Critique of the "hipster" economy with a St. Louis angle.... (Miller: 2014)

[MUTGR]

The peril of hipster economics - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

I thought this was somewhat of an interesting read. I sense a growing friction from articles like this and Spike Lee's comments, between hipsters and traditional urban proponents who seem antagonistic towards changes associated with hipsters, most notably gentrification and disruptions, perceived or real, to traditional business models, such as taxi services, and how they are reacting in St. Louis and elsewhere to rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber.

[zach_33]

as much I hate to see the "little guys" get trampled, it's kind of hard for me to sympathize with the argument of the cabbies. They are upset because they have been outmaneuvered by a disruptive innovator in the new (sharing) economy. Many verticals have been made more efficient due to advances in technology, often at the cost of jobs, both high paying ones like music executives, as well as low(er) paying ones like factory workers. Folks need to adapt.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by zach_33

as much I hate to see the "little guys" get trampled, it's kind of hard for me to sympathize with the argument of the cabbies. They are upset because they have been outmaneuvered by a disruptive innovator in the new (sharing) economy. Many verticals have been made more efficient due to advances in technology, often at the cost of jobs, both high paying ones like music executives, as well as low(er) paying ones like factory workers. Folks need to adapt.

I think the laws will need to be changed to accommodate traditional cabs and also ridesharing apps.

[Dawn10am]

Yawn. This anti-gentrification and anti-hipster stuff is really starting to get old. I like the fact that she criticizes the gentrifiers for having a "native incompetence" mindset, but claims that the solution for urban poverty is for the local government to make "choices that value the lives of people over the aesthetics of place." But isn't that the same idea as native incompetence? That the people who live in these neighborhoods aren't capable of improving them themselves and need outside help?

As far as Umar Lee's unhinged attacked on Lyft, well…if you read his blog it should be obvious that the guy just clearly has problems with white people generally.

[marigolds6]

Lyft and Uber are just modern day versions of cab deregulation from 10-20 years ago. They do basically nothing to create new demand but create tons of new entrants into the market.
It has only worked in San Francisco so far because its entrance into the market there coincided with a huge increase from demand due to the rapid gentrification of the city. Last time St Louis deregulated, it became the poster child for everything that can go wrong in deregulation.

[Hector2]

Originally Posted by marigolds6

Last time St Louis deregulated, it became the poster child for everything that can go wrong in deregulation.

Do tell.

[Dawn10am]

If traditional taxis provided a service similar to Lyft/Uber then they would have nothing to fear. There's clearly demand for the new service and if the taxi companies can't deliver then they're going to suffer. That's kind of how innovation works.

[FrankMiller]

Dodging existing regulations isn't "innovation".

Edit: Well, I guess it sort of is. But it doesn't necessarily help consumers and it's a bad precedent.

[Hector2]

Originally Posted by FrankMiller

Dodging existing regulations isn't "innovation".

Edit: Well, I guess it sort of is. But it doesn't necessarily help consumers and it's a bad precedent.

Cute, but you largely miss the mark. The real innovation with Uber and Lyft is prompt service, easy ordering, and hassle free payment.

Traditional taxis in StL have been slow to change to better accommodate their customers. Why? Perhaps because they are a protected group regulated in two instances by the very same people who own the cab companies (a vice chairman on the STL board of commissioners owns Laclede Cab!--another commission member owns another cab company!). The others are highly politically-connected folks who are typically not the sort to upset the applecart.

Not only are StL taxis slow to change, it's not uncommon for them to: never show up, take forever to show up, not have the right change, or have a broken credit card machine. This weekend, the cab my friend was in had a broken meter! I'll admit, that was a first for me.

Only Lyft has tried to claim that regulations don't apply in STL and I think that was a mistake. Uber seems to be waiting it out. Eventually, I think we'll see new regulations for services like Uber and Lyft.

[FrankMiller]

I know what Lyft is, and I would be happy to take off legally. But you can't ignore regulations just because you think the government is corrupt. I'm sure every street thug shooting up liquor stores feels like the game is rigged against them, too (and they're just as correct).