Creativity alone won’t build city: Money will-The Rise of the Creative Class

In economic development
circles these days, Rich
Florida clearly is the thinker
du jour.

His book, The Rise of the Creative Class, generates
mucho buzz. His speaking engagement at the Seawell
Ballroom on Friday was thought-provoking and
well-attended by the city’s cognescenti. I’m just not sure
his ideas are as all-important as some would have us
believe.

Bob Reuteman- Rocky Mountain News

Mainly, his thesis runs along these lines: In the new Information
Economy, knowledge workers want to live and work in places that
provide constant stimuli that comes from diversity of lifestyle, culture,
night life and ethnicity. Cities with these elements will enjoy healthy
economies. Cities without them won’t.

In Florida’s eyes, creativity is a relatively new and huge source of
economic wealth, and the future success of cities will be determined
much more by attracting and retaining people than companies. Putting a
little flesh on those bones, Florida offered these reflections during an
interview last summer on Salon.com:

"Cities have become cities of ideas and cities of consumption. They are
no longer cities of production, and people in Detroit and Pittsburgh keep
thinking, ‘We’re going to have a headquarters, we’re going to have the
stadium, mom and dad are going to come from the suburbs and take
little Johnny to the game, we’re going to have retail.’ That’s just not what
drives a city now. What drives a city we know increasingly are good
places to live, great neighborhoods, great cafes, night life, places to
have fun."

Denver has been moving in Dr. Florida’s directions for at least 15 years,
all the while moving along more traditional eco-devo lines as well. We
have great neighborhoods, cafes and decent night life. And we have new
stadiums and retail, too. But rather than having the best of both these
worlds, we’re sucking a lot of air these days. What truly drives a city is
money, and people have a lot less this year. Excellent restaurants are
going under and companies that employ scores of creative knowledge
workers are closing up shop. It’s just not as simple as Florida would have
us believe.

Florida is a professor of economic development at Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh. He and his grad students have come up with
some city rankings that coincide with his theories. Denver ranks 13th in
his creativity index, which ostensibly ranks technology, talent and
tolerance. Here are the best and worst:

• Top 10 1. San Francisco

2. Austin, Texas

3. Boston

4. San Diego

5. Seattle

6. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

7. Houston

8. Washington, D.C.

9. New York City

10. Minneapolis

• Bottom 10 39. Detroit

40. Providence, R.I.

41. Greensboro, N.C.

42. Oklahoma City

43. New Orleans

44. Grand Rapids, Mich.

45. Louisville, Ky.

46. Buffalo, N.Y.

47. Las Vegas, Nev.

48. Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Va.

49. Memphis, Tenn.

Florida’s most talked-about ranking is the "gay index," in which Denver
ranks 10th. He told Salon.com: "Gays are the canaries of the creative
economy. Where gays are will be a community that has the underlying
preconditions that attract the creative class of people. Gays tend to
gravitate toward the types of places that will be attractive to many
members of the creative class."

I’ll buy that; it makes sense. Florida also previewed a "brainiest cities
index" he is putting together for USA Today. Boulder and Denver both
rank in the top 10. Good news? I guess. But once again, therein lies the
problem: Denver and Boulder apparently house a critical mass of the
creative class, but the brand-new office space between the two cities
sports a 44.6 percent vacancy rate, according to a report released
Wednesday. So where’s the benefit of being on this particular cutting
edge?

I agree with Rob Walker, a writer for Microsoft’s online magazine, Slate,
who wrote about Florida’s book in May: "I don’t mean to imply that
Florida’s book isn’t valuable – it raises a lot of interesting questions. But
it’s up to city-development types to resist the temptation to rely on
too-easy answers."

On his Web site, Florida uses the Milken Institute’s Science and
Technology Index, which rates states in five categories, including
research and development and the tech work force. Overall, Colorado
ranks second.

So many of the elements for a bright future would already seem to be in
place here. But until this business downturn reverses itself, we’re all
dressed up with no place to go. Until we finish suffering our collective
penance for the excesses of the go-go ’90s, we’re all just sitting here,
waiting for the Eco-Godot.

[email protected] or (303)892-5177.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_82_1503779,00.html