Forbes Magazine’s listing of Cleveland as one of the “Bohemian Bargains” gets under the skin of Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready (or was it George Nemeth?), and I certainly agree that being known as a “cheap” place to live instead of a great, “cool” place to live is irritating, but why does it have to be an either/or?

Why not both/and?

When I decided to move here nearly three years ago it was because of a number of factors, including the great arts and recreational opportunities as well as the cost of living relative to where we were before (NJ/NYC, where a commute into the city took the same amount of time as driving to Columbus). This paragraph from the Forbes article sums it up nicely:

“Cleveland has cleaned up since its polluted Cuyahoga River famously caught fire in 1969. The city is clean, green and surprisingly sophisticated. The creative offerings here rival many larger cities. The symphony, the Museum of Art, and the theater scene are all phenomenal.”

It doesn’t sound to me as if Forbes is touting the area for being cheap. It sounds to me like they’re touting it for being both cool AND affordable.

(Hmmm, maybe somebody’s glass is half-empty again…I’d be happy to top it off for you with your choice of Great Lakes beer, George–you’re one of the top assets we have here in the region, and I want your glass to always be full.)

As a newcomer to the region I’ve noticed that a lot of people who grew up here still have open emotional wounds about the region’s decline from its prime. Which is completely understandable. But regions and nations are subject to long (40-50 year) economic cycles, and a big part of my decision to come here was to be in the right place geographically as we move into a new information-based economic cycle.

So why not move to Silicon Valley if I think the next big wave is information-based? As another part of the Forbes article observes, “How 20th century.”

“This is the 21st century, man! Today you can enjoy the best of both worlds:

1. Live where you want.
2. Get paid like you’re in a big city
3. Never be isolated or bored.

“Say you’re a bright knowledge worker and have spent a decade or more in your industry, sharpening your skills, making the right contacts. You earn a decent salary on the metro coast, but those dollars just don’t stretch like they used to. So you decide to shake off the costly coastal infrastructure and relocate to a cheaper rural region. But you maintain your ties to the larger metro area and pull down the same amount of money as you did when you were living in Profligate Corners. In other words, you still harvest your dollars from Silicon Valley, Washington and New York, but now you spend and invest them in Bend or Boise [editorial edition on my part: or Cleveland!].

“Congratulations! You are a true 21st century man or woman! You are a Geographic Arbitrageur! Thanks to computers, Fed-Ex, cell phones, but mostly the broadband Web, you can do this.”

To learn more about the secrets of geographic arbitrage, go here. Or just talk to George–he’s a perfect living, breathing example of a Geographic Arbitrageur.