The Rise of the Creative Class, 2012 Edition

"Creativity has become the fundamental driver of our economy," states Richard Florida. Writing for The Daily Beast, Florida reports on the newly compiled list of the "most creative metro areas" for 2012.

The method used to create this index is what Florida calls the "3Ts of economic development...[t]he first T is technology...[t]he second T is talent...[t]he third T is tolerance." Using these three 'Ts,' unsurprisingly cities that contained large research universities and/or high concentrations of high-tech or biotech businesses topped the list.

The cities of Boulder, San Francisco and Boston make up the top three spots. Of the larger U.S. cities, "Los Angeles is 22nd, New York 31st, and Chicago 45th. Despite being so very hard hit by the economic crisis, Detroit ranks 53rd, putting it in the top 15 percent of all metros."