On a beautiful day like today, it’s only natural to walk to lunch and sneak outside every opportunity you get. So, I decided to do just that.

As I stepped out of my Main Street office this afternoon to grab some coffee, something caught my attention - Park Place (most recently L’Asiantique), a restaurant space that has been sitting vacant in the first floor of a 10-story office building downtown for years, suddenly had life in it again. Dozens of people were moving things in and out, rearranging the space, and appeared to be prepping for something big - perhaps a restaurant again - to move in. I was excited, and kept walking after snapping a quick picture.

I turned the corner onto Clinton Street. A few hundred feet away from me, a group of colorfully dressed people were singing, dancing, and circling a May Pole on the courthouse lawn. Though there were only a couple dozen people that were part of the celebration, dozens more stood on the sidewalk watching, taking photos, and enjoying the unique site downtown.

The nice weather appeared to have had the same effect on everyone else as it did on me. Hundreds of people were out walking, sitting, enjoying lunch, or just taking a break outside on the sidewalks of downtown. Unfortunately, sites like this have become a rarity in Fort Wayne over time. We don’t enjoy the amount of vibrancy in our downtown area that we once had - but today, things were different. Today, there was life, things were happening, and the energy was contagious. Regardless of whether or not you started your day in a good mood, you were bound to end up in one after a walk through downtown.

I stepped into my favorite coffee shop downtown (Higher Grounds Star, shameless plug) and rambled on and on to the owner about how vibrant and exciting things seemed downtown today. I sat down to each my lunch for a few minutes, but could only keep myself from wandering around outside for a quick second. I wanted to be part of the action, part of the excitement - the way I perceived it, downtown was full of life today and good things appeared to be just around the corner. We had a mix of event-based activity (the May Pole dancers), and built development / physical activity (the Park Place space). The vibrancy and excitement we were all enjoying this afternoon was sure to last for some time to come.

On my way back, however, the May Pole dancers had already packed up and left. The spectators had parted. Most people had finished their meals and returned to their offices, and upon returning to Main Street a UPS driver bursted my bubble by telling me they were filming a commercial in the Park Place space, not preparing it for something new. As quickly as life had entered downtown, it left in the same fashion and with the same speed. My excitement and energy levels plummeted as I returned to my desk.

What’s my point in telling you all of this? Perhaps we limit the capacity of our city’s urban core by limiting our imaginations. When we perceive downtown to be active, vibrant, and exciting, we carry that energy with us. We rethink Fort Wayne. We re-imagine spaces and interact with them differently. Because we perceive our surroundings to be full of life and vibrancy, we too become energetic. Simply put, happy people enjoy happy places.

It reminds me of the inspiring work my Chattanooga friends have done through CreateHere and are continuing to do through Glass House Collective. They realize that perceptions are important and, for a space to experience truly sustainable change, any alterations made to that space must be guided by the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the people who interact with it on a routine basis. Without a vision of what that space could be, though, it can never realize its full potential. Getting people exciting about places and teaching them to re-imagine them is critical to the development of exceptional, inviting, attractive public spaces.

So let your imagination run wild and re-imagine your city, your neighborhood, or your downtown. Find out what you most desire from it, what it needs to offer in order for you to attach yourself to it, and brainstorm ways that you - as a person - can turn that vision into reality!

It’s as simple as three steps:

1. Log on to www.city-seven.com
2. Pre-order a copy of the first issue (coming out on May 14, 2012)
3. Enjoy!

Each month, CitySeven will support a local charity or cause that is relevant to their mission of enhancing the entrepreneurial ability of cities. For the May issue, a portion of all proceeds will go to support the ongoing work of the Twelve Cities Project. Not only do you get a copy of a great new publication, you’re also helping out the Twelve Cities Project moving forward!

There’s something to be said about inspiration.

In every earthquake of innovation, at the center of every great idea - you’ll find an epicenter of inspiration. It plants a seed that grows into something glorious, something productive, something opportunistic. Inspiration is the birthmother of innovation. 

