Soon you will start to see schools, and then media coverage about schools, in downtown dense communities.

The Milwaukee Journal did a story about the return of condo buying in its downtown area, prompting one person to write:  "Between the lakefront, river, historical architecture and proximity to Chicago, Milwaukee has too many assets to not thrive. If we could only get a decent public school down there people could walk to, the area would really take off...."

Urban areas will soon see a resurgence of "decent public schools down there"  that children can walk to, just like their Gen Y parents walk to work, light rail, shops and stores.  A NINE SHIFT TOP PREDICTION OF 2013

Co-author Julie in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia, last month

Not just education is in a new trial-and-error phase when many experiments are being tried. Transportation is also in that phase.

There's flying cars. Hybrid cars. Electric cars.  Electric trains. Light rail. 110 mph trains. 220 mph trains. Last week a 330 mph train was tested.  New York City's bike-share program is being "tested," with huge ridership but tons of software problems.  

And this week a "flying bicycle" premiered in Prague. The BBC was there to cover it. And then the BBC noted the historical parallel with 100 years ago, noting:

And in the early 20th Century, among the very first "flying machines" were bicycles with wings attached to the frame - what became known as aviettes.

They did not really fly, but rather hopped above ground, or glided, having been first powered by fierce pedalling.

Photo: Window of train in Ljubljana, Slovenia, inviting passengers to take their bikes on the train. Both trains and bikes will 'win' in the 21st century.

 

Gen Y is into high tech and the new economy. Gen Y is into social change and causes. Can they co-exist?

Last month our friend Irena hosted a dinner for us in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and invited her son Nick and his girl friend to join us.  The conversation was fascinating.

She works for a high tech new economy company with web sites and international markets.  He works for a union advocating for political change.  Both are typical of millions of other Gen Yers their own age.
Can the entrepreneurial capitalist company of the new economy co-exist with the social change and social causes of the new society?  What do you think?

Will McDonald's survive in the 21st Century? Tell us what you think.

Sears made the transition from the Agrarian Age to the Industrial Age 100 years ago. The circus, and countless businesses you've never heard of, did not.

USA Today had a great story recently about all the challenges McDonald's faces in transforming itself from the last century to the new world of this century. 

McDonald's has totally change the goods (burgers) and services (suburbia) and values (fast food, cars, factories, etc.) of the last century to the goods (healthy), services (downtown, near trains and light rail) and values (environmentally friendly, pro-charity, different ambience) of this century. 

It's not going to be easy.  Will McDonald's survive and thrive like Sears, or not-so-much like the circus? What do you think?

Our friend Irena buying fresh bread (and fresh vegetables and fresh fish) in the market in Ljubljana, Slovenia, last month.

  Here's the meal she made for us.

Will corporations giving to charity convince Gen Y to like them?

Like other corporations, McDonald's has read that Gen Y likes social causes and charity (they do). And according to a great USA Today story recently, McDonald's also has realized it's entire future lies with Gen Y.

One way McDonald's and other corporations is trying to lure Gen Y is by giving to charity, or encouraging Gen Y to give to their charity. Very ironic since McDonald's and other corporations exist only for, and are legally required to think only about, profit and profit$. Will devoting a small portion of their profit$ to chairty convince Gen Y to patronize them?  What do you think?

Where Gen Y is at.  Train station in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  Gen Y is there, so is McDonad's.  Photo by Nine Shift staff photographer Doyle Darvis.

The economic, demographic and business pressure for trains is so great trains are even advancing in Tea Party states.

Last week, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced it will continue with planning for better and faster train service between the Twin Cities and Chicago. 

The route is almost entirely in Wisconsin, whose current governor opposes rail expansion. But the Twin Cities and Chicago are two powerful economic hubs of the 21st century that need trains, and are determined to get them.

More Republicans, and more Republican run states, will continue to support trains.  They know (or will find out) that without getting onboard with trains their states will be left economically standing at the station.

Train day last month with packed crowds at the recently rennovated Union Depot in St. Paul, Minnesota. Passengers in the Twin Cities will board Amtrak here starting later this year.  Empty now, the depot will look like this every day for the rest of this century.

A big new phase in the war between roads and rail began last week. It's good news for the 21st century.

Last week, the Wisconsin PIRG published a report titled "Road Overkill," outlining the billions of tax dollars citizens of that (our) state are paying for unneeded roads. Driving is declining, not increasing, even in a state with little train service. And the demographics all point to driving continuing to decline for the rest of the century. 

It marks a new phase in the decline of cars, and the rise of trains: the battle over the budget in funding each.  As driving continues to decline it will be even harder to justify all the road building.

Here's why the suicide rate has jumped for men in their fifties: it's all over.

A few years ago I was talking to a lumber truck driver who told me, "It's all over." He was 56, had only a high school degree, was making very little money in his full time job, and clearly saw there was no future for him.

The high suicide rate for men in their fifties right now is because they too, with only a high school degree and no factory jobs to give them a decent living, understand that it's all over.

Men more than women see work as their life.  When we lived in Kansas and farm families were losing their farms left and right, it was only the husband who committed suicide.  The Industrial Age IS OVER, just like the farm life for millions of 8th grade educated adults 100 years ago was ending. For high school educated people today, their way of life IS OVER. 

Would you load this truck for $10? That's what the lumber truck driver was paid to load it - ten bucks. Not $10 an hour, just a flat ten bucks. For anyone with just a high school degree, it's over.

 

The Tea Party is not dead. But it will be after the 2016 elections.

Like Y2K, by 2020 only a few people will remember the Tea Party aside from historians.

The decision this week of Michelle Bachman, one of the Tea Party's biggest leaders and supporters, not to run again is another indication of the decline. The biggest indication of course is Gen Y, which has no interest in $2 a gallon gas or fuel wasting light bulbs, two of Bachman's big causes.  The war between the Industrial Age of the last century and the Knowledge Society of this century goes on, with the Tea Party still the symbol of the former and Gen Y the ruler of the latter.  But after this week it's easier to see who will win.

Photo: window in abandoned building in tiny town near us.

The new Delta safety video is really funny. Spend 4 minutes watching it.

Two take-aways:
1.It is totally geared towards Gen Y, evidence that Gen Y is a huge market for airlines. Despite the myth that young people are not travelling, the train and airline folk know better.
2.Tracy King of the American Academy of Neurology says that captivating interest helps the brain learn. Even us frequent fliers closely watched this video on a recent flight, so the pedagogy is sound. "Bells and whistles" really help!  Take a look: