by Brien Sörne
Tallahassee Talks with Brien Sörne began broadcasting in February 2011. Five years and nearly 1,500 conversations later, I am clearly aware of the cultural and
intellectual diversity of people this little town possesses. I have talked with them about their work, their dreams and their lives. They have talked about their inspirations, their determination and frustrations. Our conversations have included the most common concerns and the most isolated discoveries. The list of these people includes some of the most well known and those most obscure. Of course, a few of these conversations stand out in my mind as the most memorable, but all of them have brought to me a remarkable, even unexpected, renewal of my faith in our future as a community. That’s a significant contrast from my prior opinion.
To be quite honest, in my early days as a graduate student at FSU, I didn’t care much for this place. I used to joke about my first impression having moved here
from Seattle in 1978. “I knew that Tallahassee was in a different time zone,” I would quip, “I just didn’t realize it was two decades back.” I was unimpressed by
a place that seemed dusty, dried-out and disconnected from the rest of the world. And the attitudes among the people I met seemed as detached. My early experiences as a business owner did not help. One colleague told me, “Tallahassee is five years behind the east coast and ten years behind the west coast—on everything.” In technologies, business, entertainment, government, recreation, even language, Tallahassee was stuck in old-timey thinking. That was nearly 40 years ago.
During those 40 years, my wife and I raised four children, started a business, founded a non-profit family-assistance organization, and created several charitable
annual events. And during all that time, a lot of other people did just the same and more. This collective investment in “community” encouraged openness to new ideas and strategies in spite of the old, controlled ways as we all sought to create a more desirable place to live. And then something else happened. Across the country, young professionals began preferring communities like Tallahassee that offered the lifestyle choices they were looking for, especially those that were known to be family-oriented. And for that, Tallahassee had long been recognized nationally. This in-migration accelerated and diversity increased by every measure. Moreover, it was welcomed among those of us who had this long history of community investment. The old money, power and property owners could not stop it, and collaboration began winning over competition in achieving shared objectives.
Forty years later, we have come to what might be described as our adolescence. Tallahassee is like that young teenager who has entered upon a time of self-realization. Having listened to what everyone else has told her to believe about who she is, it is time for her to find for herself her true identity. Some have advised her to mimic other cities like Austin, Madison and Boulder. Still, others have said she will never be more than a company town that derives its identity from governmental and educational institutions. And yet, there is this brilliant hope and a steady yearning to be more, to be unique, to be genuine, that has been brought on by this rich diversity taking root in the soil of our collective investment in community.
New churches, schools, business groups, recreational choices, entertainment, restaurants and even additional nightlife options are the result. Loyalties to a larger community purpose are overriding proprietary protectionism. As she comes into her own, we can expect Tallahassee to favor the further sharing of talents and resources across the old boundaries. It is likely, we will see churches and governments, schools and hospitals sharing resources and working together for the common good while a multitude of businesses and organizations, celebrations and festivals spring from the minds of people who have discovered that diversity is our hope, not a hindrance.
Brien R. Sörne is the host of “Tallahassee Talks with Brien Sörne” which airs Saturdays 9 a.m. on 93.3FM and Saturdays 9:30 p.m. on Moose Magnificat online radio.
