nyc
may 28
2008

You Should Be More...

Paul Graham discusses cities and ambition. The setup, that different cities send distinct messages, works as a decent framing device for discussing urbanism, but some of the messages are debatable. Berkeley ("You should live better") sounds right, as does Silicon Valley ("You should be more powerful"), but New York ("You should have more money") sounds off. I propose NYC's should be "You should have more influence," defined as a combination of power and connections. Interestingly, none of the messages sound particularly attractive, except perhaps Cambridge ("You should be smarter"), which I find sorta boring. Propose your own city messages in the comments...

33 comments

More that I propose:

Minneapolis: "You deserve better."

Seattle: "You missed the good times."

posted by Rex at 7:31 PM on May 28, 2008

Los Angeles: You should have bigger breasts.

posted by gavin at 7:51 PM on May 28, 2008

Orlando: "You should move."

posted by Matt at 7:55 PM on May 28, 2008

Detroit: "You should wear Kevlar."

posted by Justin at 8:24 PM on May 28, 2008

Minneapolis: "You should be content."

LA: "You should ... Well you're just all wrong!"


posted by bietz at 8:31 PM on May 28, 2008

LA: You should be better looking
SF: You should be more open


posted by mat at 8:46 PM on May 28, 2008

Austin-- You should be weirder.

posted by Shiloh at 9:49 PM on May 28, 2008

Los Angeles: "That should really be a veggie burger."


posted by Dan at 10:50 PM on May 28, 2008

Salt Lake City: "You should be Mormon or hate that you live in a place where a bunch of Mormons live."

posted by Jake at 12:59 AM on May 29, 2008

Dublin: "You should be out drinking every night of the week"

posted by Catherine at 5:44 AM on May 29, 2008

Chicago: "You really shouldn't put ketchup on your hot dog."

posted by Jason at 8:43 AM on May 29, 2008

Minneapolis: "You shouldn't be so ambitious."

posted by Mary at 10:26 AM on May 29, 2008

St. Paul: (crickets)

Reminds me of Rocketboom's Andrew Baron saying he had to get out of Austin, TX because it's a city that discourages ambition.

posted by Chuck at 10:35 AM on May 29, 2008

Los Angeles: You should be in porn. Let me take you to my studio.

posted by hdunce at 10:39 AM on May 29, 2008

Minneapolis: "You should settle down."

posted by Julie at 10:42 AM on May 29, 2008

Re: Austin discouraging ambition. Hadn't thought of that before, but it's totally right. Glad I left, though can't say I've made much progress in the ambition department.

posted by Joseph Weisenthal at 10:42 AM on May 29, 2008

Los Angeles: "She's just not that into you."

posted by dirk at 10:44 AM on May 29, 2008

Austin: You're too uptight.

posted by Amanda at 10:45 AM on May 29, 2008

Tulsa: You should be in church.

posted by Rod at 10:48 AM on May 29, 2008

Toronto: "You should be in New York City."

posted by Greg J. Smith at 11:05 AM on May 29, 2008

Milwaukee: "You should be drunk."

posted by Tony at 11:06 AM on May 29, 2008

Portland: You should be wetter.

posted by Nathan at 11:10 AM on May 29, 2008

Also--

Spokane: You should be whiter.

posted by Nathan at 11:14 AM on May 29, 2008

Isn't this the "every city has a word" concept from Elizabeth Gilbert's book Eat, Pray, Love? Okay, the PhD version.

posted by Noah at 11:15 AM on May 29, 2008

Philadelphia: "You need to pull yourself together."

posted by ScottX at 11:52 AM on May 29, 2008

Memphis: "You should be in a band."

posted by Mary at 11:55 AM on May 29, 2008

Minneapolis: You should be authentic (but still a hipster).

St. Paul: You should be authentic (and have a sweet mullet).

posted by ... at 12:15 PM on May 29, 2008

seattle: you should be passive-aggressiver

posted by brevity at 12:38 PM on May 29, 2008

San Francisco: "You should start a company."

(Not being clever; actually true.)

posted by Robin at 12:45 PM on May 29, 2008

We all know Mpls asks, chastely, passive-aggressively, "Who do you think you are?"

posted by stevemarsh at 2:36 PM on May 29, 2008

Portland - "Gosh you're so sincere" (see today's NYT "Portland Journal")

posted by Rusty at 4:04 PM on May 29, 2008

Nashville: You should really learn how to play that guitar.

posted by wrongforum at 6:54 PM on May 29, 2008

Fargo: "You should learn to tread water"

posted by taulpaul at 11:15 AM on May 31, 2008




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