In many ways, the Twelve Cities Project has been a hurricane of inspiration for me. Being able to witness some of the most emergent urban renewal strategies first hand and have a conversation with the people making them happen has proven to be a catalyst for me when considering the potential that my own city has. There are loads of inspirational stories and powerful examples emerging through the Twelve Cities Project - the tough (yet fun) part is trying to synthesize it into something that makes sense and is adaptable.

I’ve had several conversations over the past week here in Arizona that left me feeling inspired. As I noted in my post with initial observations of Tucson, people here understand the importance of community - the conversations I’ve had over the past several days have proven that hypothesis true. This deep desire for community and connectivity has transcended from a virtual realm to the physical through a number of events, collaborative workspaces, and even a modern street car planned for four major districts in the coming years. Not only are they focused on building community - they’re finding ways to sustain it by encouraging accessible, walkable, connected urban design.

Friday morning, I had a fascinating conversation with a guy here named Scott Henderson. Scott was instrumental in getting Gangplank Tucson (of which I’ll talk about later in this post) off the ground, but furthermore, he’s a social capital aficionado. He understands the impacts of a highly connected community and knows well what can happen when those communities become connected to each other. He has practiced what he preaches by working to build community among entrepreneurs (or entrepreneurial types) in Tucson and other parts of the world by volunteering to organize Startup Weekend events. Once again, Tucson’s focus on sustainable connectivity has shown through by way of their local Startup Weekend - after the initial event, the momentum behind it was so great that they realized a need for a vehicle to continue driving that energy forward. Startup Tucson emerged, an organization focused on serving as a “connection hub” for entrepreneurs, economic development entities, and startup culture in Tucson. And this is only the tip of the iceberg - the plans they have for growth in the future are pretty awesome, and I’m excited to watch it unfold.

Saturday afternoon, I stopped by Gangplank Tucson for a tour with Aaron Eden. Aaron himself is a fascinating guy - he has a long history with Intuit, helping the company to innovate and think differently. He’s also been involved in the development and growth of Tucson’s startup culture through Startup Tucson and Gangplank. Aaron took me for a tour through the space - a comfortable, collaborative workspace with tables for people to drop-by and work together, dedicated desks for those who stop by more frequently, free coffee (a must), meeting rooms, and plenty of unique spaces for events held throughout the week. It mirrored many coworking spaces I’ve seen over the years, but had a different twist on it - it seemed more open, more versatile, and more community-based.

While walking through the main room, I asked Aaron how much a membership to Gangplank costs. “Nothing - the dedicated desks, the open tables, the meeting rooms - we don’t charge for anything. We just ask that you contribute to building community here.” Gangplank originated in the Phoenix area when a local startup had some extra office space and realized they could use it to build a culture of collaboration in their city. The model quickly turned into Gangplank, a statewide nonprofit that offers free collaborative workspaces in a number of cities in an effort to build community, cultivate collaboration, and enhance the social capital exchanged through these communities.

Obviously this caught my attention - as I’ve said countless times, my prediction is that the cities who will see the most growth in the coming decades are those that are the most socially connected. Gangplank becomes an incubator for just that - increasing the social connectivity of a city. Furthermore, it’s “always free” model had me pretty intrigued. We’ve all seen similar spaces that have membership fees attached to them in order to sustain themselves financially - but what if we were able to pull together the underutilized resources in our communities to offer collaborative office spaces at no cost? It’s certainly a different spin and has limitations that a membership-based space doesn’t have to deal with, but the potential impacts of it could be huge.

Inspiration is everywhere, but it is enhanced by purpose-driven actions. So often we wait for something to inspire us - whether we’re writing a card or painting a picture. But maybe inspiration is waiting for us to chase after it. If inspiration is a catalyst for production, which I firmly believe it is, then its effects are enhanced by communication and exchange of information. To relate back to a previous blog post, what happens when people talk? They inspire.

During an all-staff meeting a few years ago, the then-director of Pima County Public Library told her staff that she wanted them to be innovative, take risks, and that she would back them up if and when mistakes were made. In every trip I make with this project there’s a story that truly inspires me. Today, I heard three of them - and they all came from a rather unsuspecting place: the main library branch here in Tucson.

