The Internet is helping to change the \u201crules of the game\u201d in various institutions within cities.\u00a0 In most cases, the Internet\u2019s effect is primarily catalytic.\u00a0 By prompting people to come together to plan how to use the Internet, the Internet\u2019s presence stimulates social networks and lays the groundwork for building new social capital.\u00a0 The development of Internet content has been less prevalent in the cities studied, but there are identifiable examples of it.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
In this concluding section, I summarize the Internet\u2019s impact on catalyzing new social networks and how those changes have affected the Internet itself through the creation of Internet content that serves the community.\u00a0 I then look across the five cities rating their relative strengths and assessing \u201cbest practice\u201d for how cities can use the Internet beneficially.\u00a0 I conclude with recommendations on how cities can sustain the emerging positive impacts of the Internet.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
Activists of different stripes\u2014from advocates for low-income communities to promoters of economic growth\u2014have in their respective spheres come together to find ways to use the Internet constructively.\u00a0 This has represented a boost to social networking in the cities studied, which in turn lays the groundwork for Internet-driven increases in social capital.\u00a0 Taking a look across the five cities studied, here is how the Internet\u2019s effect has unfolded.<\/p>\n\n
i. Social Networking Strategies Among Economic Developers<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n The economic development community offers a good example of how social networking is a pre-eminent strategy in the New Economy.\u00a0 In many places, economic development programs have traditionally connoted \u201csmokestack shopping\u201d whereby city and community leaders have dangled financial incentives to lure a factory to their region.\u00a0 This strategy has not disappeared in the high-tech era; cities still vie for semiconductor and computer manufacturing facilities and campus-like research parks.\u00a0 However, the increasing focus on entrepreneurship as a driver of economic growth has altered traditional economic development strategies.\u00a0 To a great extent, they have been replaced by strategies that try to promote social networks.[11.numoffset=”11″ See the National Commission on Entrepreneurships\u2019 Building Companies, Building Communities<\/em>, July 2000, for a discussion on inward-looking strategies at the local and regional levels to spur entrepreneurship.]<\/p>\n\n Portland presents a good example of the type of strategy that is being employed to stimulate the demand for business ideas and find the capital to fund them.\u00a0 The Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum has grown in membership from 100 in 1997 to about 1,200 people today.\u00a0 The main service the Forum offers its members is networking opportunities.\u00a0 As the forum has grown, financiers in Portland have established the Portland Angel Network to direct start-up funding to promising new companies.\u00a0 Although the network is not oriented solely to dot-com start-ups, Internet ideas receive a great deal of attention.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n The other cities studied have similar initiatives, in different stages of development.\u00a0 Nashville\u2019s Chamber of Commerce has the Nashville Technology Council, although its offshoot, the Technology Funding Alliance, is dormant.\u00a0 Cleveland\u2019s high-tech happy hours and the Seed Capital Initiative sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Software Association try to stimulate social networks for entrepreneurs in that region.\u00a0 Washington\u2019s Digital Capital Alliance serves a similar purpose.\u00a0 In each of these cities, new entrepreneurial and angel finance networks rely on physical interaction.\u00a0 Although the business plans of most of the companies interested in such forums rely on cyberspace, the process of getting them off the ground is unavoidably tied to face-to-face contact.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n ii. Social Networking in Neighborhoods<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n The same pattern of social networking is manifest in efforts to use the Internet at the community level.\u00a0 In Cleveland, Bill Callahan, the director of the West Side CDC, characterizes the Internet\u2019s impact on his organization in this way: \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t make sense to have this place without the Internet, and it wouldn\u2019t make sense to have the Internet in this neighborhood without this place.\u201d[12. Interview with Bill Callahan, director of West Side Community Development Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, September 28, 2000.] In other words, his CDC needs to have Internet access to make it a place where people want to go, but merely providing Internet access to people in a disembodied fashion would not work.\u00a0 People need a place to learn about the Internet, and they benefit from having an environment where they can find out who else in the neighborhood is on the Internet.\u00a0 In Callahan\u2019s CDC and others, the Internet has changed the pattern of foot traffic; people who probably otherwise would not visit a CDC are being drawn to it because of the Internet.\u00a0 With the Digital Vision coalition and the money from the city for computer boot camps, Cleveland is in a position to expand the Internet\u2019s role in social networking.<\/p>\n\n In a number of other community organizations profiled in this report, the catalytic effect of the Internet in changing foot traffic has drawn people to community organizations.\u00a0 The Neighborhood Pride Team revitalized itself by providing Internet and computer training to residents of a southeast Portland community.