, of any city in the nation.
It even violates the holy grail of diversity: San Francisco is one of the few cities in America where the African American population is dropping.
(...)
Joel Kotkin is an Irvine Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. He is author of "The City: A Global History," just released by Modern Library. E-mail us at insight@sfchronicle.com
Find the full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/08/INGFACJGS51.DTL&type=printable
For a counterargument: "The city isn't Disneyland -- that's just goofy"
John King-San Francisco Chronicle , Thursday, May 12, 2005: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/12/DDG0MCN1RE1.DTL
Comments
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We often hear about globalisation and mobilitiy and almost never about the displaced. Well this is not about the displaced either, but about the "nomadic rich" - the other side of the glamorous "global city".
I love it do you not?:I:I -
It is also very telling to read the counter argument by John King - more so now, in the light of the social, environmental and urban changes taken place as a result of Catrina. A city like San Francisco, according to JK, offers "a life style choice", what do cities with social make-up similar to New Orleans have to offer to their populations?News flash: Cities aren't what they used to be.
Follow-up question: What is?
This rather obvious query popped into my head Sunday after reading Joel Kotkin's sniffish dismissal of San Francisco as an "ephemeral city," one that "differs dramatically from traditional urban centers." Instead of smokestacks and stevedores we have tapas and trust-fund liberals.
He's absolutely right, and he totally misses the point. If San Francisco is a far cry from the boisterous Big Cities of yore, that's because Big Cities continue to evolve. The successful ones still draw strength from immigration and a central address, but they're no longer the engines driving the region around them. They're a lifestyle choice. (...)
Downtowns no longer have a monopoly on places to work, or places to shop, or places to see foreign films. Their distinction is urbanity itself, an aura of energy and authenticity that the suburbs supposedly can't offer.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/12/DDG0MCN1RE1.DTL
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