The Rise of The Creative Class

I believe that Richard Florida’s article titled, “The Rise of the Creative Class” has received much attention because it mentions a creativity index that talks about key ways to economic growth. Florida mentions that cities need to learn to have a bigger tolerance for variation. For instance, cities need to “create meaningful new forums.” By this he means that instead of just having a city full of upper-class people who are scientists, engineers, university professors, and etc., we should also include writers, cultural figures, opinion-makers, and etc. who would bring about “thought leadership.” There are many cities in which Florida calls the “plug-and-play” community because these type of communities put together a fascsimile of life in about a week. These kinds of cities make it very easy for people to be themselves, get established early, and find opportunity much faster than other cities. These cities make up nearly half the workforce in nearly 50 small and medium regions across the country. I believe these cities are very attractive to many people because they are very tolerant of things that most cities find inappropriate or illegal. For instance, Vegas is one of very few cities who made prostitution legal. Not only do many citizens of the U.S. despise this idea, but they also allow gay marriages that make it much easier for people of any background to live their lives the way that they would like to.

I agree with Florida’s theory because much of what he is saying seems to be the reason as to why our society is the way it is. I believe an attractive city is what attracts crowds of people but I believe improving more important aspects such as transportation, health care, and education are even more important.