Archive for the 'identity' Category
A backup plan for the Astrodome
Closed Published by Tory Gattis November 1st, 2007 on Houston StrategiesMost of you probably caught the story yesterday about the Texans and Rodeo coming out against the Astrodome redevelopment plan into a convention mega-hotel. The key problem is that they have veto power, so I’m sure they strung the whole process along …
More on a SWSX/ETC for Houston
Closed Published by Tory Gattis August 13th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesI’m back from SoCal for my brother’s wedding, and I have a new appreciation for what people mean when they say “LA traffic.” It’s a whole ‘nother level well beyond anything you find in Houston. Traffic that *creeps* along at less than 10mph for miles…
Houston’s SXSW = a global Energy Technology Conference (ETC)
Closed Published by Tory Gattis August 2nd, 2007 on Houston StrategiesI was thinking last night about how cities carve out distinctive industry niches for themselves, like Silicon Valley and Austin in technology. It occurs to me that energy technology of all kinds is going to be a major world issue for some time to come,…
The many meanings Houston as an “Open City of Opportunity”
Closed Published by Tory Gattis July 12th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesWhile I was at the Enterprise 2.0 Collaborative Technologies Conference in Boston last month, I got access to a white paper by Don Tapscott, a well-known author, speaker, and consultant on the “bigger picture” impacts of technology on business. His mo…
Opportunity Urbanism op-ed in the Chronicle
Closed Published by Tory Gattis June 10th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesMost of you probably caught my Opportunity Urbanism op-ed on the front of the Houston Chronicle Sunday Outlook section today, but even though it’s too long for a typical blog entry, I’d like to put a copy here for comments and permanent archival (Chron…
Kotkin’s ‘Opportunity Urbanism’ unveiled
Closed Published by Tory Gattis June 6th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesThe Kotkin project I’ve been involved with for almost two years now finally got formally released to the public at a Greater Houston Partnership luncheon yesterday. The goal was to understand cities as engines of upward social and economic mobility, w…
Houston as Engineering Headquarters, USA
Closed Published by Tory Gattis June 3rd, 2007 on Houston StrategiesRichard Florida’s group recently did an analysis of which cities dominate certain industries by having more than 10% of the nation’s employment in that industry, and Houston gets special mention in his list of takeaways:Houston has a stronghold on engi…
Joel Kotkin to unveil Houston-focused Opportunity Urbanism report
Closed Published by Tory Gattis May 30th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesSome of my long-time readers may know I worked with noted urbanist Joel Kotkin last year on a study of Houston as an engine of upward social mobility. The framework that came out of that study is called “Opportunity Urbanism”, and it will be officiall…
Most Houston place, $ for parks, strong housing, wireless problems, toll roads, transit networks, and vote for Houston!
Closed Published by Tory Gattis May 27th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesTime again to clear out the miscellaneous small items of interest. I also would like to announce that work has gotten so busy that I think I’m going to have to drop down from 3 posts/week to 2 posts/week, probably on Sunday or Monday nights, and Wedne…
Is urban form the root of politics?
Closed Published by Tory Gattis May 13th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesLast week’s post on the realignment of America, as well as this post and graphic from Richard Florida’s blog on a divided America, got me thinking about urban form and political leanings.Much of the world seems to lean towards communal - or somewhat le…