Hertz driving to Florida, leaving New Jersey and Oklahoma in the Dust...

[DowntownDan]

Wish I knew what we could do to retain corporate headquarters. Really bad run under Dewey.  Mostly not his fault of course, but still...

I repeat my rant above by reference. Without raising our quality of life, companies will always move on to cities with greener pastures. Be that more bribes (economic incentives), more educated workforce, or simply a higher standard of living. Our primary draw at the moment is a qualified workforce in the oil and gas arena and a lot of other people that will work for cheap.

Sort of contradictory there.  Dewey is not very supportive of "quality of life initiatives" when it comes to urban transit, infrastructure, development, etc.  His positions on Visions renewal, Turkey Mountain, REI, zoning, etc, is the tip off.  He's caught in the old way of thinking that is making our competitor cities much more attractive.

[PonderInc]

Dooey's idea of a competitor city is BA or Jenks.  He's not really thinking of Denver, Portland, Nashville...heck, even Little Rock... as a competitor city.  Brain's six sizes too small to consider it.

My opinion: your competitor cities are the places your kids move to when they're old enough to leave town.

[cannon_fodder]

Don't make me defend a politician! But to be fair, it seems doubtful that the Mayor's actions influence any of the recent decisions. Perhaps if he was radically proactive on quality of life issues, his positive influence could have prevented the moves - but nothing indicates that. Rather it was a long process of falling behind, or at very least not getting ahead that brought us to our current station.

But it is fair to say that his "pro business" stance certainly didn't sway them.

[Townsend]

Well the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation has placed a silver lining on the property.

The property has been purchased with plans to house nonprofit service providers.

[swake]

Well the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation has placed a silver lining on the property.

The property has been purchased with plans to house nonprofit service providers.

So, a suggestion. Make sure the complex is on a regular bus line. Purchase the adjacent apartment complex and convert it into housing for the homeless. Services, housing and transit all in one location to try to get homeless people back on their feet.   

[heironymouspasparagus]

Dooey's idea of a competitor city is BA or Jenks.  He's not really thinking of Denver, Portland, Nashville...heck, even Little Rock... as a competitor city.  Brain's six sizes too small to consider it.

My opinion: your competitor cities are the places your kids move to when they're old enough to leave town.

Portland, OR.  Eugene, OR.  Sacramento.  Las Vegas.  Seattle.  Knoxville.  Minneapolis.  St Louis - the 'flyer' of the bunch...no idea what was in their minds!

[cynical]

Vegas? Whatever were they thinking? The rest of the list makes sense, even St. Louis. My daughter lives in Portland. But Vegas is the least authentic place on earth.

Portland, OR.  Eugene, OR.  Sacramento.  Las Vegas.  Seattle.  Knoxville.  Minneapolis.  St Louis - the 'flyer' of the bunch...no idea what was in their minds!

[heironymouspasparagus]

Vegas? Whatever were they thinking? The rest of the list makes sense, even St. Louis. My daughter lives in Portland. But Vegas is the least authentic place on earth.

I thought that too when it first happened.  Not a place I would be interested in at all.  But they landed in Henderson, so kinda away from the worst of it, and moderate on housing costs.  There is a 5 year plan so don't expect to be there too long.  They have easy access to a massive amount of entertainment options - have become little "social butterflies".  And it is warmer there now than here...mostly.  

Good jobs in technical fields.  Short term, it kinda does make sense for them.

Last weekend, just strolling around before a show they were going to they saw Rob Schneider (comedian) - he was just walking around - chatted for a moment, and got a selfy.  They see "stars" regularly - both in shows and on the street.  Not a big thing in my world, but kind of exciting for younger people, I guess...  They have enough contact to have understood for a long time that 'stars' are just regular people that others are willing to spend money to see, so they are pretty well grounded.


I still wonder about the St Louis contingent....