Clik here to view.
The Heart of Demographic Doom
These days, a lot of places are dying. Varying degrees of demographic decline plagues the wealthiest countries. Projections for developing nations look dire, too. One of the gloomiest takes I read this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
People Develop, Not Places
“People Develop, Not Places” is an odd tagline for a geographer. I picked it up from economist Michael Clemens. Place-centric thinking hinders economic development policy. Clemens and Lant Pritchett...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Madison’s Portland Problem
By most accounts, including my own, Madison is a thriving metro. As a big college town with a major research university, the capital city of Wisconsin should be a Creative Class star. When Richard...
View ArticleClik here to view.
End of Creative Class Migration
Richard Florida says the world is spiky. Thomas Friedman holds the opposite view. The world is flat. Truth be told, the world is spiky and flat. Both Florida and Friedman are wrong. The Creative Class...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tech Talent Recruiting Geography
Jobs follow talent. Investment follows talent. Workers own the means of production. The Creative Class rules the world. Richard Florida’s utopian geography seduces the upwardly mobile. But don’t expect...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Great Creative Class Migration
At some point after World War II, U.S. migration patterns underwent a cataclysmic shift. Public intellectual Richard Florida calls it the rise of the Creative Class. Florida detailing evidence of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Next American Hotspot
Outside magazine asks, "Where is the next big thing?" "Thing" in this case refers to Durango, Colorado, circa 2011 or Hardwick, Vermont. Rating places is big business for publications. But metrics...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Economic Geography of Eds and Meds
Eds and meds are dying. That's bad news for Rust Belt cities such as Pittsburgh, where hospitals and universities support much of the regional job growth. Recently, Richard Florida walked a fine line...
View ArticleRichard Florida Explains Why Density Doesn’t Impact Innovation
Last Wednesday, I mentioned that the Orkney Islands were a hot spot of innovation many moons ago. This weekend, the Financial Times picks up on the same story: ”But why such a remote spot became...
View ArticleWalkability Boondoggle
Urban planning trends are conclusions in search of justification. Thanks to Richard Florida, the end-as-starting-point is usually Jane Jacobs’ New York City. Laudable goals such as greater diversity...
View ArticleConnecting Neighborhoods, Not Nations: Small Geographic Scales of Globalization
Globalization doesn’t connect nation states or urban regions. Via talent migration, globalization connects neighborhoods. Richard Florida with some numbers detailing the economic geography of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Not So Much ‘New York Poor’ as ‘Pittsburgh Rich’
If not dead already, “Slacker” Austin is dying. In its place comes ambition, purpose, and a career. Along with the embrace of success comes the gentrification of what made Austin, Texas, so attractive...
View Article
