In the absence of anything of my own - of any substance - to share, I'm going to occasionally cross post things I've read of interest.
Advergirl is in my google reader - always quality - and in a recent post she has has recommended Who's your City or How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life by Richard Florida - which I shall be checking out.
She summarises '(Florida's) aim is largely to defend the importance of a sense of place vs. the encroaching genericism of globalization. Where you live does matter and is part of who you are.'
This neatly articulates something Ive been mulling around for a while.
Here's an excerpt: 'Finding the right place is as important as - if not more important than - finding the right job or partner because it not only influences those choices but also determines how easy or hard it will be to correct mistakes made along the way. ...The place we choose to live affects every aspect of our being. It can determine the income we earn, the people we meet, the friends we make, the partners we choose, and the options available to our children and families. People are not equally happy everywhere...'
I get the feeling that the US has a number of 'centers' whereas in the UK there are fewer and we tend to be London-centric in regard to 'creative' industries.
Advergirl's synopsis boils it down to five key themes/questions.
1 How do you like the place you're living now?
2 Is it somewhere you really want to be?
3 Does it give you energy? When you walk out onto the street or the country lane, in the morning, does it fill you with inspiration, or stress?
4 Does it allow you to be the person you really want to be? Are you achieving your personal goals?
5 Is it a place you would recommend to your relatives and friends?
I live in the country but work in the city (the rationale was - best of both worlds)so not sure how best to answer, what do we reckon?