The Creative Class Will Save Us? (pt. 1)
(author’s note: My masters is in Historic Preservation, so I studied a bit about urban planning. Unbeknownst to many, what I do (or did, and will do again) is actually a big part of urban planning and economic development. This is probably the first of many blogs about this topic because I find it so interesting! To be honest, I don’t care to read about politics which is why my blogs have been about drag queens and meatwiches. However, I do like to read intellectual theories (the movers and the shakers) and their analysis of today’s economic climate. So as I read up on it, I’ll let you know what I find. It’s fascinating stuff, I promise.)
Imagine a world where you wake up, put on a comfortable outfit, walk into work without fear of being reprimanded for following someone else’s antiquated rules of “professionalism,” and start your day doing a job that you absolutely love. This is a job where you are free to be creative, free to speak your mind (politely, mind you), free to object, free to contribute; a job with little fear of your ideas being squelched by upper management. Now, step outside of your office, or studio, or apartment and look around you. People are skateboarding, biking, running, having conversations, sharing ideas, producing a creative energy that makes people want to live and stay in your city. People are happy. Everyone is free to be themselves; to be creative. This in turn, produces innovative technology, and art, music, and breakthroughs in science…
Does this sound too good to be true? Some people think it might be.
Richard Florida doesn’t. He’s the guy that came up with this utopia dream. Florida, who has a PhD in urban planning from Columbia University has researched and studied for years the theory that a rise in the creative class is shifting the economy. Like right now at this moment. And it is imperative that we prepare for it. What is the creative class? According to Mr. Florida, it is composed of scientists and engineers, university professors, poets and architects, and also includes “people in design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and/or creative content.” If you don’t fit into this category, no worries, the crux of Florida’s argument is here is that EVERYONE has that capability of being creative. Nobody is exempt. For example, you might be an electrician. This doesn’t mean you don’t have new ideas to contribute to the titillating world of light bulbs and wall wires. Because we know you do!
Why is there a shift? Well, Mr. Florida takes us back to the year 1900, when more than half of the population in the U.S. worked in or around agriculture. A few people worked in the industrial center and less than 5% worked in the creative industry (this includes design, art, entertainment, culture, etc.) As time went on, more and more people left the farm and started working in factories and in more city-based areas. By 1950, more than half of the population worked in the industrial segment of the economy. Farming became more mechanized as technology was growing. But still there was less than 10% of the population working in the creative sector of the economy. The technology boom of the 1980s to the mid 2000s created 25 million new jobs in the creative industry. Manufacturing jobs were and are still declining in number. (And farms? What are farms? ) Currently about a third of the jobs today are creative jobs: science, design, research, art, to name a few. According to Mr. Florida, this recent shift in the economy has changed the kind of communities we want to live in, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the…way we do our hair…
Now, to prepare ourselves for this paradigm shift, change starts at the local level. Cities must abide by Mr. Florida’s “3 T’s: Technology, Talent, and Tolerance.” Technology is important for obvious reasons. Talent must be encouraged and young people must be welcomed and supported, not turned away from employers from lack of experience. These young people have new ideas and fresh energy! Why turn them away? It is also imperative that cities become open-minded and willing to accept all people: gay, straight, Mexican, Irish, black, white…whatever. As Mr. Florida notes, one of the great things about America is the fact that this country was the first to open its doors to immigrants. That’s how we got people like Carnegie, Einstein, Pulitzer, etc. These people all helped shape America and they came from other places! After all, we are the melting pot!
OH MY GOD. Isn’t this fascinating??!!
So, in a nutshell, Richard Florida is this guy who came up with this idea that the “creative class” needs to be nurtured and enticed to different cities throughout the country. This creative energy will then somehow increase productivity, create jobs, stimulate economic growth and lift America back to its feet!! Instead of creating dividing lines, Florida is suggesting that this creative energy will break barriers and create productive conversations that come up with solutions to this big ole mess we made with our economy.
Now, I know that this theory isn’t fool proof. But think about it for a minute; let it marinate. Thoughts?
Next blog: Why people don’t like Richard Florida.
