Cities and Ambition (2008)
paulgraham.com
Cities and Ambition (2008)
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Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#2What an interesting essay. I've lived in Atlanta for 12 years and I can't really figure out a message it's trying to send. One of the most up and coming industries here is film, and I know people in that industry and have spent time marinating in it, but it's not the siren call that riches is in NYC.
Atlanta seems to still be finding its identity. All the industries are nascent, it always seems just on the cusp of a big transformation. I have a theory about cities, that property values are largely constrained by geography as the first and practically only factor, and Atlanta has no geographical limitations that jack up prices. As a result, property has always been comparatively cheap.
Atlanta seems to be a big sponge, not even close to hitting scaling limits. I feel like you could almost pour the same amount of wealth that NYC has into the area and it still won't look like even Chicago. It'll just sprawl outwards into adjacent metro areas like Alpharetta or Decatur. Even the city centers here, Downtown, Midtown, and increasingly Buckhead, feel like three distinct cities rather than part of a whole.
As a result it simply won't ever come to have a more coherent identity and message than it did in the nineties with rap and the music industry.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#3What message does your city send?
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#4What an interesting essay. I've lived in Atlanta for 12 years and I can't really figure out a message it's trying to send. One of the most up and coming industries here is film, and I know people in that industry and have spent time marinating in it, but it's not the siren call that riches is in NYC. Atlanta seems to still be finding its identity. All the industries are nascent, it always seems just on the cusp of a…
how's the tech scene in atl? i live a little south of the border (with fl) and i'm considering a move. i've lived in NYC and it was great so i'm inclined to move back there but atl has piqued my interest lately.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#5What an interesting essay. I've lived in Atlanta for 12 years and I can't really figure out a message it's trying to send. One of the most up and coming industries here is film, and I know people in that industry and have spent time marinating in it, but it's not the siren call that riches is in NYC. Atlanta seems to still be finding its identity. All the industries are nascent, it always seems just on the cusp of a…
how's the tech scene in atl? i live a little south of the border (with fl) and i'm considering a move. i've lived in NYC and it was great so i'm inclined to move back there but atl has piqued my interest lately.
It's pretty good, obviously not going to be as good as NYC, but there's still a tech worker shortage here like there is everywhere else.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#6PG never fails to stimulate ideas.
I'm in New Orleans. Our cities form of status is totally who you know. Money is not as big of adeal. A billionaire has less clout than the owner of a operation that designs Mardi Gras floats or the bartender that is the lead of the Krewe of Elvi.
I think that is what you would call "Soul" possibly.
After travelling to a bunch of other cities and seeing unfettered capitalism destroy communities, neighborhoods, housing markets, livability, and peoples lives..it's a pretty refreshing place to be.
On the flip side our economy is absolutely terrible.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#7You might think that if you had enough strength of mind to do great things, you'd be able to transcend your environment. Where you live should make at most a couple percent difference.
This is exactly what I thought out of college. "I'm a product engineer! I can work from anywhere. I'm going to move back to my hometown and turn the rust belt economy around with a billion dollar startup!"
As it turns out, I didn't have the talent to start such a business by myself (and based on my knowledge of startup history, no one does).
And that's why this essay nails it.
In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a message: you could do more; you should try harder.
YOU may be a self motivated person, regardless of environment. But your founder may not be. Your first ten employees may not be. Your investors and vendors and strategic partners may not be.
When any of these stakeholders hang out with their friends in the rust belt, they hear depressing stories. They start to look at success like it's impossible, and they come back to work the next day less energized and less motivated.
Or maybe they've got a good circle of friends, but not an ambitious circle of friends. They love their friends, so they stay out with them a little later, sleep a little less, end up a little less productive the next day and leave work earlier to go meet them. Same thing goes for a family, but with the added responsibility.
This isn't to say that friends are bad or families will hold you back. In my experience, good friendships and a loving, functional family are better than any business success.
The point is that your environment will affect your ambitions - even if you never needed help feeling ambitious. At some point or another you'll need help for something, and if your city doesn't drive ambition in that direction, you'll have to work that much harder to motivate the help you need.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#8What an interesting essay. I've lived in Atlanta for 12 years and I can't really figure out a message it's trying to send. One of the most up and coming industries here is film, and I know people in that industry and have spent time marinating in it, but it's not the siren call that riches is in NYC. Atlanta seems to still be finding its identity. All the industries are nascent, it always seems just on the cusp of a…
how's the tech scene in atl? i live a little south of the border (with fl) and i'm considering a move. i've lived in NYC and it was great so i'm inclined to move back there but atl has piqued my interest lately.
Cost of living is very low if you are careful where you live although that is starting to change.
Traffic is starting to be a problem...if we could get rail out 20,85,75, and further north on 400 it would bring a huge geography into play and really take off. So far it hasn't.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#9This essay makes me incredibly sad. Many of our cities sending some of the most interesting or inspiring messages are becoming off-limits to future generations due to high housing costs.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#10You might think that if you had enough strength of mind to do great things, you'd be able to transcend your environment. Where you live should make at most a couple percent difference. This is exactly what I thought out of college. "I'm a product engineer! I can work from anywhere. I'm going to move back to my hometown and turn the rust belt economy around with a billion dollar startup!" As it turns out, I didn't hav…
This also applies to the oft-cited Good Will Hunting line about getting a great education for the price of some overdue books at the library.
Yep, definitely, sure, you're right: you could definitely learn everything you would in college on your own.
But you won't.