A few weeks ago I received a message via Twitter from Lisa Bunker, the system’s social media librarian, saying that she wanted to connect during my visit to Tucson. Earlier this week we set up a time to connect. Upon arriving at the branch today, I wasn’t expecting to hear much about the library itself - I figured most of the conversation would center around Lisa’s personal interest in innovation and the different communities and projects she’s engaged in.

As it turns out, I was right - much of the conversation centered around Lisa’s passion for innovation, as well as four other members of the library’s staff, and the initiatives all of them were engaged in to strengthen Tucson’s spirit of innovation - many of which were programs introduced by the public library. Let me preface this post by saying this is by far the most innovative library system I’ve ever encountered. Here’s why:

1.) They have a nurse on staff.

Yes, you read that right - a public library with a nurse who travels from branch to branch offering free healthcare services. The staff of Pima County Public Library realized a problem not long ago: as a public facility, they had a number of homeless and impoverished individuals showing up on their doorstep, yet they didn’t have much to offer them, nor was their staff properly trained to offer all the medical assistance needed in many scenarios they encountered. Many times, there was little more they could do than turn them away or call emergency services to tend to visitors in need of assistance - but they realized this wasn’t something that was going to change. People see the library as a public space that’s a safe house. Also, they realize that the library (especially the main branch) is a true connection hub for their city as it brings together people from all backgrounds, income levels, geographic locations, and lifestyles. Rather than turn people away, they saw the opportunity to help - no other public facility in town has the same “openness appeal” that a library can offer. Why direct them elsewhere when you can meet them where they are?

In January, the library hired nurse Emily Pogue to serve as the first library nurse in the country. The stories that Emily shared with me and the group were fascinating, inspiring, and heartwarming. In addition to physical health, she tends to the mental health and overall well-being of library patrons. If she comes across someone who is obviously distraught or unnerved, she reaches out to them by saying “what can I do to help you?” She’s done everything from help impoverished families become financially stable again by connecting them with resources and programs, to assisting homeless in searching for living spaces. She’s not just changing the culture of the library - she’s rebuilding Tucson, one resident at a time.

2.) They have a seed library.

About two months ago, Pima County Public Library began a seed library program with the mission of keeping local seeds local in the long run. They gathered thousands of seeds from distributors across the country and placed them at library locations throughout the county. Library patrons can “check-out” packets of seeds by using their library card, under the agreement that they contribute to the seed bank at the end of the season by returning seeds. Though the program is only two months old, residents have already expressed a huge amount of interest in it. 

3.) They have a book bike.

If you live in the Tucson area, you may have seen it around - a three-wheeled bike that looks like an ice cream truck. Instead of sweet treats, however, the storage compartment is filled with books. After receiving donations of books from various sources, they fill up the book bike and ride it to a community event, senior citizen complex, park, or other area of town and dispense books. Not only are they able to spread the word about library programming / services, they’re also equipping residents with resources to empower themselves intellectually - at virtually no cost to either party.

4.) They view themselves as an intellectual incubator.

They realize that, as a library, they can be much more than just rows of shelves with books on them. They’re in a unique position to empower residents intellectual, assist in the facilitation of intellectual / creative capital, and organize human capital towards substantial projects that promote community well-being and economic growth. They’re a library - but they’re also so much more. They’re a connection hub, a collaborative workspace, a knowledge bank, a community space, and an entity that can be used to leverage resources throughout the area to catalyze economic growth. During the recession, they saw an influx of individuals looking for job search assistance. Instead of turning them to another agency or referring them elsewhere, they once again met them where they were at and began offering job search services. They offered classes to teach residents basic skills, set up mentorship programs, and opened their doors as a community space where people could come for assistance in finding employment. They did all this while still maintaining top-notch library service to Tucson residents.

As I noted in my post yesterday, I’m a huge advocate for opportunity maximization. Never let an opportunity - whatever it may be - go by without thoroughly investigating it and doing an opportunity-cost analysis. The entrepreneurial, creative, and innovative staff at the Pima County Public Library do just that - and in doing so, they’ve turned their library system into an economic development powerhouse in Tucson that empowers, connects, and enlightens residents to create more opportunity. Hats off to them - I look forward to watching their progress in the coming years as they continue their impressive and exciting work.

