All hail the 'United Metros of America'

Perhaps he's just trying to find encouraging trends during a dismal campaign season, but Bruce Katz of Brookings Institution says a number of cities and metropolitan areas are "pursuing strategies that build on their distinctive strengths in the global economy." In an opinion piece in the Financial Times, the head of Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program argues that localities have turned against "Starbucks and stadiums" schemes that tend to produce "eerily similar urban landscapes across the nation." Metropolitan leaders are instead focusing on their productive sectors, which vary greatly from one region to another. Rather than concentrating on sports and entertainment complexes and other consumption-oriented developments, governments are trying to make the most of their competitive assets—from advanced manufacturing in Cleveland to clean technology in Seattle. 

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