\u00a0 The Austin Learning Academy, due largely to the Internet, has changed from an after-school program for kids to a family learning center where the Internet is the centerpiece.\u00a0 And by partnering with existing community organizations in the District of Columbia, Byte Back\u2019s Internet training programs have added new dimensions to the missions of these nonprofits.\u00a0 In these examples and others (e.g. the Austin Free-Net and D.C.\u2019s See Forever project), the presence of the Internet has served as a catalyst to social networking.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n In several cities, there are indications that people have begun to begun to develop Internet content to help their communities or organizations operate more effectively.\u00a0 Some of this builds on existing stocks of social capital, while some is a direct outgrowth of Internet initiatives that first stimulated new networks of people.\u00a0 These people in turn have been instrumental in creating new content.<\/p>\n\n i.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Neighborhood and Community Content<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n The listserv activity surrounding the Southwest Community Plan in Portland shows how the Internet used an existing stock of social capital in the neighborhood to create Internet content to shape an outcome important to the community, and the cooperative process in developing a response to the Metro government\u2019s proposal may have helped build additional social capital in that community.\u00a0 The Neighborhood Pride Team, on the other hand, became a focal point for people interested in the Internet who subsequently created their own online content.\u00a0 The Trillium Artisans, who now market their wares on the Web, are an example of content creation, as are the people who have been through the NPT and then posted Web pages to market home-based businesses.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n In Cleveland, theT2K.org portal for affordable housing providers is an example of Web content designed to improve service for providers and clients of public housing.\u00a0 In the design phase, the Portland Area Housing Clearinghouse serves a similar purpose.\u00a0 Also in the design phase is Nashville\u2019s Designing a Community Online project; this project will provide access to the Internet for underserved populations and also create community content.\u00a0 Farther upstream is Austin\u2019s Grants for Technology Opportunities program that will fund Internet content development among nonprofits.\u00a0 Although the development of Internet content by communities is not widespread, projects such as Portland\u2019s NPT indicate that it can have a substantial impact on people\u2019s lives when does occur.<\/p>\n\n ii.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Content in the Business Sector<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n The ease of starting dot-com businesses is an indicator that sufficient social capital exists in a community beyond financial capital.\u00a0 This social capital is embodied in people\u2014more specifically, in the ease with which information flows about where and how to find support for a business idea.\u00a0 In Portland, the region rates well, but not spectacularly, when it comes to the availability of venture capital.\u00a0 For that reason, Portlanders have actively employed the social networking strategy to match entrepreneurs with financiers.\u00a0 To make up for a shortage of financial capital, people in Portland are trying to leverage other sources of community capital.\u00a0 Similar coalitions in other cities, some fairly active (Cleveland and D.C.) and others not (Nashville), try to do the same thing.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n The goal of these efforts is, of course, to create New Economy businesses.\u00a0 With the dot-com shakeout, it is hard to find evidence that these regional networks of entrepreneurs and financiers are paying off.\u00a0 But in some places, such as Cleveland, an important goal of such networks is to change the business culture of the region so that entrepreneurialism is encouraged, so that ultimately business plans involving electronic content receive warmer receptions.\u00a0 This is a long-term strategy and only time will tell whether it bears fruit.<\/p>\n\n One common long-term strategy evident in several cities is creating places for New Economy start-ups to flourish.\u00a0 Washington\u2019s NoMa initiative is perhaps the most ambitious of these, as it will try to create a place where the arts and mixed-use business-residential development revitalize a section of the downtown and attract high-tech businesses.\u00a0 NoMa will be combined with tax incentives to lure start-ups to the District.\u00a0 In Austin, the city is offering incentives to new and existing high-tech start-ups to develop its \u201cdigital downtown.\u201d\u00a0 Portland\u2019s creative services initiative also will try to combine a rich urban environment with creative people to spur multimedia start-ups.\u00a0 Where D.C. is offering incentives to developers to push NoMa, Portland is retrofitting a building to provide space for multimedia companies.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n Even with many common themes evident in the five cities, it is clear that different cities move at different paces in different areas of Internet impact.\u00a0 Nashville, for instance, is behind Austin, one of America\u2019s most wired cities, in most ways.\u00a0 But Cleveland, not often associated with the growth of the Internet, is perhaps surprisingly advanced when it comes to programs to bring Internet to low-income neighborhoods.\u00a0 What are the best ways cities are using to exploit the Internet?<\/p>\n\n i.