They create.

That’s what we do as humans: we’re programmed to create. Regardless of what we’re doing, what we intend to do, or what we dream of doing - there’s some sort of creational purpose behind it. We want to achieve something, whether it’s our own happiness or the generation of billions of dollars in wealth. We’re purposeful people.

That entrepreneurial spirit comes in many forms and is developed in many ways. Tucson, much like other cities I’ve visited, has realized something - the entrepreneurial ability of a city is dramatically increased when influenced by social connectivity. They realize that people are purpose-driven by nature, so it only makes sense to cultivate an environment that encourages social interaction and collaborative work. When people work in silos without exchanging information, work is duplicated, efficiency lags, and the innovation rate of that city is greatly reduced or nearly stalled. When people aren’t talking, they’re not maximizing their potential.

I’m a huge fan of opportunity maximization, which has close ties to innovation. Whenever someone tells me about a fantastic opportunity they have, I say “that’s great - now how do you intend to use that as a leveraging force to increase the amount of opportunity you’re producing?” Often times, this is met with a glossy-eyed look and a sigh that implies “don’t kill my buzz, I thought it was good news.” That’s never my intention - as many of you know, I’m also a huge fan the work The Energy Project out of New York City does. They’ve proven the point that encouragement and positive emotions can increase productivity. But, I still like to ask tough questions to make sure opportunities are producing their maximum output possible.

An individuals “opportunity capital” (yes, I just created a new term) only reaches its point of maximum output when multiplied by all the other opportunities around it. In other words, if you have something great going on, talk to other people and find out what great things they have going on - then find ways to work collaboratively to increase your output. Obviously, this is an equation that has infinite possibilities and can never be fully realized by a single individual. If you’ve exhausted all the potential intersections for collaboration around you (which would be difficult), there’s a whole world of people just around the corner who open up another Pandora’s Box of opportunity. I’m not saying you should crawl to your deathbed with the words “I tried to collaborate.. but I didn’t collaborate enough” written on your tombstone. Simply, I’m encouraging you to break out of your comfort zone and interact with others. You never know what could come of it.

In Austin, I studied this intensively and made a few observations that I still think are fantastic examples of how they have enhanced their quality of opportunity:

• They have cultivated an environment where communities form organically
• They have built connective tissue between / among these communities
• Connective tissue facilitates the transfer of capital among these communities
• The capital that’s exchanged fuels an entrepreneurial and innovative environment where ventures can be created with the investment of social capital (or other forms) as opposed to traditional venture / monetary capital
• They have successfully transcended this “social capital exchange” from an event-based scenario to a physical environment, with incubators / coworking spaces serving as the infrastructure that “mixes” these communities and networks on a day-to-day basis

My friends Jacqueline Hughes, Gary Hoover, Bijoy Goswami, and Steve GoLab are all great examples of why this system - ecosystem, rather - works so well in Austin.

What have I found out about Tucson so far? They’re riding the same rails on the train of opportunity, heading for the land of prosperity. In fact, they pointed out to me that outside of SXSW and a few other differences, Tucson and Austin really aren’t all that different. From the conversations I’ve had so far today, there seem to be quite a few recurring themes - which to me is really, really exciting. You can see the bullet points I listed above either started to take form or have already formed here in Tucson. They’re very in tune to the power of social connectivity and the importance of opportunity.

Today, I’ve been fortunate to already have had several great conversations - many of which I’ll elaborate on at a later time. One conversation that really interested me, however, what something that Curtis Gunn of Desert Angels brought up in terms of talent attraction / retention and what’s happening here in Tucson. 

Every city faces the challenge of trying to attract and retain their young talent. As I’ve noted time after time in my research, ‘opportunity’ is the leading attractor of millennials (ages 13 to 29) to a place. However, the methods in which opportunity is generated and harnessed vary from city to city. In Chattanooga, I noted how they have practiced the concept of “placemaking” to generate opportunities for their young talent to shape, mold, and create their city. In Paducah, I witnessed the intersection of creativity and entrepreneurship and the enormous opportunities that stemmed from it. In Austin, I was able to study how they have laid social connectivity as the infrastructure (and springboard) that supports and fuels their entrepreneurial climate - leading to enormous opportunities for professional development which, in turn, impact place.

