Summary:Recent times have brought key changes in economic development efforts around the country. To create jobs, smart cities are less inclined to chase either smokestacks or sports teams and more inclined, as regions, to attract and retain innovative and entrepreneurial individuals. So said the panelists on regional job creation, moderated by the Institute′s Ross DeVol.
"If you look at job development 101, what you need is retention, attraction and creation," said panelist Robert Scott.
What regional job creation involves, essentially, is people. And a skilled workforce values place. How do cities and regions nurture an environment where those workers want to reside, keeping in mind that in the last decade more people have moved out of cities than into them? Crime, housing and schools are principle issues.
In New York City, "Guiliani took great strides reducing crime and focusing on quality of life issues," said Joel Kotkin. Everyone knows about the successes of that city′s job growth, he quipped, and how young, smart workers are drawn there.
On the opposite coast, California has fared well enough. Housing, however, stymies a larger push forward. "The lack of housing is a large obstacle. People ask where can I live and can I afford it," commented Bruce Karatz.
Jerry Brown added that along with housing, if the good schools aren′t there, then the good workers won′t be either.
Successful regional job creation thus relies on well-managed and nourished social capital — an innovative, productive web of institutions, customs and rules, and opportunities for public/private partnerships. As Scott reminded us, it′s "local… and all about people."
