2011 in Review: Our biggest hits

As some of you may have noticed, 2011 was the year ICIC decided to embark on a new social media adventure. We reworked our website, created a Twitter account, and began blogging. It has been a great way to connect with so many of you out there, to share ideas, and to trade best practices for what make our cities and urban small businesses tick.

With 2011 winding down, we thought it would be interesting to look back on our journey and capture what were some of our biggest social media hits of the year.

On Twitter @icicorg:

We’re so glad you enjoyed.. Keep up the great work! RT @corybooker: A provocative article. RT @icicorg http://ht.ly/5MCcF

Young talent: what do they choose first: where they want to live (or) the job they want to do? Mayors weigh in http://ht.ly/6XM0P

What do civic leaders think is the No. 1 driver of economic growth? http://ht.ly/6WeaA #ceosforcities

@ryanavent you might be interested…our response to cities, density argument http://ht.ly/6q8NK thx for a great @nytimes article

Is it possible that Hurricane Irene had a net-zero impact on the economy?  http://ht.ly/6hNJl

High Line project among the best economic development initiatives of Bloomberg tenure, +12k jobs and 2x rent http://ht.ly/882T6

Will inner #cities suffer from the #debt ceiling deal? $2 trillion in spending cuts over ten years points to “yes” http://ht.ly/600yB

On ICIC’s Blog:

“An Economic Development Case for Building Sports Stadiums—or Not”

In this entry, we looked at the growing trend for cities trying to attract sports stadiums as an economic development strategy. In Boston, it’s undeniable that Fenway Park (Red Sox) and TD Garden (Celtics and Bruins) have been a boon for the local economy. Fans in Boston injected $300 million in to the local economy while coming to support their favorite home teams. Other cities (like Brooklyn which will be the new home to the New Jersey Nets) are following suit, but offering steep tax breaks in the process. Are the foregone funds really worth it? 

“What I heard at the CEOs for Cities Conference” 

Only a week after ICIC’s own Chicago-based economic development conference, we joined CEOs for Cities for their annual meeting. We once again learned of the importance of anchor institutions to their local communities. We heard how imperative it is to improve urban K-12 education. And we heard mayors detail their desire to attract the young, “creative class” to cities. But what didn’t we hear at the conference?  Well, for starters…how about how mayors plan to attract the creative class? 

“Urban Food Clusters and New Urbanism”

A guest blogger joins us to detail how the growing food cluster is at the heart of the “New Urbanism” movement – i.e. the movement by planners, architects and concerned citizens to make our communities more sustainable places where we can live, work and enjoy the natural environment. Cleveland is offered as a city utilizing its vacant land for urban agriculture, and leveraging its university system for food research and education. It is suggested that food cluster may be a way to promote inner city job growth and business development in to the future.

“Investing in Inner Cities as a Business model, Profits First Priority = ‘Shared Value’”

In response to a New York Times article that touts major corporations, such as IBM and General Electric, engaged in creating “shared value,” ICIC explains how the concept can be further applied to our cities’ anchor institutions. Our anchor institutions (think: hospitals, universities, museums) are deeply rooted in their communities – often inner city areas – so it only makes sense for them to invest in their urban environments are part of their business models, when it makes sense to do so.

“Newark’s Mayor: Ruffling a Few feathers to Produce Extraordinary Results”

Almost everyone in the urban economic development world knows something about Newark Mayor Cory Booker. The progressive, action-oriented mayor has brought down the city’s $150+ million deficit and balanced the city’s budget. He’s helped to grow businesses by creating a small business loan program providing $150k loans to minority- and women-owned business. And he’s more than doubled the city’s affordable housing stock. How is he doing all this? As Booker himself explains, he’s using Newark’s preexisting assets (airport, universities, hospitals, etc.) to promote job growth and recovery during a period of fiscal austerity. And it looks to us like it is working.
 

The stories above are just a sampling of what we’ve been writing about the past year – but they are topics that you all seem most interested in.

Is there something we missed in 2011? What are some of the areas you’d like to see us research and write about in 2012? 

And of course, if you’re tired of hearing us jibber-jabber so much, do get in touch with us about guest blogging! We’re always seeking talented writers who share a passion for urban economic development and inner city business growth. 

BY Amanda Maher on December 27th, 2011

TAGS: cities | economic development | food | clusters | shared value | newark | cleveland | nyc