Listen, every urban happenstance bears the best and worst of what man has to offer. Let’s not pretend Greater Cleveland is any different from New York, San Francisco, Toronto, or London in this regard.

The difference is, these metropolitan Mecca’s know what design means. They’ve grown skilled at a) building great stories b) changing with confidence and (this one’s fundamental) c) they use design to reinvent themselves, over and over and over.

They press on with great urgency. They believe in design, through and through, as a means for positive change. These are Regions in perpetual pursuit of a new design language. Ok, so many benefit from landmark geography, we can’t discount the Earth’s award-winning design. People pay top dollar to live, work and play in these safe havens for the creative minded.

Greater Cleveland can learn from what runs deeper in these special places. The secret is in their place making and connectedness — in cultural districts, neighborhoods, and design hotspots.

Yet, what’s undeniably sophisticated about these towns runs deeper than what’s expressed in public art, trendy architecture, technology infrastructure, or the sculptural subtlety of a boulevard lamppost. These cities boast a history of taking risks. Their established design cultures are rooted in the soil of innovative governance, daring dialogue, and a business community that simply gets the value of the design process.

Look, design means we can do things differently. I can break out my bullhorn, holler away at the value of design in Northeast Ohio until my face turns color wheel, we will continue to lose “the best and the brightest” until the creative communities emerge as a collective, visionary force in our Region.