As reported this afternoon by Reuters and posted on Yahoo!, Vancouver BC has again risen to the top of the list for livability. Since I live here this may be seen as a bit peculiar to mention.
That said, I have lived in Wisconsin north of Chicago, Denver, Orange County CA, Dallas, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Ann Arbor MI, and Portland. Included in that list are a lot of “desirable” and arguably livable cities. Let me give you, as a marketer, what is different about this place. I believe it is the shape of living to come:
- Public transit isn’t a joke. It exists, it works, and it goes a lot of places. Unlike all of those other cities I’ve lived in, politicians didn’t shy away from the hard decisions in the past, and therefore there is infrastructure in place now. And witness the Olympics being here now, the investment in the future infrastructure needs continues.
- “Densification” isn’t just a term, its a lifestyle and social decision. It is rational, slow, reasonable growth of population within the existing communities. People live and work in the city core because there is infrastructure to support the lifestyle they seek in that area.
- Very smart city planning spaced retail amongst the homes. It means “walking for a 4L of milk” is not only possible for many, it is what you do to go fetch milk. That means fewer trips on the road, and a headset difference not found in many cities, particularly in such a widespread fashion.
- Parks are all over the place. Stanley Park is bigger than Central Park and is just as urban in location, that said, lots of “two lot” parks are spaced in many locations to provide a bit of space to sit back and enjoy outdoors.
- Everyone is a minority here. The sheer diversity of ethnic origin here is unparalleled. For those of you watching the Olympics, it has been discussed in some detail, but the point as a marketing person is this: there is no “majority”. Every ethnic group in just about every location in the city – and certainly in the city overall – is less than 50%. You get a little more humble and a lot more understanding when you know you’re not the dominant group.
- This city looks East for some leadership, to the earth for its grounding in its people, to the West for its growth and expansion, to the South for some interesting ideas and alignment, to the North for inspiration and its sense of wildness. I’ve never lived in a city so willing to look outside itself for inspiration while all the while remaining rooted in its sense of self.
You want to see the necessary future of cities? Come here. My home state is Michigan, and I can sadly say that Detroit is the other end of the scale, so much so that Fast Company was able to do an article on Detroit as an example of urban farming. Marketing here is the future of marketing – diverse, fast paced, wired, global, and challenging.