Here in Tucson, opportunity is abound for young talent - especially for young entrepreneurs. Desert Angels, a groups of 70+ investors who invest in Tucson area startups, offer access to an immense amount of capital used to support, strengthen, and grow new ventures in the southwest region. Take that, paired with the incredible entrepreneurship programs offered through University of Arizona’s McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, and you have a system that provides ample support for startups by young talent in Tucson. Factor in residents’ growing concern for social connectivity, push for collaborative work spaces, and heavy public / private support at local, regional, and state levels for startups and related initiatives, and you’ve got an opportunity-generation machine. Sure, there are ways all these systems must work together to achieve their maximum potential opportunity output, and there are always kinks to be worked out of every system, but they’re certainly headed in the right direction with all the right assets lined up. 

So what happens when people talk? They create - and they create for each other. They gain access to resources, capital, ideas, and spur innovation. They drive their city forward and serve as a magnetizing force for other people to join them. Social cities are the front-runners of today’s economy. I’m excited to know that Tucson is one of them.

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned through the Twelve Cities Project so far, it’s that no two cities are alike. While most share similar qualities, concerns, obstacles, and opportunities - they all have different stories. The wealth and diversity of information I’ve collected thus far has been an incredible experience, and I’m looking forward to the next week as I head out to my next adventure in Tucson, Arizona.

I’ve grown increasingly familiar with the term “I’m not sure what to expect” throughout the first three visits of the Twelve Cities Project. I’ve entered each location with an open-mind, and look forward to the new experiences it has to offer. Though I haven’t yet arrived in Tucson (currently sitting in the terminal at Fort Wayne International as I type this), there are a number of traits I’ve realized through communication with residents there already:

1.) They appear to be very well socially connected.

After making just a few posts on Twitter and sending a handful of emails out, I received an overwhelming (and rather enthusiastic) response from people in Tucson. They showed plenty of excitement for what I’m studying through the Twelve Cities Project, and were more than willing to connect me to other individuals in town who might prove valuable to my visit and studies. Many times, the emails sent out to connect me to other individuals involved a series of recurring names and themes - lots of people, lots of excitement, and lots of connectors.

As I realized during my trip to Austin, Texas, a few months ago and noted in my research, I strongly believe that social connectivity is the underlying foundation to a city’s economic growth - especially in today’s world. The more socially connected a city becomes, the greater the rate of information exchanged. Innovation and entrepreneurship are fueled by communication. The more people talk, connect, and exchange information, the more they create new ideas through a collaborative approach. Moreover, they gain access to huge amounts of capital - which may or may not include monetary capital - to get a venture or idea off the ground. Austin displayed this in some incredible ways through its fusion of creativity and entrepreneurship. From the conversations I’ve had thus far, I can already tell this collaborative spirit is alive and well in Tucson - which gives me great excitement for what I might find there.

2.) They appear to have a high level of openness, tolerance, and acceptance.

The Knight Foundation’s Soul of the Community study taught us that openness is a leading factor of attachment between a person and the place where they live. Studies produced by groups like CEOs for Cities have indicated that young people today choose a place first and a job second - and in terms of place, they choose cities over rural areas. If we know that people are attached to open, tolerants places, and we understand that today’s young people put place before employment, what conclusion can we draw? That a community’s openness is not only critical to instilling attachment among its residents, but that it can also be a make-it or break-it deal for young people looking to move there.

From the moment I began reaching out to people in Tucson regarding the Twelve Cities Project, its purpose, and what it’s producing thus far, I could tell they celebrated a culture of openness and tolerance. They were extremely accepting - and excited - of the ideas being spawned from the project and were eager to participate. News articles written in and about the Tucson region highlight the forward-thinking nature of its residents and their eagerness to create opportunity. If you follow my blog posts regularly, you know that I have found quality of opportunity to be the single greatest attractor of young people to a place today - the fact that Tucson residents think in an entrepreneurial mindset and are eager to produce opportunity tells me that this is a city that’s serious about enhancing its economic viability in the coming decades.

