ENTREPRENEURSHIP PREDICTS urban success, but can City Hall create a district that attracts more entrepreneurs to Boston? Unfortunately, the genie of inventive entrepreneurship doesn’t just come when called. But while governments have a poor track record of micro-managing innovation, they can help eliminate the barriers to entrepreneurship, like excessive regulation and a dearth of affordable, attractive living and work space.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s vision of an innovation district — a 1,000-acre area on the waterfront — could provide the structures needed to nurture new businesses. And cities filled with small, nimble firms have fared much better than places like Detroit, which is dominated by big companies. Employment growth between 1977 and 2007 was twice as fast in counties with smaller than average establishments than in counties with bigger firms. Suffolk County has the highest average establishment size of any large county in the United States. Boston has huge hospitals, colleges, and financial firms, but a paucity of the smaller enterprises that are so often associated with economic growth.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Four demons to innovation district - The Boston Globe
Author: Edward L. Glaeser
