The Most Globalized Town in America

It's wonderful to see the Minneapolis Star-Tribune this morning endorse Governor Pawlenty's plan to put a four-year university in Rochester.

I live in Rochester, so naturally I think it would be great if my town became for Minnesota "what Austin became in the 1990s for Texas -- a mecca for high-wage, high-skill scientific enterprises," as the Star-Tribune opined.

But from a glocal angle, here's the thing -- Rochester already is the most globalized city for its size in the United States, some economists say. That this fact is so little known, even within Rochester itself, is a shame. Because what has gone right in Rochester could become a model for other communities seeking to compete successfully in the global economy.

That's not just a cliche but an urgent necessity for many cities and towns. In Rochester, it is already a factual reality. Thanks to the presence in Rochester of the Mayo Clinic, and of one of IBM's largest manufacturing plants, Rochester for decades has been building its local economic stability on global economic supports.

The strategy has its weak points. To a greater degree than other cities, for example, an international crisis can hurt Rochester's local economy. But overall the strategy has been incredibly effective and made Rochester one of the most diverse, livable, and stable communities in the U.S.

This adds another argument in support of the idea of establishing a four-year university in Rochester. Having achieved its present success pretty much on its own, Rochester now needs to partner with other cities and institutions. It needs to do that to maintain its high level of achievement and more importantly to make sure that the benefits that flow from those achievements are no longer kept within Rochester's city limits -- but extend to the entire world.

Those benefits would be not only the health care and computer innovations that surely will continue to flow from Rochester (only last year the world's fastest computer was built here in town), but also the story of Rochester itself. From rural agricultural beginnings, it became a local Minnesota city with a cosmpolitan culture and a global economy.

That story should be told far and wide.

Comments

[thomas ostrom]

Doug:

I enjoy your columns. I write a column for the Rochester PB
and am tired of being censored and restriced in mh topics and conclusions. I am a conservative. My liberal friend Jim Russell asked me for your e-mail address. He was restricted and quit.
I have argued with Sellnow about this, to no avail.

I understand you have the same frustrations. Can we join an
alliance of alternative journalism and dissent? Regards, Tom Ostrom