Creative Class

Realizing that overly controlled environments rarely breed the kind of innovation and culture that make cities great, Scott Doyon gets down with the funky and unpredictable.

April 3, 2013 - PlaceShakers

After a decade of debate, Richard Florida's theories on the 'creative class' have been championed by many, and challenged by others (perhaps none more forcefully than author Joel Kotkin). In recent articles, the two are battling it out once again.

March 21, 2013 - The Daily Beast

Recent exultant headlines about downtown's astounding growth overlook Chicago's troubling bifurcation into two cities — "one where optimism abounds, one where hope and opportunity are hard to find," writes Marilyn Katz.

March 14, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

Annie Lowrey looks at how the taxpayer funded expansion of private contracting for the federal government turned D.C. from "national embarrassment" to creative class hot spot, and why those boom days may be coming to an end.

January 14, 2013 - The New York Times

Richey Piiparinen explores the "original sin" of the quest for urban “livability” - economic development - and examines what the pitfalls are when cities are designed for high-valued consumers rather than people.

January 3, 2013 - New Geography

Richard Florida warns about America's increasing “economic Balkanization”: a shrinking working class and the attendant swelling of low-wage service sector employees and the unemployed on the one hand, and the prosperous creative class on the other.

October 31, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Richard Florida discusses why "quality of place", rather than job opportunity, is the determining factor in where creative-minded people choose to live.

October 16, 2012 - Urban Land Magazine

Lively walkable streets teeming with tourists bouncing between unique stores make Savannah's downtown the envy of many cities. But this state of affairs hasn't always been the case. Greg Bluestein looks at the secrets to Savannah's success.

October 14, 2012 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Richey Piiparinen discusses the "Frankenstein effects" of place-making, in which, he argues, the diversity of people and place that attracts the creative class is eventually forced out by those in search of the "highest and best use."

September 4, 2012 - New Geography

In an indication that the "creative class" era may have finally jumped the shark, the city of Miami is reveling in the arrival of Richard Florida himself as a sign of the area's arrival as a "Creative City."

August 20, 2012 - The Miami Herald

Emily Badger explains how a Minneapolis-based non-profit organization is working to break the cycle of gentrification within artist communities by helping to create and preserve affordable space for artists and arts organizations.

August 17, 2012 - Fast Company

The 10th anniversary and updating of Richard Florida's "Rise of the Creative Class" has brought about a re-evaluation of "creative class" urbanism. Will Doig surveys a series of popular essays that question Florida's highly influential arguments.

July 20, 2012 - Salon

Revisiting the metric he developed a decade ago in his groundbreaking book "The Rise of the Creative Class", Richard Florida ranks the American metros with the largest concentrations of creativity.

July 9, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Workers making up the 'creative class,' a term first coined by author Richard Florida, continue to grow and prosper, generating trillions in wages. What cities in the U.S. have the largest creative economies?

June 29, 2012 - The Daily Beast

Richard Florida reports on why America ranks second to last among first world nations for economic mobility; the Northeast remains the most mobile region of the country.

June 1, 2012 - Atlantic Cities

Rebecca Sanborn Stone profiles several innovative communities that are utilizing citizen-guided art projects to communicate values and ideas, break down barriers, and guide planning efforts.

February 28, 2012 - EngagingCities

Kaid Benfield investigates the rise of a more independent and nimble workforce, and ponders what the new economy means for the shape of cities as we enter an urban epoch

February 9, 2012 - Switchboard

Recounting the exalted heights that the profession reached in the last decade, and its complete meltdown during the Great Recession, Scott Timberg asks: where does architecture go from here?

February 6, 2012 - Salon.com

Richard Florida examines the "Geography of Health" in American and why some cities are healthier than others.

January 8, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

A new study looks at how home values in neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio responded differently to the presence of gay populations.

January 7, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities