Next American City » Buzz » The Urban Black Swan Jane Jacobs considered the city a complex organism, a series of interlocking and often unnoticed relationships that together form a greater whole. If it’s true (and I think it is) that cities are inherently complex, and it’s true (and I think it is) that completely unpredicted events have an outsized impact on history, then can we really predict the “Best Cities for the Next Decade?” Even if we can, what is the best way to gauge the odds of future urban success? Is it a fool’s errand?

Next American City » Buzz » The Urban Black Swan

Jane Jacobs considered the city a complex organism, a series of interlocking and often unnoticed relationships that together form a greater whole. If it’s true (and I think it is) that cities are inherently complex, and it’s true (and I think it is) that completely unpredicted events have an outsized impact on history, then can we really predict the “Best Cities for the Next Decade?” Even if we can, what is the best way to gauge the odds of future urban success? Is it a fool’s errand?

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Best Small Cities to Live, According to CNNMoney & Gowalla We wrote before of “location as platform.” How much more rich can location-based apps make the mobile experience? CNNMoney and Gowalla are hoping, much. They’ve partnered to make Money’s yearly Best Places to Live list into a dynamic experience. Now, when Gowalla users check into a venue within a 25-mile radius of the list of Top 25 Best Places to Live, they will receive a notification. The Gowalla Best Places page features curated trips in a given area. When users complete one of these trips, by visiting all of the listed spots, they can add the Best Places Stamp to their Gowalla Passport. The top 10 places on this years list?  1. Eden Prairie, MN2. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD3. Newton, MA4. Bellevue, WA5. McKinney, TX6. Fort Collins, CO7. Overland Park, KS8. Fishers, IN9. Ames, IA10. Rogers, AR

Best Small Cities to Live, According to CNNMoney & Gowalla

We wrote before of “location as platform.” How much more rich can location-based apps make the mobile experience? CNNMoney and Gowalla are hoping, much. They’ve partnered to make Money’s yearly Best Places to Live list into a dynamic experience. Now, when Gowalla users check into a venue within a 25-mile radius of the list of Top 25 Best Places to Live, they will receive a notification. The Gowalla Best Places page features curated trips in a given area. When users complete one of these trips, by visiting all of the listed spots, they can add the Best Places Stamp to their Gowalla Passport. The top 10 places on this years list? 

1. Eden Prairie, MN
2. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD
3. Newton, MA
4. Bellevue, WA
5. McKinney, TX
6. Fort Collins, CO
7. Overland Park, KS
8. Fishers, IN
9. Ames, IA
10. Rogers, AR

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