Richmond, VA

How Mid-Sized Cities offer Heightened Experiences

Micah Davenport
Aug 26, 2017 · 5 min read

Mid-sized cities offer a unique milieu that especially appeals to the experience driven. I am often reminded of the charm of these cities bring when friends visit me in the city I call home, Richmond, VA. They often mention in passing, “Yeah, I could see myself living here.” High praise. These compliments inspire me to reminisce on my own first days in the city of Richmond. I remember having absolutely no interest in attending university within Richmond but the city’s charm grew on me. On the first Friday of the school year, I attended the monthly art walk that stretched throughout 8 blocks of Broad Street, one of the main avenues in the city. Families and students alike filled the galleries and overflowed onto the sidewalks. Fire twirlers blocked off sections of the street to perform, gourmet Popsicle carts parked across the way with lines of patrons looking to cool off. The whole mood of the event was festive, communal, and friendly. It was a completely new experience. My first few months in Richmond were full of festivals attended, new restaurants found, and plenty of adventures on the river which ran through the city. Richmond had me smitten. Cities that lie in the middle find their charm in their accessibility and the belonging they offer. These cities offer a relative ease of maneuverability both car friendly and bike friendly. They are flexible that way. Most things from one side of the city to the other are about 10–15 minutes away. It provides experiences of a city without as many feelings of over-congestion. During my second semester at university the school’s media department was interviewing students on what they liked most about the city of Richmond. I answered, “It’s big enough to belong to and small enough to know.” I had not realized how poignant that truth was until those feelings echoed true in later travels to similar sized cities. Tulsa, Oklahoma, became the next contender to reignite my delight and awe of the mid-sized city (MSC). I had never especially intended on ever visiting Tulsa, but as life would have it, I found myself on a road trip to “T-Town.”

After the long drive, I insisted on coffee. On a whim, I suggested we find a local coffee shop having tired of Starbucks high prices for mediocrity. I was immediately impressed by the coffee shop we found, Fairfellow. Its logo was an outline drawing of a cowboy. The logo was simple, eye-catching and memorable. As a marketing student, I was impressed. Upon entering the spacious coffee shop made great use of the light and its design was minimalist and relaxed. The large amount of space suggested a relatively low cost of living, a trait both Tulsa and Richmond share to a relative extent.

Fairfellow Coffee Shop

As the days went by I discovered the city was positively saturated with “artisan” coffee shops. Some shops more scientific in their approach to coffee brewing than others, but all contributing to the culture of the town. Coffee is their art. Art is also their art but coffee especially was a competitive niche within their market. Creativity through the coffee industry is only spurred by the presence of competition. Throughout Tulsa according to an article from Tulsa world there are 119 coffee shops across seven counties in the Tulsa metropolitan area. MSC also clearly take advantage of collaboration within their immediate vicinity. The coffee shops developed much of their aesthetic by featuring art by local artists. Graphic design, social media and communications groups takes advantage of a community surrounded by artistic type. The coffee shop takes advantage of these communication companies by developing their own graphic design brand logo and brand presence. This of course is all a hypothetical reasoning for what researches have called positive benefit spillover, however among other factors it does provide a glimpse into how MSC feed off each other. MSC’s are easily palatable. Well portioned. To follow the analogy, a big city is more comparative to a large buffet, much to offer some things mediocre, some incredible and some not so good. The buffet has much to offer but cannot be fully experienced very easily by the outsider. Mid-sized cities offer more of a three course menu with a few options, much easier to pick and choose with obvious locally grown specialties. To the visiting outsider it provides an environment for people to experience the creative milieu satisfactorily with limited Fear of Missing Out (FOMO.) Of course larger cities provide economies of scale, larger concentrations of skilled workers…etc. MSC’s offer something that’s unique to this generation, they provide the experience seeking millennial a peak into its culture and specialties without leaving them feeling as though they missed out on 50 other experiences throughout the city. Gertler writes of creative cities that they are dynamic rather than homogenous. They brand their culture by taking advantage of their geographic amenities and thus encourage unique non-homogenous, local productions. Researcher, Richard Florida, also makes a well acclaimed strong case for what makes a creative city. He determines, that creative types seek cities that abound in high quality experiences, diversity and above all else a place where they can be validated as creatives; belonging. So let’s get this straight. If creativity is accepted divergent thinking or work within a field and innovation is creative solutions within a field, then high quality experiences are made not only with excellence but at the collaboration of several things coming together. With our coffee shop example, the shops they hone their craft to excellence, they create their aesthetic by featuring local artist work, and finally they develop their brand through graphic design specialist. Their need for innovation is continually challenged by the competition within the area (remember 119 coffee shops throughout Tulsa).

My personal favorite coffee from Cirque in Tulsa. Their draft latte with rosemary simple syrup. Perfection.

This leads to not only one hell of a cup of coffee but a rounded coffee shop experience. MSC’s typically have a craft based on varying environmental, geographic, and cultural factors and are challenged to excellence by local competition.Typically, they take advantage of synergy across fields which lead to more innovation. They have a clear yet dynamic culture. Finally they are easily accessible. All these factors help synthesize visitor experience. They make it easy for visitors to say, “Yeah, I could see myself living here.”

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