By David Tyler
Democrat and Chronicle

(Tuesday, January 29, 2002) -- Change is good, Virginia Postrel believes. The challenge for Rochester, she said, is figuring out how to embrace that change.

Postrel, an author and columnist for Forbes magazine and The New York Times, is keynote speaker today at an economic summit convened by Monroe County Executive Jack Doyle.

In her 1998 book, The Future and Its Enemies, Postrel argues that technological advances can fuel economic growth in nontraditional industries. For example, Los Angeles area leaders were worried about how they would replace jobs lost in the waning aerospace industry when the computer industry started to boom.

"Economic development doesn't always take the road you expect," Postrel said Monday in a phone interview.

Therefore, communities must make economic development efforts beyond providing good roads and schools, she said.

A region must market itself to the world to attract new investment and must create opportunities for local entrepreneurs to exchange ideas, she added.

Smart communities will thrive by making sure one or two failures don't doom their economies, she said.

Postrel's writings have gained a following among both liberals and conservatives. Humorist Dave Barry called her "the smartest person in the universe."

"I think he was using hyperbole," Postrel said.

About 400 business, government and academic leaders have been invited to today's summit at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester.

To read excerpts of Postrel's book, go to www.dynamist.com.