A successful start-up community can be measured based on many factors. One of the factors of a thriving start-up community is the ability for that community to attract talented individuals to the area. Why do individuals locate in certain areas versus other areas? One explanation that I have gained from the course, Understanding Start-up Communities, is based on a community’s aptitude for generating an attractive quality of life.

Quality of life, similarly to a successful start-up community, has many elements which can be quantified to shape a broad definition. In order to make a proper assessment of the quality of life of Boulder, Colorado and Austin, Texas, within the five days that our class spent in each community, I decided to focus on three factors. The three factors were,

physical and mental health,

recreation and leisure time,

and social belonging

The first community that our class visited was Boulder. Boulder is a vibrant town of 100,000 people. Boulder’s quality of life is based on the town’s support of locally and naturally grown organic food, hiking in the rocky mountains, and inclusive weekly meetings designed to create supportive relationships within the community.

Boulder is infused with the elegant aromas from the local restaurants. On Sunday, March 8th, the class had the opportunity to eat at one of these restaurants when we met Dale Meyer, PhD for dinner. Dale Meyer is known in the Boulder community as the founding director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship. Dinner was at The Kitchen, a locally originate restaurants. Throughout the dinner, professor Meyer frequently mentioned how much he enjoyed coming to The Kitchen and recommended some dishes for my fellow classmates to try. Dr. Meyer has lived in the same home in Boulder for 40 plus years and continues to be a regular customer at The Kitchen. After dinner we met with a manager of the The Kitchen. The manager explained that most all of the food is naturally and locally grown. The manager  expressed a desire to one day start his own restaurant in Boulder, but with the similar theme of natural and local foods because these elements seem to be heavily demanded within the community. People who come to Boulder, Colorado for the food can enhance their quality of life in regards to physical and mental health because the food selections of the town are very nutrient. (The Kitchen)

Healthy living is contagious within Boulder. Recreation and leisure consists of hiking in the town’s mountainous terrain.

It was impossible for our class to avoid the temptation of going for a hike in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Boulder Colorado. During our hike we collided with  Jon Balck, a Western Michigan University alumni. Jon Balck is the president of  Victors and Spoils in Boulder. Jon was attracted to Boulder because it could increase his quality of life in the recreational activity of  hiking. The inclusiveness within the community is another element that describes the quality of life in Boulder.

(John Balck and Jill Puckett)

One example of inclusiveness playing a role in the social acceptance factor of the community’s quality of life was demonstrated by the Boulder Open Coffee Club. Anyone may attend the Boulder Open Coffee Club  and can discuss their ideas, status of their ideas, and current events as it relates to their ideas. These types of meetings allow socially diverse people to feel welcomed by the community. Inviting the participation of diverse people into an established group is an example of inclusiveness, which in turn  increases quality of life for the diverse minded. Following the five days spent in Boulder, the next community that our class observed was Austin.

Austin is an alluring city of 900,000. Austin’s quality of life is based on the city’s advocacy for transitioning into a more environmentally sustainable area, the lure of the delicious food and pleasant music , as well as the city’s embracement of diversity.

Although the state of Texas has a reputation of drilling for oil, the Austin community is making strides to transition into a more environmentally sustainable area. On Wednesday, March 11, the class visited the Austin Technology Incubator and the incubator’s Co-Director  Mitch Jacobson. Mitch described how the incubator has been allocating most of its resources to improving the environment of Austin. This accelerator attracts groups  to Austin who are dedicated to a quality of life focused on improving the environment. Environmental sustainability falls within the area of improving physical and mental health of a community.

(MCC building – home of Austin Technology incubator)

Another display of the community’s quality of life is centered around the community’s leisure and recreational activities.

Austin’s leisure and recreational activities include the compelling lure of delicious food and pleasant music. Everyone that our class met in Austin including, Mitch Jacobson from Austin Technology Incubator, Kevin Koym from Tech Ranch, and Kenneth Cho from People Pattern all highly recommend that the class experience the food and music scene. The food is very diverse and is often served from food trucks. While grabbing a variety of foods from various food trucks in the downtown area, music can be heard from all over. Austin is the home of South by South West, which has come to be known as one of the biggest music festivals in the world. Members of the Austin community love their food and music and thus play a very big role into the community’s quality of life. As seen in Boulder, Austin is a very inclusive location.

Austin’s city slogan is keep it weird. The city manager, Marc Ott, feels that this slogan allows people from all groups to express themselves and thus comfortably reveal innovation within the community. The theory of keeping Austin weird is very much in practice within the community.  In Austin, weird is truthfully another way of saying tolerance and inclusion. An example of tolerance and inclusion in Austin was observed with the success of food trucks versus the traditional sit down restaurants. Austin’s start-up economic success can be associated with the “weirdness” element attracting the support of a creative class quality of life.

Quality of life exists in every community. The quality of life necessary to drive a successful start-up community does not always exist. Based on the broad overall similarities in quality of life among successful start-up communities, such as Boulder and Austin, it is fair to say that quality of life has an essential role in the framework of a successful community. The three elements making up the communities quality of life that was observed in Boulder and Austin were physical and mental health, leisure and recreational activity, and social belonging.