You never know how it will turn out.
The city near me started as a mill town where grain, lumber, and livestock would be brought to be processed and then moved down the Mississippi for distribution. It has little to do with that now. Those commodities were important for early capitalization, but once there was a critical mass of population and capital the business opportunities expanded away from the agro/industrial base.
It is nice, yet risky to have a large corporate employer. Better to have a diversified handful of medium sized ones (200-500 employees) poised for growth. Most of the city planning here has to do with creating the proper climate for business growth, with the proper mix of a well educated work force, access to services, reasonable business taxes, startup incentives (like tax breaks) and promotion of new ventures via private/public partnerships with the local business colleges and universities.
It is interesting to see what makes a town thrive or even survive. There was a small town here (Chandler, 1992) a few years back where a powerful tornado destroyed almost every business and home, yet within a few years they bounced right back from the splinters. Here is another town (Comfrey, 1998) that was hit really hard and bounced back.
The city near me started as a mill town where grain, lumber, and livestock would be brought to be processed and then moved down the Mississippi for distribution. It has little to do with that now. Those commodities were important for early capitalization, but once there was a critical mass of population and capital the business opportunities expanded away from the agro/industrial base.
It is nice, yet risky to have a large corporate employer. Better to have a diversified handful of medium sized ones (200-500 employees) poised for growth. Most of the city planning here has to do with creating the proper climate for business growth, with the proper mix of a well educated work force, access to services, reasonable business taxes, startup incentives (like tax breaks) and promotion of new ventures via private/public partnerships with the local business colleges and universities.
It is interesting to see what makes a town thrive or even survive. There was a small town here (Chandler, 1992) a few years back where a powerful tornado destroyed almost every business and home, yet within a few years they bounced right back from the splinters. Here is another town (Comfrey, 1998) that was hit really hard and bounced back.
”There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.
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