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Cosmopolii
R. Alex Whitlock
A while back I
FURLed a couple of articles relating to Richard Florida's Creative Class. The Creative Class is an idea by Richard Florida (whom I've discussed
before) that says that it's not low taxes or less regulation that attract people but rather artsy culture and tolerance and diversity. Amazingly, these theories have proven very popular with urban liberals who don't mind taxes, like regulation, and really like artsy culture. I'm not sure which predated which, but Florida's ideas can be pretty closely tied to the whole "World Class City" idiocy that has recently infected Houston.
Which is why I don't like the theory very much.
Which is really kind of funny because I do value in a city many of the same things that he does as far as art centers and whatnot go. The amenities that large cities have is probably what I miss most about Houston. Houston ranks #7 on Florida's
Creative Class Index behind six college towns (or cities right by college towns) including Austin, which is #2 and a city I wouldn't have minded living in.
But a good argument can be made that Florida's theories don't hold water
under scrutiny. As the saying goes, corrolation does not equal causation. It's my guess that these cities didn't attract people because they flow money into the arts that young people are interested in, but rather money started going to the arts because a lot of young people started moving to these towns which were "hot" for other reasons (related to industry).
But regardless, I don't think you can fake culture any more than you can fake being World Class. You are or you aren't based on your city's position in the world economy, not whether or not you have a seven mile stretch of under-utilized light rail. People most often move to find work rather than be where it's cool to be. Those that do the latter are often not the kind of employees that large businesses (outside of dot-com) are particularly interested in.
None of this is to knock Houston or Austin, of course. Austin, I think, came by its nature pretty honestly by virtue of the 50,000 college students that live there. Houston, I think, would be surprised to learn that it values the arts. But one of the greatest things about Houston, in my view, is how many things it is without trying really hard to be them (until the whole World Class fever hit, anyway).
But however much I may want a city that is more lively than bland, I'd rather live in Oklahoma City with a job than Seattle without one.
[links found via Dustbury]
Observations
Well, if I were in any way involved with the performing arts (in particular), I'd be pushing the "World Class City" meme for all it was worth. Here's a guy telling people they need to do exactly what I'd want them to do already!
It's easy to overlook the fact that, because arts news is commensurate with business news, arts people (as a whole) have at least as much ability to promulgate their agendas through the media as do business people (as a whole).
I personally make moving decisions based far more on non-economic than economic considerations (note my lower-middle class income in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country).
That said, I think the most successful cities will have a combination of business-friendly policies and employee-friendly arts & culture. After all businesses and employees kinda need one another for the whole economic development thing to work.
I've also been under the assumption that your work there is a lot preferable to geological things for (for instance) a big oil company. Point taken, though. Eel and I are going to be looking hard at the "feel" of a place. We'd like to find a town where there are things to do. But thanks to her career we will have more options than most. If it were my career, I'd be more inclined to settle down somewhere that just has access to a large city which will generally have at least enough culture for me. The biggest issue being career (not only the job I get, but the chances of my finding another job locally if I'm laid off).
I think the bigger issues for families, though, is jobs and affordability. I think a factor that Florida completely bypasses (is somewhat hostile to, actually) is the necessity for suburbs, which facilitates a lot of growth. It's no mistake that the fastest growing cities out west (Houston, Phoenix, Oklahoma City) are sprawling ones. Cities that are actually a collection of cities with a hub (like Salt Lake City and Boise) will probably fare particularly well. Though that's all speculation.
I think a place that has business-friendly policies enough to attract of cultivate businesses that employ professional class workers will ultimately cultivate an art culture on its own. If Salt Lake City can have a liberal arts district, I'd say just about any large city can. While some public subsidy may be necessary, I don't think it requires a concerted effort and I think the best thing that they can do is be supportive of private (profit or non-profit) organizations that take a lead financially but mostly by using city resources and not putting up roadblocks in the way of denying permits and the like.
Florida also mentions other things that the city would have to be proactive about (such as bike trails). I don't necessarily think that they're bad ideas, but I do think that such decisions ought to be made by what the existing population wants rather than what they /think/ people outside the city want.
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