Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Next Hundred Million for Licking County


Joel Kotkin's book The Next Hundred Million:  America in 2050 has my attention.  Thanks, Robert, for the heads up on this one.

Kotkin's fact-based premise is that America will add another 100 million people in the next 40 years.

Though his index has not one single reference to Ohio out of 308 pages, I feel like Kotkin is giving Ohio and Licking County a songbook from which to sing about our potential for an economically-brighter future.

Kotkin is the devil to those people wanting to buy the line that manufacturing is dead and suburbia will be extinct.

An excerpt:

". . .policies that supported both old-fashion manufacturing and new green infrastructure would spur positive impacts on employment across a broad spectrum."

"This revived focus on production will help the. . .Great Lakes.  Given the proper support in terms of infrastructure and skills training, these areas could once again exploit the natural resources and logistical advantages that turned them into productive centers in the first place."

I think Kotkin is talking to us.  Are we listening?

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See JoelKotkin.com for more Licking County-friendly reading. 

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