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Portland<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n Of the five cities studied, Portland has a combination of technological sophistication, economic vitality, commitment to regional planning, community engagement, and an existing infrastructure of community nonprofits that makes it the city most likely to effectively exploit the Internet for economic and social purposes.\u00a0 The use of the Internet in the community in Portland cuts across several different environments.\u00a0 The Southwest Community Development Plan shows how the Internet has been used in a grassroots fashion in a middle-class neighborhood.\u00a0 There are also efforts in low-income neighborhoods\u2014as witnessed by the Neighborhood Pride Team\u2014to integrate the Internet into the day-to-day lives of residents.\u00a0 Finally, Metro government\u2019s Bureau of Housing and Community Development shows great promise in using the Internet to improve the lives of low-income people in Portland.\u00a0 The Enterprise Foundation, which is working to wire nonprofits in the area, should have the same effect.<\/p>\n\n In economic development, the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum and the Portland Angel Network are strong evidence of new vitality in making Portland a place where business ideas\u2014New Economy and otherwise\u2014can find support.\u00a0 The city\u2019s support for the creative services initiative is a notable public financial commitment to Internet-driven commerce.\u00a0 The initiative is also tied to Portland\u2019s long-time commitment to urban planning, and business and government have worked cooperatively in encouraging business development downtown. There is reason to be optimistic about the initiative\u2019s prospects for success\u2014assuming sufficient demand for creative services in the local and national economies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n ii.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Austin<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n Austin has a strong track record of community activism in providing Internet access to low-income areas, a great deal of technical literacy, wealth and economic vitality, and an emerging dialog about social equity that encompasses information equity.\u00a0 Austin\u2019s Free-Net, Community Technology Initiative, and Grants for Technology Opportunities Program are examples of the city government\u2019s strong commitment to encouraging community-wide access to the Internet.\u00a0 These programs have come about as a result of pressure from community technology activists, and the existence of initiatives such as the Austin Learning Academy suggests that the grassroots nature of Internet equity concerns in Austin is quite strong.<\/p>\n\n The city government\u2019s \u201cdigital downtown\u201d program also signals the city\u2019s desire to encourage dot-com development in an urban setting.\u00a0 Of course, this commitment can only bear fruit if the market for high-tech and multimedia products is strong.\u00a0 The fact that Vignette and Intel have had to put their plans for downtown headquarters on hold demonstrates how fragile such initiatives can be.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n The Austin Idea Network is the best example of the promise and fragility of the Internet\u2019s impact on Austin.\u00a0 The Idea Network was formed primarily by dot-com entrepreneurs who wanted to find ways to help out the less fortunate in Austin.\u00a0 As the dot-com economy has soured, the Idea Network has had a difficult time implementing its ideas, in part because some of its leaders\u2019 businesses have gone under.\u00a0 Moreover, the Idea Network, even though it aimed at low-income residents on Austin\u2019s east side, did a poor job initially in reaching out to leaders in that community for input.\u00a0 The network\u2019s slow start is thus only partly attributable to the dot-com downturn.<\/p>\n\n Another reason for the slow start is the relative dearth of community-based organizations in Austin.\u00a0 Unlike Portland or Cleveland, Austin does not have a well-developed network of CDCs in housing.\u00a0 Because of this, it is difficult for a new or outside group like the Idea Network to find a ready list of organizations to turn to when starting new initiatives.\u00a0 Thus the financial resources that the Idea Network brings to community Internet projects in Austin are not matched by a strong social infrastructure that would grease the path for such projects.\u00a0 For that reason, even with all the assets Austin has with respect to the Internet, the city ranks just behind Portland.<\/p>\n\n iii.\u00a0\u00a0 Cleveland<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n Cleveland rates well among the five cities because of its focus on business-to-business ecommerce as its New Economy priority and its innovative coalition building to encourage Internet access in the low-income community.\u00a0 On the economic front, Cleveland\u2019s abundant bandwidth and encouraging attitude toward telehotels suggests that the infrastructure for ecommerce in northeast Ohio should be more than adequate.\u00a0 Cleveland\u2019s decision to focus on business-to-business ecommerce for large manufacturing operations looks prescient in light of the downturn in retail and brand-oriented dot-coms.\u00a0 The B2B ecommerce strategy is clearly long-term in nature and will require a shift in business culture in Cleveland.\u00a0 However, with the Northeast Ohio Software Association and the Lorain County Community College business incubator, social networking has taken on greater prominence in economic development circles in Cleveland.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n Community activists in Cleveland have been remarkably persistent and successful in moving community technology issues onto the city\u2019s policy agenda.\u00a0 The Digital Vision coalition is a striking example of the Internet\u2019s catalytic affect in bringing members of the community together in a new way for a common goal.