11 Signs a City Will Succeed...#2...

James Fallows recently wrote a fascinating article in The Atlantic based on research conducted by he and his wife.  The article lays out 11 key factors that seem to point to the success of a city.

Read the entire article here.

This set of posts offers musings on each of the 11 signs.

Sign #2 - You can pick out the local patriots.

Fallows goes on to say:

"What mattered was that the question had an answer. And the more quickly it was provided, the better shape the town was in."

This again seems to tie closely with the ideas of telling an alternative story to change society, and telling that story from the bottom up.  From the tone of the article, it seems that these local patriots are people who are patriots not so that they will become great, but rather so their locality will become better and eventually great.

Donald Miller, in his Storybrand framework, talks about how we naturally want to be the hero of the story, but that our lives will reach a vibrant new trajectory when we recognize ourselves not as the hero, but rather as a guide for someone (or something) else to become the hero.

These local patriots are people who recognize (whether they realize it or not) that they are not the hero, but rather that they are the guide who is helping the city become a flourishing and attractive "hero".