As I said before, I’m never quite sure what to expect in each city, and I like to leave it at that - I try not to skew, disrupt, or alter my observations before they’re even made. But the two observations I listed above are very evident - even in simple email / phone communication with residents. Needless to say, I can’t wait to see what the next seven days hold. I’m looking forward to a week under the Tuscan sun.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to witness something awesome: the impact of connective tissue on the development of community in Fort Wayne. This was demonstrated in two instances: one was intentional, the other wasn’t - the Parkview Regional Medical Center (PRMC) and A Better Fort’s “My City” project.

For those of you outside of Fort Wayne, Parkview is Northeast Indiana’s largest healthcare provider. This March, they will be moving their flagship hospital from a campus in the inner-city Lakeside neighborhood to a location on the northern side of town, typically referred to as the “Dupont” area (located just off of Dupont Road). The old facility will continue to serve inner-city Fort Wayne, while the new (and much, much larger) facility will better position Parkview to serve as a leading provider of health services not only in Northeast Indiana, but throughout the nation. The technology they’ve packed into their new home is incredible - including robots that deliver your medication, food, and linens (which I was particularly fascinated by).

A friend of mine works in Parkview’s information systems department and invited several of us to tour the PRMC on Saturday. The event was for Parkview staff to invite their family and friends. Now mind you, Parkview not only serves Fort Wayne - they have a number of hospitals in other counties throughout Northeast Indiana. According to their website, they employ over 7,000 people in our region (if someone has the exact number, feel free to post it below). As people poured into the beautiful new seven-story hospital, I realized something was happening - people were connected, and people were forming new connections. Introductions were being made, laughs were being shared, and hugs were being given. As I overheard a few conversations, it became apparent that many of these people were just “running into each other.” They hadn’t planned to show up at the same place at the same time, and in several cases, appeared to have not seen each other in quite sometime.

In a previous blog post I spoke about “connectors” - people who serve as the connective tissue among various networks to expedite the flow of ideas and various forms of capital. They are the architects of chance encounters. They bring together people who normally wouldn’t encounter each other and allow them to pool their ideas and resources together for the creation of something new. In a sense, they themselves are disruptive forces; they shake the status quo and create environments where innovation can happen more naturally, fluidly.

In this instance, Parkview is a connective hub serving as the tissue among dozens upon dozens of networks. Though the connections aren’t quite as action-focused (i.e. Parkview isn’t bringing people together so that they can share resources and capital among themselves), they are still present and can still have similar results (innovation). Though the “innovative drive” of this process can be watered-down since it isn’t the entity’s primary focus, it is an incredible by-product that can’t be ignored. When an entity as large as Parkview interacts with the public in social way (which is the nature of their business), they facilitate the connection process. Anytime connections are conceived across networks, the innovative capacity of the location / region where that entity is located is enhanced. In short, a hospital can be a birthplace of innovation.

The second demonstration of connective tissue (the one that was intentionally orchestrated) this weekend came in the form of 17 local hip hop artists coming together to produce a song and music video to reinvigorate community pride among our city’s young people. Awesome.

In 2011, A Better Fort brought the artists together to produce the song “My City.” Once it hit the airwaves on two local radio stations in January, it was an instant hit and constantly was requested. People loved it - they felt an emotional attachment to it because it was vividly describing something they know better than anyone else in the world: their home. In the fall, they hired my friend Kelly Lynch of Lynchpin Creative to put together a music video for the song. Kelly does awesome work, loves Fort Wayne with all his heart, and is one of the most creative thinkers I know - they couldn’t have picked a more perfect person for the gig. Watch the music video by clicking here.

They released the music video at an event downtown Friday night. I wasn’t able to attend, but everyone I know who attended (and all the live-tweets I watched) conveyed the energy of it in such a way that it sent shivers up my back. In the days following (mind you, it’s only been four days since then) the music video has received over 40,000 views between YouTube and Vimeo combined. Better yet, my Facebook newsfeed has been filled with people my age talking about how proud they are of their city - something that rarely happens.

