New Albany is a state of mind … but whose? Since 2004, we’ve been observing the contemporary scene in this slowly awakening old river town. If it’s true that a pre-digital stopped clock is right twice a day, when will New Albany learn to tell time?
Speaking of social media, the Facebook group "I Love Downtown New Albany: Develop Downtown" has 598 members.
For those unfamiliar with the group, it was started last year by two IUS students, neither of which live downtown. They just liked the place, recognizing that it offered something you could not find anywhere else in Southern Indiana.
When I first discovered the group, it had maybe 200-300 members. Virtually all here college students. I noticed something striking when scrolling through the membership list: many were in the networks of prestigious out-of-state universities, including places like Northwestern and Princeton. These were the top students from Floyd Co. schools who recently had moved away.
For me, this verified two notions:
1. Demographics, and time, are on the side of downtown redevelopment.
2. An effective long term strategy to fight the local "brain drain" is to offer our brightest young people something they like: a revitalized and vibrant urban experience. It's what they want. It's also what relocating/expanding businesses want to attract these bright youngsters as employees.
Our staff in Corydon really liked this one!
ReplyDeleteCracked me up.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of social media, the Facebook group "I Love Downtown New Albany: Develop Downtown" has 598 members.
ReplyDeleteFor those unfamiliar with the group, it was started last year by two IUS students, neither of which live downtown. They just liked the place, recognizing that it offered something you could not find anywhere else in Southern Indiana.
When I first discovered the group, it had maybe 200-300 members. Virtually all here college students. I noticed something striking when scrolling through the membership list: many were in the networks of prestigious out-of-state universities, including places like Northwestern and Princeton. These were the top students from Floyd Co. schools who recently had moved away.
For me, this verified two notions:
1. Demographics, and time, are on the side of downtown redevelopment.
2. An effective long term strategy to fight the local "brain drain" is to offer our brightest young people something they like: a revitalized and vibrant urban experience. It's what they want. It's also what relocating/expanding businesses want to attract these bright youngsters as employees.
Doo Dah, Dan.
ReplyDelete