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“What we find in the Fargo-Moorhead economy, with very few exceptions, is that a lot of things are growing and they are growing very substantially. Weʼre firing on all eight cylinders.
The investments being made in science and technology in Fargo-Moorhead are having a definite impact. Our strategy is right, and the world is our market."

Check out the article in todays Oregonian authored by The Urbanophile himself Aaron Renn, entitled 'Picture Perfect Portland' explores if our fair city is worthy of the praise it receives on a regular basis. The verdict... sure, with a few caveats.

Aaron on Landscape+Urbanism

Why is this? Perhaps Portland is actually a bit too livable. As urban scholar Joel Kotkin put it, "Portland is to today's generation what San Francisco was to mine: a hip, not too expensive place for young slackers to go."

Joel on Oregon Live

Two Chapman U. professors have stirred up some high-level chatter about moving the United Nations to Dubai from New York!

Joel in The OC Register

Joel Kotkin, an author who writes about urban policy and often cites Houston as a model for successful cities, agreed that Houston's transit plans could benefit from the new rules because of the city's dispersed activity centers.

Joel on Chron

Another core obstacle to reform is what author Joel Kotkin calls Democratic "regressives" – so-called liberals, or progressives, who are mainly interested in protecting their quality of life by knocking various rungs off the economic ladder for the state's working class and growing minority communities. He refers to the wealthy liberal elites who live predominantly in high-end coastal communities and who fight economic growth, impose absurd restrictions on land use and whose excessive environmental sensibilities are regulating businesses out of existence.  read more »

Recent rankings of the “best” cities around the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Monocle magazine and the Mercer quality of life surveys settled on a remarkably similar list. For the most part, the top ranks are dominated by well-manicured older European cities such as Zurich, Geneva, Vienna, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Munich, as well as New World metropolises like Vancouver and Toronto; Auckland, New Zealand; and Perth and Melbourne in Australia…  read more »