I’m not one to sugarcoat things, so I’ll be bluntly honest - most of Fort Wayne’s young people don’t like it here. Sure, every city struggles with this. Young people want to travel, they want to explore, they want to be independent. But my generation’s dislike of Fort Wayne has slowly morphed into a near-hatred of Fort Wayne over the years, which I’ve had to watch unfold first-hand being a young person myself. They don’t see this as an opportunistic area for a myriad of reasons and, as I’ve noted several times in my research through the Twelve Cities Project, quality of opportunity is the leading attractor of young people to a city today.

However, Fort Wayne has a special quality that sets it apart from most: it saves itself. In times of urgency, distress, or disaster, Fort Wayne has a way of picking itself up and moving forward - weathering the storm, turning a deaf ear to critics, and moving full-steam ahead. Through the Great Flood of 1982 we became known as The City That Saved Itself, but that wasn’t the first time we’ve acted swiftly to catch our own fall, nor will it be the last. While other cities quiver in the wake of distress, cities like Fort Wayne and Chattanooga stand strong with a “can-do” attitude, dressed in persistence and flaunting perseverance.

Friday night was another beautiful display of that energy as young people in Fort Wayne became restless. They’ve been tired of lip-service and came together through the art of doing something to express their love for this city and the hope they see in its future. The energy generated through the song, the music video, and the great people who made it all possible has made ripples extended beyond our city and has seeped into college campuses and homes of past Fort Wayne residents throughout the country. The project became a reincarnation of the “disruptive force” I was describing above; it served as both a connector and an innovator. It challenged the status quo, generated opportunity through inspiration and renewed community pride, and brought together an entire community by serving as the tissue stitching together groups of people throughout our region. 

There are lots of great things happening here, but there is no greater reward than seeing something like this happen organically. Seeing people get frustrated with the lack of community pride among our millennials and deciding to do something by bringing them together and offering something tangible that every young person here can hang their hats on and say “we did this” is not only inspiring, but it’s empowering. It encourages others to take similar actions and find their own ways to shape, mold, and better their city. It has a ripple-effect that goes beyond what we could probably measure, but rest assured the impacts are huge.

Why does this happen? Because we love our city, and we’re committing to saving it when it faces times of distress and peril. We are our own disruptive forces - we’re constantly challenging our own status quo because we have the idea in mind that we can do better. We’re not the city that saved itself - we never stopped saving ourselves. Furthermore, we continue to better ourselves. We’re passionate, action-oriented innovators of our city. We’re the city that innovated itself.

I love this video that Alex Jonathon Brown posted a few days ago for his TEDxFortWayne submission. In fact, I’ve been passing it around to several people because, regardless of whether or not he’s picked for a TED talk this year (though I have no doubt he will, and I’m looking forward to his presentation), I think this video has a strong message it’s carrying:

<— Click to play video.

I love the comparison he makes between “cool” and “hip,” and the relationship he draws between a city’s “sense of cool” and its use of time, money, and enthusiasm. He’s spot-on with his argument - are we working towards a “sustainable cool” that is immune to time and feeds off of the ever-growing enthusiasm of its residents, or are we trying to be “hip” by being the early-adopters, the betas, the first in line?

Some cities are hip by nature. They have an enormous creative capacity and an entrepreneurial spirit, so they are naturally inclined to create something new and innovate. They build a culture of early-adopters and betas; they foster forward-thinking communities that give new ideas the benefit of the doubt and let them germinate. 

The difference in a city being ‘hip’ versus a ‘hipster’ is in the title of Alex’s video - it’s 100% organic.

I won’t try to explain Alex’s talk for him or guess what he’s going to say, but I will say that it touches on something I’ve witnessed countless times on visits to other cities. It’s very obvious when something isn’t authentic or organic. You can tell when a city is trying to “play with the cool kids” by throwing on an act that doesn’t really fit. A city can have an identity crises, and when it does, it shows. If you walk down 6th Street in Austin, it has an authentic “100% Austin” flavor to it. If you spend a day hopping from gallery to gallery on the Short North, you know you’re in Columbus, Ohio. But without pointing fingers, I will say there are many cities you can visit that don’t have that organic flavor. They just don’t feel.. real.

