The Florida Zone

[June 8th, 2005] The Rise of the Creative Class author Richard Florida created a stir in certain circles in Portland by claiming that the so-called "creative class," some 30 percent of this country's labor force, is the key to future economic prosperity. He contended that the old notion that "people follow jobs" is only half true. Instead, he preached that jobs follow bright, creative, well-educated people, and attentiveness to such creative innovators ought to be at the center of a city's economic-development efforts.

If you came late to the conversation, you can read Florida's newest offering, The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent, and not miss a beat. Everything he has said before is repeated in this book.

In Flight, Florida takes the opportunity to answer his critics, of whom there are many on both the left and right of the political-economic spectrum, while laying out an analysis of how the country's political reality doesn't reflect today's global economic climate. Most urgently, he argues that American cities, including Portland, are on the cusp of losing their attractiveness for well-educated future innovators to international cities such as Dublin, Ireland, or Wellington, New Zealand.

Much of this is argument is not new, and much remains debatable. However, Florida's particular genius—he's a regional-economic-development theorist, now at George Mason University—is to provide evidence that place matters in a global economy. For those of us in Portland, where place matters a lot, this is encouraging.

What can we learn from a thoughtful consideration of the Florida zone? Perhaps the author's most important message is about the importance of truly urban, culturally diverse environments as the place where creative people meet and exchange ideas through informal networks.

Being accessible and open to new ideas and people is essential for drawing those highly productive "creatives" who can locate anywhere in the world to this region. Portlanders should read the book for that reason alone, and then think about what we can do to be known globally as the place where everyone matters. According to Florida, we don't have much time.

Seltzer is the director of Portland State University's Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning and board chair of the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art.