11 Signs a City Will Succeed...#6...

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.

#6..."They are near a research university"...

I have spent the past 17 years in the university setting and there is something at the core of my being that deeply affirms the connection between universities and thriving cities.

In part, it seems there is a significant tie between the city and the economic drivers that the university creates and breeds.  On the other hand, it seems there is something more abstract and mysterious that university environments produce.

Some trends would seem to indicate that the success of the "traditional" university may begin to falter as we continue to move into the future. The tie to successful cities, however, would indicate something quite different.  

Universities will undoubtedly need to continue to innovate and change, but their close tie to the success of cities leads me to believe that universities will continue to be mainstays of our society for a long time to come.