Philadelphia- April 2010- Market Street, across from 30th Street Station
In “the Great Reset How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity,” author Richard Florida discusses the importance of local boosterism — the grassroots interest and intensity and commitment — that it takes to re-make a locale, whether it’s a post-industrial place or downtrodden due to the current Great Recession.
In talking about what it takes, Florida notes that what renewal is NOT about is “the sweeping plans and power of federal bureacrats.”
AMEN!
What Florida says is fact. I work with this every day. Let me point you toward some Pennsylvania places: Midtown Harrisburg, Reading, York, Lancaster and a place dear to my heart because of the ladies who refuse to give in to slumlordery and its effects: Port Richmond, a neighborhood in Philly, on which I have and will continue to spend a lot of time due to the grassroots assistance and enthusiasm from citizens.
So, if you’re in a place that needs a little — or a lot– of work, take interest. Even the smallest contributions mean something. Even a little time and a little interest beats nothing.
