Scenes You've Heard Of

Possibly the most famous creative scene in the world, I don't think I have to name it.

I'm going to name some locations.  Pay attention to what your first thought is when you read each of these.  Hollywood, California.  Broadway in New York City.  New Orleans, Louisiana.  Nashville, Tennessee.  With each of those locations, something popped in your head.  You probably didn't picture the bus system in those cities, or the mini-marts, or the gas stations, which each city has plenty of.  Well, except Hollywood, they could use a few more gas stations.  For each of those locations, a specific thought emerged, and it's likely the same thought that thousands of other people think when they hear those locations.  You thought of something each of those locations is well known for.

Now let's try the same thing with some smaller cities and towns.  Moab, Utah.  Taos, New Mexico.  Whistler, British Columbia.  Greenville, North Carolina.  Daytona Beach, Florida.  Did you get a clear thought for each of those?  A lot of people did, but definitely not everyone.

Now, back to the first group.  When most people hear "Hollywood," they think of the movie industry, or perhaps TV production or music.  The funny thing is, most movie and TV production takes place over the hill in the San Fernando Valley now.  Broadway, of course, is the American capitol for live theater.  New Orleans is known for Mardi Gras, jazz music, and great restaurants, though some may think of Hurricane Katrina, since it impacted New Orleans so hard.  Nashville is the place for country music, and actually a lot of entire the music industry now.  In each of those cases, your first thought, most likely, was of a major creative scene there.  These are scenes that have grown over many decades, until they are known nationwide, maybe even around the world.  Most people don't think of the manufacturing in those places, or other major aspects of the city.  They think of creative scenes.  Each of those creative scenes is now an industry that employs a lot of people, as well as inspires other creative people all over.

Now, to the second list.  Each of these locations is known for a scene in some circles, maybe in yours.  Moab is a huge mountain bike and four wheel drive destination because of the amazing rock structures nearby.  Taos, New Mexico is now best known for its art scene.  Whistler, British Columbia is a huge ski and snowboard resort in the winter, and a big mountain biking spot in the summer.  In the BMX stunts world, Greenville, NC is known as Pro Town.  The late, great rider Dave Mirra is from there, as is the amazing Ryan Nyquist.  Several other top competitive pros went to live there in the 90's and 2000's, making it a hot spot for BMX.  Daytona Beach is best known for the huge NASCAR race every year, and as one of the first stock car racing locations decades ago.

So... if you went to a city far away from yours, and asked random people what your city is known for, what would they say?  In most cases, they may not have any idea.  Or your city may have a really negative image, like Detroit right now after the loss of so many manufacturing jobs.  Encouraging and nurturing the creative scenes in your city is a great way get it known to other people in other places.

There are at least 20 million Americans who can't find a good paying job right now.  Personally, I'm creating my own job.  Check out the process on my new main blog, Create Your Own Dang Job.