LowRoad

ThoughtStorms Wiki

The idea, from HowBuildingsLearn is that "nobody cares what you do in there".

Buildings which are cheap, functional and flexible. Often taken over by the young artists, small companies, subcultures that are ambitious or growing. They appreciate the freedom that the building offers to be adapted to their requirements, and in return make the building exciting.

Parallels :

Musically, cheap populist genres allow anything to be tried. Imports from other styles, new instruments and recording techniques.(MusicalEcology)

The same is true of whole districts or towns which are adopted by an ethnic minority, gays or bohemians. (CreativeClass)

Opposed to HighRoad buildings

Analysis : WhatLowAndHighRoadMayHaveInCommon

Is there a relation between this and DisruptiveTechnology? The idea that the buildings support growth reminds us there's PlentyOfRoomAtTheBottom and you can grow by growing with a platform.

Horrible thought. Maybe the poor are low road people. (OnPoverty) No-one cares what you do to them. And their desperation makes them flexible and accept higher risk. For this reason, you can get a lot of value out of the poor. And the poor are likely to come up with many of your innovations. (That's how some of them get rich.) On the other hand, TheMiddleClass are doomed.

PaulGraham on why good ideas come from the margins : (Maybe http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html (Maybe compare with the idea of CreativeFriction at borders in TheOnlySustainableEdge)