Recent Readings: October 24-29

October 30th, 2009

A curation of what’s caught my attention over the past week:

  • Bad Example (or why we fail to adapt good examples): Attempts to answer the question “Why do so many places seem unable to learn even from their own successes, much less others?”¬† Key quote: “The mark of a great city is in how it treats its ordinary spaces, not its special ones.”
  • Gary Vaynerchuk Live on Crush It Tour (Video): A link to a video recording of a special Gary Vee’s presentation hosted by Doug Sutton with Keller Williams Realty East Valley. I admit that I was skeptical at first, but seeing him speak in front of two different audiences on Tuesday night made me a believer. Though his message was largely the same, he carefully tailored it to the different audience, keeping it fresh and interesting (if anything I though the second time was better suited to me personally, even with the lack of his trademark¬† ‘colorful language’.)¬† Gary is truly somebody who gets it. Not just business, or social media, or family, or community, but ALL of it.¬† If you follow the link to my friend Jay Thompson’s site and leave a comment on Jay’s original post, you can win a copy off Gary’s bestselling book Crush It!.
  • What Jane Jacobs Can Teach Us About the Economy: Jane Jacobs is well known for her contribution to urban thought.¬† After all, she recently led Planetizen’s recent Top 100 Urban Thinkers poll.¬†¬† She is less well-known for her insights into economics, although that is quickly changing.¬† Here ‘s an overview of some of Jane’s economic notions and how they resonate during this recession.
  • Halloween Costumes for Urban Planners: And for a bit of fun to mark the end of October, here are some Halloween costume ideas from Planetizen’s Nate Berg for the incurable urbanist.