There was a great blog post on Slate yesterday, titled "Berlin: Land of Cheap Rents" which examines how that city became a major artistic and cultural center despite not being tethered to major industry and finance centers. It asks an intriguing question: do great cities become great because -- at least initially -- the cheap rents and easy availability of space allow for the explosion of creativity and influx of entrepreneurship? While Durham is not -- and will never be -- Berlin, there are a lot of useful parallels between Berlin's renaissance in the first decade of the 21 century and what is happening in Durham right now (complete with the "gritty image" of both cities). A very intriguing idea that, if true, portends good news for Durham as a whole. The full article is reprinted below.