Cities are much like people and must be treated as such. They have different styles, different personalities, different characteristics that make them unique. Every city is and should be unique. No one likes the kid in high school who tries to be like everyone else - so why would you try to turn your city into that kid?

Find your city’s flavor. Better yet, create it. Live it, breathe it, build it. Make sure that whatever style your city is flaunting, it’s doing so in a 100% organic fashion. The more a city organically takes on the image its residents create, the more sustainable that ‘image’ will be in the long run. As Alex points out - being the hipster city of today could mean being the Mighty Mighty Bosstones of tomorrow.

There’s a lot of energy building around Fort Wayne’s identity and I think Alex has the right ideas in mind to help shape that. After all, Alex is a super cool dude himself. 

So please keep that in mind as you’re reading this post.

I’m not telling you to keep that in mind so that you have some sort of sympathy or understanding for me. Rather, I’m asking you to think of that as my motivation for writing this and fuel for wanting to make a difference.

There are some absolutely fantastic things happening here in Fort Wayne. No one disputes that. We have wonderful residents, a growing amount of energy for all the right ideas, and are keenly aware of the potential we hold moving into the coming decades. But if you dig a little deeper, you realize that - like any city - Fort Wayne has its demons in the closet. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to shake a few of them off as Florence + The Machine suggested to me on my way to the office this morning. But perhaps that’s because part of me didn’t want to; part of me realized that the demon gnawing at my head and tugging on my heart was giving me motivation to try and make something happen.

That’s a loaded phrase. If you’ve ever been a restless millennial (or any generation, for that matter) who has seen a problem and identified a solution, you know the meaning and significance of that phrase. You also know the burden that it carries - everyone talks about making something happen, about ‘doing something,’ but very few actually do after they realize the commitment, dedication, and energy you have to invest into it. And what does most of that get you? Before things look up, they often look down, so you get a boatload of sweat, quite a few tears, and often times a bloody war or two over Facebook / email.

It’s not a fun road to travel down. It’s narrow, it’s rocky, and it isn’t often traveled. You know when you’re on it, too - people like to throw things at you. As much as everyone wants to see you do something, they’re terrified of the outcome.

As Hugh Macleod taught us, “Good ideas alter the power balance in a relationship. This is why good ideas are always initially resisted.”

This statement has been ringing through my head ever since I picked up a copy of Macleod’s book a few weeks ago. Good ideas are initially resisted? But I thought good ideas were the ones that gained everyone’s support - the ideas that gained the most momentum and had the capacity to actually “make something happen?”

Notice the i word that Macleod slipped in there - initially. Good ideas have a rough start. They go down that road less traveled, they have things thrown at them, they’re beaten down, broken up, and pushed to the max. People realize that a “good idea” has the capacity to change the balance of power in a relationship - whether it be on a micro scale with two individuals, or on a larger scale with thousands of people. Simply put: good ideas make things happen. By nature, we’re scared of things happening. We’re scared of good ideas.

So to you who are restless, tired, and fed up with not seeing things happen - I would caution you to first think about how many ideas you’ve resisted. Mind you, I’m not saying you’re the reason something great isn’t happening; there are plenty of bad ideas that try to go down the same path and must be stopped. But the “good ideas” are the ones that have the wherewithal and tenacity to push through the resistance and blossom - just make sure you don’t extinguish their flames in the process. Yes, good ideas can be stopped too.

To you who are tired of trying to make things happen and feel like you’re constantly fighting an uphill battle, keep pushing on. It’s a rough fight and it isn’t easy, but this is one instance where I’d say the saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” really does ring true. Consider it a workout with the real world. Build your doing power so you can flex your gamechanger muscles down the road.

Today, I’m cranky. But cranky in a good way. The kind of cranky when you realize you’ve spent too much of your week being frustrated, so it’s time to channel that energy into doing something. I’ve had a rough, stressful week of being beat down, mashed up, and chewed out. But in the words of Steve Jobs, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” If you’re feeling cranky, use it as another layer of padding as you venture down the road less traveled filled with nay-sayers, pointed comments, and harsh remarks. Good ideas are always initially resisted.