Loved this New York Times illustration from the book review of Bill Bishop’s The Big Sort, which I found over on Richard Florida’s blog, The Creativity Exchange.

Nice reference to the Crustacean Period, and a strong suggestion that here in Michigan we have to evolve our economy and the way we do business, lest we be annexed by Downwardly Mobilovia.

The book explores the nuances in “community” and “civil society” and how these connect to economic activity and regional heath. Bishop’s point: traditional civil society is still alive in many economically troubled cities and regions like Birmingham, Ala, Cincinnati and Grand Rapids, MI (ranking high in volunteerism, voting and churchgoing). A new civil society has arisen among the creative class in places like Seattle, New York City, Boston (and Ann Arbor) — where bike trails, clubs, museums and broad acceptance of same-sex couples flourish and bring people together in a cohesive community. The most community-cohesive places in America can be either the most economically stagnant parts of the country or the most vibrant. According to Bishop, we are sorting ourselves recursively into more and more cohesive communities based on our lifestyles and views, and this has huge consequences economically, and for politics (including the upcoming presidential election). Here’s the Amazon link for the book — The Big Sort is finally going to be on my nightstand this week.