Tuesday, May 06, 2014

ideas: Revitalize a City - The Long Now

podcast: Tony Hsieh: Helping Revitalize a City - The Long Now: (Seminar on Long Term Thinking)



"Edward Glaeser’s book The Triumph of the City described how cities unfold forever, driven by density and intense variety, while companies all eventually go stagnant and die. Maybe immersion in a downtown could help keep his company unfolding, and maybe bringing company start-up culture to a decaying urban core could restart its vitality. 




Zappos bet the company on the idea. They took over the abandoned city hall in the 

dead-end part of Las Vegas known as Fremont East and spent $200 million buying up nearby properties, $50 million on local small businesses, $50 million on tech start-ups, and $50 million on education, arts, and culture. 

Hsieh’s strategy is to increase: 



  • “Collisions” (serendipitous encounters); 
  • “Co-learning” (a community teaching itself); and 
  • “Connectedness” 


(density, diversity, and reasons to engage)."




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