...they just gradually become one with the earth. In the meantime, a few may serve time in gardens or as part of a small embankment beside a dirt road, like a group of old poles in my neighborhood.
This hole interests me. I wonder who lives here. It appears that the heart of these poles is first to crumble, leaving the outermost section to slowly fall apart.
Linkages: I don't quite understand PrescotteNews or just where it's coming from. It definitely isn't filling the large footprint left behind by the late lamented ReadItHere. On the other hand, there is this very interesting interview with the man who heads up Mayor Wilson's committee on economic development. I'd say he's a bit too focused on the footloose and fancy-free knowledge worker; after all, there's a lot more to Silicon Valley than a bunch of programmers and systems analysts. That's a bit too single-minded. But at least it's a start to thinking in directions other than more retailers and rooftops (and the minimum wage jobs that accompany them). My own opinion? What about industry clusters: small scale aerospace businesses, centered around ERAU ... recreation/environment entrepreneurial operations, centered about Prescott College and the national forest ... you know, a bit of high tech manufacturing plus some software types. And perhaps we should settle the question of just how much like California we want Prescott to become. After all, California is what the Californians, having created California, are now fleeing from; besides, California so Very Yesterday, as some youngsters would say.Now for some fun. Have you seen the nautilus home? A wonderful change from the usual post-modern architecture. And how about McDonald's as a multi-cultural leader?
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9 comments:
They used to soak those telephone poles in creosote so they would withstand rot. It looks like it worked if they rot from the inside out.
Wow, Granny J. It sounds like you'd be a terrific new member on the Committee for Economic Development. The mayor just might call you! ;-)
~Anon in AV.
Ongoing tech businesses find that it is nearly impossible to hire new smart people here because:
1. Prescott is an incredibly boring place for smart young singles not long out of college.
2. Hi-educated families expect that the spouse should be able to find interesting work and in general there is none.
3. Additionally, if only one spouse can be fully employed, that raises the risk of having to move upon job loss, etc., intolerably high.
Finally, none of the higher educational facilities here are of distiguished quality, of the sort that attracts "interesting" people. Oh there's a bit of talent sprinkled here and there but the overall effect is a sort of complacent, generic mediocrity.
And that is all you need to know why the great cities, even with all their fundamental drawbacks, are tech magnets and sleepy little towns in paradise are not.
I wish it weren't true and I'm happy to see the city thinking about this stuff but the underlying structural dynamics are not easily changed.
brain -- so that's the ticket? I thought, based upon all the stumps I've seen that it's the natural scheme of things for the heart to rot out first...
anon av -- I don't think they'd like me very much. I don't know that trying to appeal to metrosexuals and the like is my cup of tea.
OK, Russell, what brought you here? Since I'm sort of in that group of 3000 or so hidden "knowledge workers" (thought I'm doing good to program in Basic), here's my excuse. The Big City (which I still love) was looking rather mean as the LH and I reached mid-middle age & the job was (ugh) turning corporate. Besides, we figured that we had developed an income source that Did Not Depend Upon the Local Economy -- very important if you're moving to a small town with a thin economy. I agree -- despite the lovely Outback, this area isn't too appealing to fresh-out-of-college folks. It probably can't be, unless they're the most dedicated sort of environmental/outdoor freaks. I'd bet that most of that fabled 3000 hidden knowledge workers showed up in middle age, when they were sufficiently established to figure out a money-making scheme that would work where ever they landed. I know several such people.
Everybody -- what's your take? I had hoped that my original comment would elicit more commentary than I've seen so far...
Well, I'm an Arizonan in California, and a knowledge worker. Wouldn't it be great if I could move back to Prescott? Don't think I haven't considered it.
Here's what keeping me out here:
1) Incredibly great food, from all sorts of cultures, all year 'round. Aside from at the Raven Cafe, the summer farmers market, and the New Frontiers salad bar, I didn't experience the like when I've been "home"
2) A different attitude towards the role of government in our everyday lives. I can get around here on public transit. I can hike through acres of urban forest kept development-free because of, yes, government regulation. I have curbside recycling of glass, paper, and even food waste--instigated by state law
3) Living where we've admitted that building freeways, big-box retail, and "creatively" financed housing sprawl make for short-term profits and long-term mistakes
3) And finally-- it's nice to believe that we can work solely online, but in practice it doesn't work. My most successful Web projects are always conducted with my sitting right across the table from the other geeks, and all of us trading insults, compliments, and code through the hours. If Prescott could entice a colony of startups, and achieve a critical mass of, say, three dozen of these silicon slickers, then it'd look like a great destination for them/us.
melanie -- unfortunately, I remember California from the 30s and the early 40s. I'm sure there weren't any great restaurants there then (not most places back then!), but oh, it was lovely and uncrowded. Actually, we moved from the big city to Prescott to get away from order and rules to enjoy things a bit wilder. I can sympathize with the problem of needing work mates; an editorial office is great fun and ideas flow.
Sorry GJ, nothing to add to the debate ( though it's interesting), but photo no 3 is terrific!
lucy -- thanks,I liked that one, too.
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