on the banks of the mighty daugava

It turns out I’ve visited Riga more than I’ve visited any other city, except the places I've lived.

2010 and 2012 were incredibly depressing visits. Streets completely empty, nothing except chains open anywhere, empty storefronts all over. It felt like we were the only people there between the ages of 16 and 50, everyone else having fled.

2014 was still pretty rotten. Different names on the bank buildings. Streets still pretty empty, and no one young out and about. We found a couple of new businesses, a brewery and a bakery, and wondered who the hell was starting businesses in the middle of a years long depression.

This year I found myself cheering for the place. You walk by a lot of crumbling buildings, but there’s construction happening again. Nearly everywhere we went, we’d hear Latvian, English, and German being spoken. Everyone we saw last time we were here is still here, and busier, and a bunch of new things have opened. The banker-hipster complex has taken root, and however ambivalent I feel about that, it’s a damn sight better than the alternative.

How do you make this city work? This place with no natural resources, shit climate, unremarkable location, and all of Europe to compete with for talent. It felt like a lot of the new endeavors were people saying "we know we're a backwater, and we don't fucking care" - we're just going to make something we feel like making. It doesn't matter if the visions have their roots elsewhere, the desire that gave these places birth is no less authentic, and no less real to us.