<p class="quote"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Among the media, academia and within planning circles, there&#8217;s a generally standing answer to the question of what cities are the best, the most progressive and best role models for small and mid-sized cities. The standard list includes Portland, Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis, and Denver. In particular, Portland is held up as a paradigm, with its urban growth boundary, extensive transit system, excellent cycling culture, and a pro-density policy. These cities are frequently contrasted with those of the Rust Belt and South, which are found wanting, often even by locals, as &#8220;cool&#8221; urban places.</span></p> Aaron M. Renn | New Geography progressive cities, racism, portland great, north south, red blue state the-feed 2 2009-10-26T12:44:48-04:00 <p>The model mid-level cities: What happens when red state/blue state distinctions are taken out of the equation?</p> 5 6258 so-white-s-the-color 2009-10-26T12:45:28-04:00 true false false false false 2009-10-26T12:45:29-04:00 http://www.newgeography.com/content/001110-the-white-city 84 0 0