I have been here in Santa Fe for about 3 weeks now. My observations of the people I have met are varied. Number 1 is that no one was born here. It seems everyone I have met moved here from another part of America. I have met more than a few ex-Californians. There are a number of ex-Seattleites. Number 2 is the town has a strong Arts community. Canyon Road is home to numerous Galleries and from what I've seen the quality is high end. Then third observation is the town has a quiet, almost subdued, night life. For such an active fine arts community it was surprising the main square district lacked a vibrant music scene. I was talking to an Artist I met this week and she agreed with my assessment. The town I come from in Canada has a strong tech sector but the fine arts community struggles to suppress the talent drain. Waterloo Ontario has over 2000 tech jobs that employers struggle to fill. It seems the creative tech talent gets courted to Toronto, NYC and San Francisco.
What I have been trying to understand is how to plug the tech brain-drain in Waterloo Ontario. My theory is the young talent likes to have a vibrant and active night life. This includes fine arts, Music, restaurants and recreation. While Waterloo provides and active restaurant culture as well as various recreation activities the music scene is not supporting a wide style of venues. The town is very family friendly but the 20-30 year olds are looking for an active entertainment district. My thinking is that Santa Fe would benefit from an infusion of tech. If the local government made it attractive to set up a satellite office for RIM (Research in Motion) or a tech giant like Google then they may begin to see growth in other sectors aside from tourism.
While I am here I'll try and make some connections and see if partnerships can be set up. I think Santa Fe has more to offer than it realizes.
No comments:
Post a Comment