Aaron M. Renn
|
Columnist
Email :
aaron@aaronrenn.com
Twitter :
https://twitter.com/aaron_renn
Aaron M. Renn is an opinion-leading urban analyst, consultant, speaker and writer on a mission to help America’s cities and people thrive and find real success in the 21st century. He focuses on urban, economic development and infrastructure policy in the greater American Midwest. He also regularly contributes to and is cited by national and global media outlets, and his work has appeared in many publications, including the The Guardian, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
THE FUTURE OF Community Design
Cities and Suburbs: A Moment of Mutual Unease
Urban and suburban America need each other more than ever. The coronavirus is making their relationship difficult as remote work changes the status quo and increases the competition for talent.
December 16, 2020
Read More
THE FUTURE OF Community Design
The Need to Reboot and Rebuild Public Transit
Even before the pandemic wiped out ridership, the systems were struggling to attract riders. Cities should be open to questioning the fundamentals of how they operate and fund their systems.
October 15, 2020
Read More
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Technology's Mixed Record in Responding to a Pandemic
While it's helped a lot of Americans who are displaced from their offices get their work done, it's fallen short in areas like education and disease tracking and has once again highlighted the digital divide.
August 11, 2020
Read More
THE FUTURE OF Community Design
The Cloud over the Future of America’s Downtowns
After decades of revival, they've been dealt severe blows across multiple dimensions by the coronavirus pandemic, putting them in danger of a period of extended decline.
THE FUTURE OF Work
Coronavirus Is Creating a Fundamental Shift in the Way We Work
The coronavirus has revolutionized how Americans work and those changes could be permanent. For many organizations, this coronavirus-caused shift to working from home could be a welcome excuse for change.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
The Pandemic and the Strengths of Our Networked Governance
It may not always look pretty, but the American system of federalism creates opportunities to try different things and pick up the slack when there's a shortfall at one level of government.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Next
Watch: The City of Tomorrow
The real estate industry is quickly changing as property technology (proptech) becomes more pervasive. This panel discussion, moderated by Aaron Renn, covers the changes that have happened and those that are yet to come.
THE FUTURE OF Community Design
How Cities Lost Control of the Urban Tech Revolution
As the "smart city" movement has progressed through three distinct waves, local governments have found themselves increasingly struggling to manage the changes that alter many aspects of urban life.
February 11, 2020
Read More
Archive
What Employers Want From Cities
Is talent the most important factor? Taxes? Crime? It's a long list.
Archive
5 Lessons From the Amazon HQ2 Frenzy
Most places were never going to land the company’s next headquarters. But there are still some key takeaways for them.
Archive
A Tip for Infrastructure Builders: Fix It First
Before we invest in new infrastructure, we need to maintain and update what we have.
Archive
It's Time to Confront Our Coastal Elite Economy
Coastal cities have disproportionately thrived thanks to economic centralization. Yes, the marketplace is to blame, but so is federal policy.
January 11, 2018
Read More
Archive
Struggling Suburb? Merge It With the Big City Next Door.
It wouldn’t be a panacea, but it’s an option that needs to be on the table.
November 13, 2017
Read More
Archive
Are We Still Bowling Alone?
In broken communities, the focus should be on social capital -- not just the economy.
September 27, 2017
Read More
Archive
The Importance of Cities Finding Their Cultural Match
Sometimes a person and a city just aren’t right for each other.
Archive
The Downside of Pragmatism
It served our ‘maker’ cities well for a long time. Now it holds them back.
Archive
Can a Small College Save Its Small Town?
In many places, they're trying to like never before.
Archive
Globalization's Winner-Take-All Economy
The Chicagos and Cincinnatis of the world are more vulnerable than they realize.
January 1, 2017
Read More
Archive
Looking Back From the Future
Understanding how some cities have transformed shows why focusing on the little things can help struggling places survive and thrive.
November 11, 2016
Read More
Archive
What Cities Need in the Global Economy
To thrive in today’s world, they need to connect with immigrants.
September 15, 2016
Read More
Archive
The Rage of Those Left Behind
The 20 percent who run America need to start paying serious attention to the plight of the middle and lower classes.
Archive
De-Industrialization and the Displaced Worker
The shift from a manufacturing-based economy to a technology- and services-based one hasn’t been kind to the middle and working classes. That won’t change anytime soon.
Archive
Should Economic Development Focus on People or Places?
Cities tend to favor building stadiums and convention centers over investing in education or human services. It's an understandable but troublesome trend.
Archive
Why Moving Isn't All Bad
When lower-income Americans move, it's seen as a result of displacement instead of opportunity. This negative perception needs to change.
January 1, 2016
Read More
Archive
What Is the Real American Dream?
In our nostalgia for the postwar era, we ignore some things that weren’t so good.
November 1, 2015
Read More
Archive
The New Unemployables
Drugs, crime and the social ills long associated with urban areas have migrated to rural America, and it's having a profound effect on the economy.
September 1, 2015
Read More
Archive
Big Aspirations Aren’t Just for Big Cities Anymore
Much of what used to happen only in the biggest metropolises is spreading out.
Archive
The Other Digital Divide
Will small cities be able to exploit technology the way bigger cities have?
Archive
The Real Loser in Chicago's Mayoral Election
Rahm Emanuel's failure to avoid a runoff has less to do with him and more to do with Chicago's problems, which run deeper than many want to acknowledge.
Archive
Where’s America’s Entrepreneurial Economy?
Despite many perceptions, entrepreneurship and self-employment have been on the decline for years, especially among Millennials.
Archive
The Myths of Municipal Mergers
The media attention on Ferguson, Mo., one of the 90 jurisdictions in St. Louis County, has also brought attention to consolidation -- a touted solution to government ills.
January 1, 2015
Read More
Archive
Lessons from Kokomo on How to Spend Responsibly
How the Indiana city that was the center of the auto industry collapse became an unlikely poster child for long-term fiscal sustainability.
November 1, 2014
Read More
Archive
If Cities Want to Succeed, They Need to Focus on What Makes Them Distinct
Many municipalities struggle to identify their uniqueness and instead try to market themselves for having things that you can find anywhere.
September 1, 2014
Read More
Archive
Do Cities Really Want Economic Development?
A poor economy and all the problems that come with it actually benefit some people, giving powerful players less incentive to improve the status quo for the rest.
Archive
The Benefits of Being a 'Necessary City'
Cities aspiring to prominence on the global stage are overlooking a key economic development strategy.
Archive
How to Harvest Good Ideas
Just as seeds need fertilizer to grow well, innovation requires nurturing too.
Archive
How Globalization Isolates Struggling Cities
Troubled post-industrial places need help building better connections with more successful cities.
January 1, 2014
Read More
Archive
Beyond the 'Brain Drain': How Cities Really Need to Sell Themselves
Cities worry a lot about losing talented people, but few of them do much to attract new people. A sales mindset needs to be part of the culture of the community.
August 15, 2013
Read More
Archive
Cities and the Illusion of Growth Economics
A city that's growing can spend more money while keeping taxes low. But when the limits of growth are reached, it will need to reinvent itself.