When we talk about durability, we're not the first ones to think along these lines.
Last month, a group of my fellow MBA students and I visited a string of cities across the American Rust Belt - the place where manufacturing supported thriving urban centers - until a time when manufacturing wasn't.
In the small town of Braddock outside of Pittsburgh, they say high schoolers, sure of a job on graduation at the nearby coke plant, were led out to a view of the river where their teacher had them watch the same coke plant implode in an act of demolition, an aftermath of jobs shipped overseas. "Now get back inside and open your books," they were told. "If you think you're going to get a job, you have work to do."
That was back in the '80s. We visited the town, where we saw the last remains of the abandoned factory building. A town where, after decades of their old churches standing blackened by soot, residents had not asked for a new coke plant to replace the old one. Instead, just now, small organic grocers and pottery studios, along with those that have done business for decades, are quietly reinventing the abandoned houses and derelict churches.
I'm reminded of the boutique shops and businesses that have sprung up around Fountain Square, the family farms supported through area farmers' markets. It builds my hope in what one individual with a vision of durability can do. How much more so what a community of individuals can do.
The challenge lies in translating that single individual's vision into one backed by an entire community.
What do we mean when we say "a durable economy"? I think it's one where the people who live here - who care about the place they call home - have a say over whether the work comes or goes. They have a say over what it is doing to their community. And when met with success, unlike what happened heading into collapse in Braddock, they invest further in planting their roots.
The definitions can be many, but let's have the conversation, because we're not the only ones having it. Telling the stories of what has been done brings the reality we are seeking within reach.
Last month, a group of my fellow MBA students and I visited a string of cities across the American Rust Belt - the place where manufacturing supported thriving urban centers - until a time when manufacturing wasn't.
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| Site of the former Braddock coke plant, mostly demolished with the demise of the local steel industry in the 1980s. |
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| Abandoned 19th century church, now home of Braddock Tiles, currently under renovation in partnership with artists' collective Transformazium. |
That was back in the '80s. We visited the town, where we saw the last remains of the abandoned factory building. A town where, after decades of their old churches standing blackened by soot, residents had not asked for a new coke plant to replace the old one. Instead, just now, small organic grocers and pottery studios, along with those that have done business for decades, are quietly reinventing the abandoned houses and derelict churches.
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| Ceramic tile artist Kt Tierney stands before a model of the church Braddock Tiles occupies and is planning to re-roof. |
I'm reminded of the boutique shops and businesses that have sprung up around Fountain Square, the family farms supported through area farmers' markets. It builds my hope in what one individual with a vision of durability can do. How much more so what a community of individuals can do.
The challenge lies in translating that single individual's vision into one backed by an entire community.
What do we mean when we say "a durable economy"? I think it's one where the people who live here - who care about the place they call home - have a say over whether the work comes or goes. They have a say over what it is doing to their community. And when met with success, unlike what happened heading into collapse in Braddock, they invest further in planting their roots.
The definitions can be many, but let's have the conversation, because we're not the only ones having it. Telling the stories of what has been done brings the reality we are seeking within reach.
