Duluth and Helsinki forever — and maybe Stockholm too

I attended a screening of Helsinki Forever, a 2008 montage of video clips taken by Finnish documentary and feature film makers over the past 100 years. It opens with this scene from the 1920s.

After a bit of Websurfing I came upon this CNN report on underground Helsinki. What Helsinki is doing stands in stark contrast to what Duluth is doing, especially when I routinely read comments by prospective out-of-town developers that Duluth is an expensive place in which to build. Maybe they need to throw out their outdated rulebook. Take a look at this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXNyEiw28D0

When Involta announced its intention to build a data center in Duluth, I posted some online comments in the DNT highlighting the brilliant opportunties offerred by the abundant and accessible bedrock. Wikileaks’ server is in a former nuclear bunker in Stockholm deep in the bedrock.

Does America need to look to the Old Country for innovation?

6 Comments

  1. wildgoose on December 1, 2012 at 8:28 pm

    I spent New Year’s Eve in Helsinki one year. The whole town was drunk. The whole town.

    But that is not exactly a slam. It’s very efficient, beautiful, orderly and modern. I remember a great mass transit system for example. Imagine that, northern people with great mass transit. I don’t doubt for a second that they are great planners with an eye to the future and sustainability.

  2. Shane Shane on December 2, 2012 at 1:00 am

    Helsinki and Stockholm are both the capital and largest cities in their respective countries. Not really comparable to Duluth in national stature.

  3. DaVe DaVe on December 2, 2012 at 3:44 am

    Very interesting. Where did you watch the film? Seems people were a bit less safety- conscious around ice-breakers back then, Yikes!

  4. wildgoose on December 2, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    Many differences, many similarities, Shane. But that’s an important point.

  5. adam adam on December 2, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    One of Wikileaks’ servers. They colocate as well as being heavily mirrored.

  6. Shane Shane on December 2, 2012 at 5:53 pm

    No real similarities, other than being located in a region with snow.

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