Economic Development, Parisian Style

A full-page advertisement in Paris newspapers read: " 'You have 15 days to leave Paris.' The mysterious message was neither a warning nor a threat. It was the launch of a clever advertising campaign by the government of Lot-et-Garonne, a verdant and sunny district of the Aquitaine region in southwest France that is seeking an infusion of entrepreneurial energy and young families... The program... clearly struck a nerve. And it exposed a demographic phenomenon -- and an urban malaise -- that might surprise the millions of tourists who flock to the French capital each year: A lot of Parisians are leaving. And a lot more would like nothing better than to see the Eiffel Tower in their rear-view mirror."

Thanks to Chris Steins