Life 2.0
How People Across America are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness
Richard Karlgaard

Book Review

Life 2.0: How People Across America are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness by Richard Karlgaard - Buy Now From Amazon

Reviewed by Marty Vanags

When I moved into my house in May, it came with a rickety old porch swing that, frankly, had seen its best days. This porch swing might be able to hold a small child, but I could not see it holding my large girth, and I couldn't see how it would provide much relaxation for me. Note that I mention a porch swing, because the most exciting thing about this house, or at least one of the most exciting things, was this nice little porch which provided a perch from which to slowly watch the world go by on lazy summer afternoons while enjoying a cold one. Whether I was sitting in a porch swing or the wicker chair that I subsequently purchased for my porch-sitting activities, I noted that the neighborhood was filled with 1930s and 1940s-style homes; most of them with some type of porch from which to enjoy the neighborhood. Our community is filled with these porches, and even when one wanders out into the newer neighborhoods on the east side or the older ones on the west, one would always expect a porch,  a porch swing or at least someone sitting on the "stoop," as we called it when I was a kid. We are that kind of town - a porch swing, front-stoop kind of town.

Richard Karlgaard, publisher and columnist for Forbes magazine, has either sat on a porch or understood what this community was like when he wrote Life 2.0: How People Across America are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness - a long title for a book about how the author spent a summer flying across America as a newly-minted pilot discovering the apparently healthy economy in the "middle" part of the country, and the obviously successful businesses and companies thriving in what many people on the left and right coasts think is a barren wasteland. Karlgaard describes a "porch-swing" community as one designed for "families in search of that Norman Rockwell hometown feeling -vintage Americana suffused by parades, country fairs and summer evenings playing kick-the-can."  I haven't seen too many kids playing kick-the-can in my new neighborhood; in fact, most kids these days would be hard-pressed to describe the game, but nevertheless, we all know the type of place Karlgaard refers to is a community like Bloomington-Normal.

Porch-Swing Communities ranking highest on Karlgaard's list include Ashland, Oregon; Bismarck, North Dakota; Columbia, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; and Punta Gorda, Florida. Bloomington-Normal makes the second tier list of other porch-swing communities to consider. Obviously, Karlgaard thinks Porch-Swing communities are great family places to live, and he defies the sociologists and urban economists by coming up with his own set of categories that he believes are descriptive of great places to live and to which people are moving to escape urban crime, traffic and stress. Other categories include Happy Hootervilles (best small towns or "pocket size" porch-swing communities); IQ Campuses (emerging centers of biotech and infotech); Steroid Cities (fast-growing, business-friendly metro areas); Bohemian Bargains (lively inner cities); and Telecommuting Heavens (where to work in your underwear).

There are people who believe the town or city they live in is the best place to live. People engaged in economic development, tourism or chamber of commerce activity not only believe this to be true, but work every day to make others believe it as well.  Others you ask may tell you that their hometown is the worst place to live, that there is nothing to do, or there are not enough recreational, cultural or social outlets and activities in which to partake. Karlgaard points out in his book that you have a choice. The book is peppered with stories of individuals that have decided to move to the place that they felt offered them the best of all worlds. The cost of living in major cities and large urban areas is high. Stress, commutes, crime, poor schools and inflated costs for everything have more and more people pointed in the direction of communities that Karlgaard has categorized in this book.  In today's America one can move anywhere they want and enjoy the lifestyle they want in the community they want. Of course, if you have the means it is easier to do than if you are poor, and considering the author is the publisher of Forbes, I doubt he was writing this as a guidebook for the poor to pull themselves out of poverty.

The topic of Hootervilles, Porch-Swing Communities, Steroid Cities and the like come at an interesting time in our country. We are all worried about the economy, the stock market and the pending and likely severe recession and are bombarded constantly with news about all of these topics. While the experts say the stock market will rise again, our 401(k)s and IRAs will come back and don't look at our portfolio but once a year, the news channels and media are constantly giving us the stock market readings on an hourly basis. Mixed message? Hard to comprehend, or even decide what to do. While our community will not be totally immune from the pending economic difficulties, we can rest assured that like many other communities like ours we will not suffer as badly. This is due mainly to the type of employers we have and the fact that our "bubbles," whether in housing or other parts of the market, have not been as extreme.

Coupled with a new presidential administration which promises "change" and now news that our domestic auto industry is about to fail, can we be buoyed by the idea that somehow we are immune from all this if we just sit on our porches and watch kids play kick-the-can? Are we destined to take in an influx of west and east coast urbanite refugees? If those same Wall Street bankers and West Coast entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley get fed up with their expensive lifestyles, are we prepared to welcome them here, and will they accept the lifestyle we enjoy in the Midwest? Or, will they change us? Hopefully, a little of both would happen. Hopefully, they will have read Karlgaard's book and will understand the opportunities that lie within communities like Bloomington-Normal.

If you are reading this from your porch swing then you are not in Bloomington-Normal, because as I am writing this I can look out the window and see that it is cold, the trees are leafless and it is a balmy 37 degrees. But if you can imagine sitting out on your porch swing a couple months ago, then you already know what Karlgaard is talking about in his book. Cities and towns like ours are in the driver's seat during this current economic downturn. We are doing the right things in economic development and in progressively planning our community so that as the economy does improve we will be ready to grow and prosper even more. 

If you are a pilot you will enjoy Karlgaard's descriptions of flying through thunderstorms and over mountains and rough landings and small landings. This, I believe, makes this book more interesting than others of its type. And, although it is clear that the author is working with and has vast experience in the  big-time business world, he also makes clear his affinity for the Midwest and slower paced life away from the large urban centers. Karlgaard is the first to admit that his research into the communities he has categorized is not wholly scientific; he also isn't afraid to take a few shots (and then provide a few kudos) to popular authors such as Richard Florida and other popular urban writers and economists. This book reads well, and if you don't already like where you live, it will be a great book to help you figure out where to relocate. If you are happy with your circumstances, you will find stories and anecdotes in this book that you will be able to identify with and confirm for yourself that you are in the right place.

(Reviewer's note:  I first read this book after hearing Mr. Karlgaard speak at the International Economic Development Council's annual meeting in 2005. I recently reread it for the purposes of this review and in anticipation of Mr. Karlgaard's appearance at the 2008 EDC Annual Breakfast Meeting.)