The Cities That Fall Into A Branding Trap

“Look at any piece of city marketing material, from promo videos to airline magazine ad inserts. It’s amazing how so many of them rely on the same basic ingredients: hipster coffee shops, microbreweries, bike lanes, creative-class members, startups, intimations of a fashion scene, farm-to-table restaurants, new downtown streetcars, etc. These are all good things, mind you: things cities should be happy to have. Some of them may even be modern necessities. But you can’t help bu