\u00a0 More important, the coalition was successful in lobbying the city to set aside $3 million in cable franchise fees to bring the Internet to neighborhoods via CDCs.\u00a0 In fact, CDCs in Cleveland have been a focal point for community Internet projects.\u00a0 The Cleveland Housing Network has used the Internet to improve its operating efficiency and is working toward providing Internet access in affordable housing units.\u00a0 The existing network of CDCs in Cleveland is a stock of social capital that Digital Vision has been able to exploit, and by obtaining resources for Internet \u201cboot camps\u201d, the coalition seems to be creating new social capital in Cleveland.<\/p>\n\n iv.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Washington, D.C.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n Washington is a latecomer with promise. It is playing catch-up against its thriving high-tech competitors in suburban Maryland and Virginia; in response, the District is beginning to aggressively market itself as a hip, lower-cost alternative to its congested suburbs.\u00a0 The main vehicles for its marketing campaign are the New Economy Transformation Act and development in the NoMa downtown technology district.\u00a0 One challenge for these initiatives is the fading fortunes of dot-com companies, which are making office space in the suburbs suddenly cheaper. NoMa is also a long-term project, making its payoff difficult to predict.\u00a0 Nonetheless, NoMa and other initiatives by the District have brought energy to high-tech development in Washington.\u00a0 The existence of the Digital Capital Alliance shows that the business community shares the enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n Community Internet projects in Washington amount to a diffuse set of innovative and ambitious projects that might benefit from greater coordination.\u00a0 These projects enjoy support from the private sector or from federal grants; thus far, the city government has not played much of a role.\u00a0 Still, the scope of the projects profiled here is impressive. Byte Back, the SeeForever Foundation, and Edgewood Terrace have each made significant inroads into their communities and exposed a large number of people to the Internet. This adds up to a stimulus to social capital in several places in the District and is a useful model for other D.C. initiatives, whether they are supported by public or private funds.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n v.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nashville<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n Nashville ranks fifth among the cities studied primarily because it lags far behind the others in projects that provide Internet access to low-income citizens.\u00a0 The TOP-funded \u201cDesigning a Community Online\u201d project indicates some promise on this front, as does the mayor\u2019s commitment to the use of information technology in city government and outreach to neighborhoods.\u00a0 But these initiatives are in the nascent stages, and the clamor in Nashville for community Internet projects is modest in comparison to that in the other cities.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n From the economic development perspective, Nashville has embraced social networking by providing forums where entrepreneurs can exchange ideas about business opportunities.\u00a0 The Chamber of Commerce has been a driving force behind these, although its more ambitious effort to channel start-up financing to entrepreneurs stalled with the dot-com economy.\u00a0 Although Nashville had a number of dot-com start-ups\u2014many oriented to music or health care\u2014none achieved the financial success that might have provided capital for subsequent entrepreneurs.\u00a0 It is unclear how robust the networking approach will be in Nashville in the face of the dot-com shakeout.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n Still, Nashville is trying to make itself more attractive for entrepreneurs.\u00a0 The development of a hip downtown district near the Gulch is designed to attract young entrepreneurs.\u00a0 Perhaps more important, the development signals a long-term commitment by city and business leaders to make Nashville more attractive to New Economy entrepreneurs.\u00a0 Thus, while Nashville does not rate well on community-oriented Internet programs, the business community is well in line with other cities in trying to create an attractive business climate for Internet firms.<\/p>\n\n Even with signs that the Internet is having a positive impact on social capital, sustaining this impact will be no easy task.\u00a0 \u201cDigital downtowns\u201d that are part of smart-growth initiatives wax and wane with the health of the technology economy.\u00a0 Community programs typically struggle for resources, and a key source for support from the public sector, the Technology Opportunities Program, is under constant budget pressure in Washington.\u00a0 Nonetheless, lessons from the five cities point to ways in which early efforts to capitalize on the Internet can be sustained.<\/p>\n\n Encourage bottom-up initiatives<\/b>: Almost invariably, the Internet projects in the five cities started because interested people in the community took the initiative.\u00a0 This underscores the reality that successful programs tend to be pulled by demand rather than pushed by technology.\u00a0 In particular, the social networking approach employed in community technology programs has reached out to determine community needs and respond to them; cities have not imposed community-computing programs on communities from the top down.\u00a0 Portland\u2019s Neighborhood Pride Team is a good example of this, and there are similar examples in Austin, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\nContent Development: Social Capital\u2019s Effect on the Internet<\/h3>\n\n
Best Practices, Best Cities<\/h3>\n\n
Social Capital and The City: Sustaining the Internet Effect<\/h3>\n\n