Jon Talton Leaving the Republic (year)

[chicago-mik]

@ jTalton

If thats you I could not follow the blog link....

[aj661]

Originally Posted by chicago-mik

@ jTalton

If thats you I could not follow the blog link....

Looks like him...must have been a typo in his post. Try this: Rogue Columnist

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by jtalton

read my new blog,
Rogue Columnist

I checked your blog out, Jon. It's a bit over the top for my taste. Come on, it's not that terrible here. Have you ever lived anywhere else? Every city has problems.

Regarding the car culture here, I agree that in the long term Americans need to restructure their lives and stop commuting ridiculously long distances in private gas guzzling, pollution-emitting death machines, but that's true everywhere in this vast country; Phoenix does not have some kind of monopoly on this problem. Indeed, Phoenix to their credit has put in bike lanes, buses, and now a light rail. It looks as if the bus and bike lanes are under utilized, but if the people can cough up the money to make the bus system actually useful to a lot of commuters the picture may change.

It's easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize the mediocre leadership in the government, but the leadership does reflect the citizenry. What we really need is more emphasis on education, send more of our youth on semester abroad programs and encourage more participation in national youth leadership organizations, and of course the encouragement of more small business growth.

I say, small business is the key to prosperity. Most job growth comes from small businesses in the U.S., not from large organizations. It's a common myth among people with little understanding of economics that big business is good. Actually, big business represents a stagnant market sector. The dynamic market sectors are dominated by young, competitive, and aggressively expanding businesses. This has always been the case and is no less true today.

Originally Posted by chicago-mik

He realized his gaffe was really rooted in the provincial belief that Phoenix was still a small city. Its the only major US city without a University or Medical School.

I agree with you that Phoenix seems a bit lacking in great universities, but we do have three fully accredited medical schools in the metro area: Ariz. College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale, U of A's new campus in Phoenix, and KCOM' new osteopathic school in Mesa. There are also dental, nursing, physician's assistant, and podiatric schools.

That said, I think we need more colleges and universities to accommodate the growing population.

[Valley Native]

I remember Jon Talton used a phrase in one of his columns that I will never forget: "Phoenix can no longer prosper by being sunny and cheap." That is so true. You can't base prosperity and economic growth on sunshine and cheap housing in the nation's fifth largest city. That's why I agreed with Mr. Talton on limiting sprawl and encouraging more large businesses to base their corporate HQs here.

Basically, you attract what you put out. If the Phoenix area keeps promoting a sunny climate and low cost housing as a way of stimulating growth, most of that growth will be in the form of retirees, people without higher education, and even derelicts & illegal aliens. Heck, you can get all that in Yuma. What kind of progress is that for one of the nation's largest cities/metro areas???

[joninaz]

Dear Jon,

Thanks for engaging the the region in strategic debates. Not everyone would agree with or like your columns, but they prompted debate. It's a shame the Republic doesn't understand or appreciate that we're a business centric world.

There are no great cities without a great biz core. No great govts. without great businesses. No civic plans that work without buy in from the business community. Stanford, NYU, MIT, etc. are doing much better thanks to business ventures than any other programs.

We'll never be San Jose, SoCal or NYC, but PHX can carve out a really nice slice of the pie if they learn how.

Cheers, Jon

[ScoutAZ]

I always wondered if Talton's sock puppet alias was "Walter 5321."

[AngelfaceAZ]

Originally Posted by ScoutAZ

I always wondered if Talton's sock puppet alias was "Walter 5321."

ROFL...me too!

[JonT]

Originally Posted by micrguy

Hard to believe that Talton was a columnist in the business section considering he did not seem to have a clue about the types of business that flourish in Phoenix. Talton always complained about the lack of corporate headquarters in Phoenix and seemed to ignore that it was small business that was responsible for most of the growth in Phoenix. Maybe he can find another city to whine and complain about.

