The IE Gets Some Respect

About time.

Michael Rappaport of the Daily Bulletin quotes Ira Jackson, dean of the Drucker business school at Claremont Graduate University: "With a population the size of Oregon's and a growth rate comparable to Phoenix, the Inland Empire is an increasingly important political, cultural and economic reality." So the Drucker school is holding a conference entitled "The Inland Empire: Commercial Development and Economic Realism."

Even though everyone supposedly knows the IE is growing and getting wealthier by the minute, one still finds people consistently underrating the area in various way. For instance, when the upscale, outdoor Victoria Gardens mall was built in Rancho Cucamonga, many retailers put in the their b-line merchandise and medium size stores. It wasn't long before the world discovered (why was this a surprise?) that there were lots of shoppers out that way who were sick of having to drive back towards Los Angeles, and retailers realized their mistake.