"Education is the bedrock on which a truly great city is built," according to Tony Hsieh and his Downtown Project. The CEO of shopping giant Zappos is leading efforts to reimagine the old city center north of the Vegas Strip. Read Full Post >
My first job out of college took me to the coalfields of southwestern Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh was just starting to rebound from the loss of thousands of steel jobs. The universities played a pivotal role in the development of a new economy based on technology, finance, and health jobs. Read Full Post >
Hey, how about some good news from Detroit? As noted recently, education in Detroit is coming out of the tailspin. There are some very good schools serving high need populations and it rivals the Bay Area for innovations in blended learning. Read Full Post >
Sprawling across a desert valley, Phoenix is the opposite of Boston in many ways--the streets are straight, just about everything was built in the last generation, and there are not a handful of storied institutions of higher learning. Read Full Post >
Bart Peterson took office as mayor of Indianapolis in 2000 and quickly won the right to authorize charter schools--the first mayor in the country with that authority. That caught my attention in 2001, so I visited the mayor and his talented aides David Harris and Ellen Quigley. Read Full Post >
We're more than 20 cities into this weekly series examining education in American cities--a few things are becoming clear. I launched the series because everybody is talking about innovation (inside and outside of education) but I don't think we know much about where it happens or how it spreads--or why it doesn't. Read Full Post >
Despite one of the most significant confluence of innovators on the planet, there are relatively few education innovators in the capital region but there are a handful of cool schools and a group of nationally important impact organizations profiled below. Read Full Post >
If you asked me who my favorite educator, speaker, community organizer, and tour guide was, Howard Fuller would be high on all four lists. When I heard about Rocketship's decision to pick Milwaukee as the first expansion site, I was puzzled and called the team. They said there was one compelling reason--Howard Fuller. I smiled. Read Full Post >
So, asks the Smart Cities reader, why write about the disaster that is Detroit? Like New Orleans, Detroit families are beginning to benefit from the man-made disruption and corruption. The portfolio emerging from the disaster is worth watching. Read Full Post >
Austin is weird--and they work to keep it that way. Like Columbus (profiled last week), it's a college town and state capital--add a dose of music, sunshine, Tex-Mex and venture capital and you get Austin. Read Full Post >
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