Jacob Christensen

Matt Yglesias suddenly took an interest in moose stew (something to do with Alaska, I’d guess) and immediately crashed a recipe site.

Moose actually tastes quite good and I’ll miss the sliced moose meat that I could buy in my local supermarket in Umeå. Reindeer isn’t that bad, either.

The photo was taken some weeks ago but WordPress gave me the option of posting this at the exact time my train leaves.

Nostalgia-blooging here. The place has some importance for me: Back in 1999 it was Il Fratello, a reasonably upmarket Italian restaurant, and it was here I had my first dinner in Umeå.

Later it became a pub, known as Lottas Krog (Lotta’s Inn)

I ought to take some photos of this at some point: I have buses in liveries from Stockholm, Gävle and Jönköping as well as Umeå passing at regular intervals on the road outside. There is a logical explanation, but it is still weird.

Did you catch it? If not, the camera’s site is here.

This is what you’ll see if you stay up working on an article for too long on a late night at the end of May.

In his blog, Västerbottens-Kuriren’s political editor Ola Nordebo asks if Umeå has any suburbs.

My immediate answer is: No, Umeå cannot have any suburbs because the town itself has the feeling of being a suburb. When I go to central Umeå, I always have – and always have had – the feeling of visiting a suburban shopping centre while the real centre is somewhere else. I can’t say where exactly, but one of my colleagues recently put this note on his whiteboard:

Gone to Sundsvall. The only place in Norrland that doesn’t look like a village.

Size, of cause, plays a role. Umeå proper only has some 75.000 inhabitants¹ and there are limits to how much action you can squeeze out of a place like that. And it really is too small to sustain suburbs in the true meaning of the word.

On the other hand, I’m still left with the impression that Umeå is stuck somewhere between the small town it used to be forty years ago and the city it wants to be. It has lost the Norrlandish charm but not really gained a true identity.

Oh, and speaking of suburbs: When I have the choice, I’d much rather go shopping in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen than in Umeå. Lyngby is a true suburb, but even that can be a bit lacking in the charm department. At least on a Sunday.

1. Sundsvall clocks in at a measly 50.000, in case you wonder [↩]

’nuff said.

I note that the multi-event-arena rage plans have been resurrected here in Umeå and the local newspaper asks the question “Does Umeå need a multi-purpose arena?”.

I’ll just repeat my earlier argument.

Executive summary: If it is intended as an instrument for economic and demographic development, then no. If private investors want to throw money in the project, then go ahead. Make their day.

Update: Here’s a sceptical local politician. From a political science perspective the question about how such projects are made and decided is indeed interesting.

PS: The same issues actually also applies to the opera and symphony orchestra.

I’ve promised myself since – oh, forever – that I ought to write a post about Umeå’s population policies and as you’ve probably guessed never actually done it. But when VK’s political editor asked the simple question “How many people live in Umeå in 2050“, I couldn’t help make a guess:

125.000 (provided that the administrative borders are the same in 2050 as today – which I doubt) against 111.700 at the end of 2007. (Source: SCB)

That is a bit below the more or less officially stated goal of 150.000 (or was that 200.000?). At one point I will explain why I think 150.000 inhabitants is a sensible goal and why I think it will be difficult to reach.

Promise.