Here's a classic myth about Phoenix. Actually, the Business Journal studied small business formation per 100,000 people and found that Phoenix has much less than other cities its size. And this is true on the ground where most of the small businesses are related to real estate. Phoenix is remarkable for its limited small-business community, considering its population. Many tend to be bottom-feeders anyway, attracted by Arizona's anti-worker laws, low taxes and low regulation -- which cause a host of pathologies and public costs. And even the best small businesses can't make the civic contributions that big companies do; many don't even offer health insurance. Also notable is the relatively small amount of venture capital that comes to Arizona; thus, the "entrepreneurial" class is small and not growing tomorrow's big companies. Why these magazines do these rankings is beyond me.

This post is also a classic example of the local-yokel mentality in Phoenix. One must either be a mindless cheerleader, or one is "negative" and "depressing" and "complaining" blah blah blah. Either/or thinking is always a telltale for psychologists. But in a real-estate town one must always be "selling" even if it means blindly lying. The little town of Phoenix is not used to the kind of critical analysis or commentary that is seen in any big city. You can still find it on my blog,
Rogue Columnist

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by JonT

Here's a classic myth about Phoenix. Actually, the Business Journal studied small business formation per 100,000 people and found that Phoenix has much less than other cities its size. And this is true on the ground where most of the small businesses are related to real estate. Phoenix is remarkable for its limited small-business community, considering its population. Many tend to be bottom-feeders anyway, attracted by Arizona's anti-worker laws, low taxes and low regulation -- which cause a host of pathologies and public costs. And even the best small businesses can't make the civic contributions that big companies do; many don't even offer health insurance. Also notable is the relatively small amount of venture capital that comes to Arizona; thus, the "entrepreneurial" class is small and not growing tomorrow's big companies. Why these magazines do these rankings is beyond me.

This post is also a classic example of the local-yokel mentality in Phoenix. One must either be a mindless cheerleader, or one is "negative" and "depressing" and "complaining" blah blah blah. Either/or thinking is always a telltale for psychologists. But in a real-estate town one must always be "selling" even if it means blindly lying. The little town of Phoenix is not used to the kind of critical analysis or commentary that is seen in any big city. You can still find it on my blog,
Rogue Columnist

LOL, I love how you find it amusing to feed inaccurate information to the masses. I often laughed at your columns while reading them in the Republic. You live in Seattle now right? Being a native of WA state, I can tell you that the affordability of the region is miniscule. Most of those in the Seattle region are struggling to afford gas, groceries and their mortgage despite the "growth" of business and technology sectors in the Seattle metro region. Also, Seattle admits to having little preparation for an earthquake. If one would strike Seattle, there would be devastation unlike the nation has seen given that the area has dismissed concerns thus far. Small business in the nation is hardly small. I find your opinion short sighted given that this sector in the economy provides the largest employment base of any market sector.

I am thankful you left Phoenix and that many saw your antagonist views as just that...propaganda for your own cause! Stay in Seattle, and please focus on that area's huge suicide rate, unemployment rate, affordability rate, etc. ? While venture capital, government funding, private investment, and public infrastructure continue to grow in Phoenix and Arizona and stagnate in Seattle and Washington, you can write all you will but the bottom line is that Phoenix and the metro region will surpass Seattle in the near future. Already, ASU's Business, Nursing, Bio-Tech, Education, Logistics, and athletic departments (to name a few) have surpassed UW's (Seattle's most important university), and there will be little left for the Northwest. The weather is depressing, the suicide rate is depressing, the crime rate is depressing, and the unemployment rate in Seattle is depressing...which is why I chose not to live in the region.

[seattlereader]

Originally Posted by micrguy

Hard to believe that Talton was a columnist in the business section considering he did not seem to have a clue about the types of business that flourish in Phoenix. Talton always complained about the lack of corporate headquarters in Phoenix and seemed to ignore that it was small business that was responsible for most of the growth in Phoenix. Maybe he can find another city to whine and complain about.

Well believe it or not he is now a business columnist in Seattle. I actually met Jon Talton a few times in a private setting and he would often ask me things about China, it was obvious that he has never been to China. And then he wrote about Rio Tinto trial in his column at the Seattle Times, not knowing all the intricacies of this episode. Later I brought to his attention about the subtle differences of Asian culture he was defensive about that too. He recently interviewed a "global economy" writer in Seattle, but he has no interest in understanding the different views between people and other cultures in his personal life.