In our quest to be number one or first, we often stumble. And yes, I include myself in this mix of Twitter acrobatics.
This impulsive act was never more apparent than when I noticed a friend’s posting about Grand Rapids ending up on (yet again) another list, this time as RelocateAmerica #2 choice city.
I often ask myself when these accolades come in (more and more as of late), should we really, as a community, be happy that we end up on these lists? Are news outlets all self-obsessed, just looking to get a lip dub out of their reporting?
From our more recent past, we as a community have demonstrated to the world that we can get our britches in a collective bunch when someone draws a conclusion about our city that we don’t like.
We did when Newsweek published Mainstreet.com’s poll on their site in January 2012, adding later and only after being spammed on their Facebook page with our YouTube video reply that “(MainStreet) uses a methodology that our current editorial team doesn't endorse and wouldn't have employed. It certainly doesn't reflect our view of Grand Rapids.”
They even commented that they liked our video reply, adding we clearly are not a dying city.
But what happens when some writer on the outside, in an effort to build (yet again) another list, gets it so wrong that we actually joyously proclaim their stats for all to read, ignoring a glaring error.
In this instance, I refer to the RelocateAmerica list where Grand Rapids landed on the Top 10 list at number 2 as a sweet choice for those looking to relocate.
You guessed it: Twitter lit up like an old fashioned switchboard during a Jerry Lewis Telethon with Tweets that basically said, “Grand Rapids is the #2 best place 2 live in the U.S.A.!” as fast as one could cut-paste-post it.
Problem is that if you read the quote outlining the reason from the president of RelocateAmerica, and if you live here and are paying attention, then you know right away they got it wrong.
“Grand Rapids, Mich., made RelocateAmerica’s Top 10 list for its solid schools and strong economy, especially when compared with the rest of the state."
Well, thanks, Steve Nickerson of RelocateAmerica, for the honor in spite of the other cities in our state bumming you out. But in reality, we have a public school with a shameful drop out rate and while I think we all agree that getting awards is great, it is even better when we get the ones we deserve. We also don't want people moving here under false pretenses.
I know we have beat this topic of lists and our placement on them to death from TV to print to the Internet, but the reality is that no matter how many lip dubs we create in defense of our fair city, it cannot remove the sting that maybe MainStreet was right in their data.
The truth is it still takes a village to make the necessary changes we need to make in the years ahead. Yes, I said years.
Without a school system that works for all students, we will be facing the music in years to come with a very different video that won’t be filming happy people prancing through the streets. This is unfortunately what MainStreet was trying to say when they looked at the stats on our community’s children. Education reform is not just a viewpoint promoted by concerned activists. Many local people connected to the business associations and foundations and city leaders have all been conducting conversations in public and in private around this very topic.
The timing of my thoughts comes at a time when our headlines are filled with back-to-school topics including a millage increase as well a report that our child poverty rate has increased by 64% since 2000, overwhelming many of our non-profits. Maybe this is the proper time for all of us to get back up to speed on what our next few months will look like if we are truly serious about deserving our recent Top 10 award.
There are many ways to get involved, whether it be learning about Junior Achievement or even simply calling your neighborhood school to ask if you can help tutor a child. I can say over the past 15 years, some of my most enjoyable volunteering experiences have been in the classroom.
I often wonder if I were to enter an innovation and entrepreneurial idea to 5x5 Night what I would propose?
After much thought, I think the time is ripe for someone to pitch harnessing our community's massive pool of world-class designers, software creators and social engineers so we can create a “virtual place” where human-centered designs or, as my friend Luisa Schumacher, executive director of the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technologies often says, "we are talking about systems change."
“It’s not sexy,” says Schumacher. “It is not about putting a turkey on the table at Thanksgiving. It’s doing the really hard work of changing systems that have been in place for decades.”
There are some who have embraced these kinds of big changes as seen on the United Way website where they are aggressively going after such connections within our community.
In this way, we could promote community-helping-community and even make it fun as we watch the board light up with how many residents in a community are hooked on education reform and are actually making a difference by the power of one.
In our quest to be big and continuing to tackle these topics, we will be seen as a world player not just to entertain, but also to showcase how it is done.
We can be cheerleaders, too, from time to time, as we continue to value and promote our pride of place. Yet, it is also important that the record of our community be reported and truthfully shared in the light for all to see and appreciate our accomplishments and our efforts to improve them.
It is time to start being more discerning in regard to the lists and begin to look around at what we have and who has gathered here.
Grand Rapids is truly an inspiring city where dreams can still come true. There are plenty of opportunities here for volunteers to produce outcomes that benefit our residents.
When we get it right, we are beautiful and truly the best city in the country.
Then and only then can we have our cake and Tweet it too.
The Future Needs All of Us (to lift all of us up)
Tommy Allen
Lifestyle Editor
Click Here to visit Tommy Allen's picks of events this week.
Post-note: The big idea of coming together is not foreign as GR GiveCamp launches in a few weeks. Be sure to let your favorite not for profit know about this great project presented by area technology professionals.
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