It is happening in our cities now, and it rivals the Renaissance of the 1300s, according to author Patricia Martin in her new book, Rengen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer - and What It Means to Your Business.

Who are the Rengens? Patricia says it’s more of a mindset than a specific demographic - “a thirty year swath of individuals who are living comtemporaneously”, fueled by a large group of boomers and a very large group of 16-28 year olds.

Why is there a renaissance happening now? At

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Some people have been wondering how the creative class relates to cooltowns and to Richard Florida, who coined the term, creative class.

True story: Back in 1999 while on a business trip to Pittsburgh, one of my contacts suggested I just had to go see a Carnegie Mellon economist professor named Richard Florida because we were speaking the proverbial ‘same language’. I literally dragged my business associate with me who happened to have a history of working in sports agencies, including the

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The kind of developer every cool city needs…

...and that’s an Eve Picker.  Trained as an architect/urban designer, Eve is probably Pittsburgh’s most innovative, entrepreneurial real estate developer with a reputation for transforming undesirable buildings into loft-oriented residence and office works of art.

She’s completed twelve developments from 2 units to 40,000 s.f. via her No Wall Productions real estate development company in Pittsburgh. Pictured is her 4920 Penn residential loft

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With all the press and writings on the creative class, what sometimes gets lost is the economic bottom line of its impact on cities.  These graphs, produced by Creative Class Group research partner Kevin Stolarick based on 2000 data, show it as clearly and succintly as anything out there.

The graphs show regional per capita income as it relates to % of the creative class workforce.  The top one represents all 331 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and the lower one shows only regions with

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China, Great Britan making creative class waves

When looking for creative class benchmarks in culture, placemaking and policy, it’s becoming increasingly necessary to look overseas.  Two such countries that are on the creative rise are China and Great Britain.

China

The best place to start understanding China’s impact is in Fast Company magazine cover story, China’s New Creative Class, “You can sense it in the trendy restaurants and slick boutiques popping up in major cities - and in the

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Cool town creative businesses coping with gentrification

The question for creative businesses is not if a cool place becomes popular and gentrified, but what to do when it is.

One answer is to join an artists cooperative and work with a group like Artspace that provides such attainable housing.

Another is to establish your own cooperative of sorts via a beta community, where you decide with a group what kinds of residential and commercial tenants to have, along the same lines as artist

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You’ve all heard the qualitative stories about how artists and creatives move into a neighborhood and the property values start rising (then unfortunately, get priced out). However, we finally have quantitative evidence, as you can see by the chart above.

The hard proof comes as a result of a study released just this month by no other than Richard Florida, along with Charlotta Mellander, called There Goes the Neighborhood: How and Why Bohemians, Artists and Gays Effect Regional Housing

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So how would you describe the ‘cool town’ community?

We’ve gone through a series of very practical, tangible descriptions, profiles and case studies of the creatives, open source communities, and placemaking, but what’s missing perhaps is a more philosophic, abstract description of what kinds of communities this all represents.

For that I present the definition of open creative communities by Mark Kuznicki, a researcher, writer and strategy consultant in the areas of creative industries,

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Who are the creative entrepreneurs?

Who are the people that want to live in a ‘cool town’?  What are people in the creative class like?  If you’re a city official or business leader looking to attract creative entrepreneurs to spur job growth and grow a vibrant cultural scene, what mindset should you have when reaching out to them?  Rather than provide emotionless statistics, here are some values questions to be aware of to ensure you’re empathizing and not sending the wrong subconscious

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A blog on the creative class, a source for place-making

People often ask me what I read on a daily basis as far as keeping on top of the industry.  I’ll tell you what exists, and what should exist.

Daily Sources that Exist:

The Creativity Exchange: This is Dr. Richard Florida’s blog on the creative class, and it’s fairly new. If you want to understand the market, this is where to go.
Planetizen: This is the portal for any news pertaining to visionary placemaking, cities, development and

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Paris aims to become 24/7, attract the creative class

Did you know Paris, unlike New York, London and Tokyo, is not a 24/7 city? Most restaurants close on Sunday and do not serve after 10:30 pm in the evening; supermarkets close at 9 pm; long working hours are unheard of; the subway closes between 1 am and 5 am…

Does that make a difference? Tremendously, according to Christian Sautter, the deputy mayor in charge of economic development and finance, “When we came into office in 2001, we had

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A look at NYC’s creative class strategy

Being that New York City is the pinnacle of urban living in the U.S., ever wonder what it’s current creative class strategy is?  The answer is provided by Beth Siegel, president of Mt. Auburn Associates where she provided a creative sector economic development strategy for NYC.  She also headed evaluations for the U.S. Economic Development Administration.  You can listen to her via her Smart City Radio interview.

Beth’s major accomplishment may be

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The creative class isn’t just artists!

Because of the name, creative class, many perceive it to consist of those only in the arts, music, design and entertainment.  Not true at all.  Here’s the official definition from the author that started it all with Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida:  “I define the core of the Creative Class to include people in science and engineering, architecture and design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new

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Continuing our look at yesterday’s entry on Maine’s Midcoast Magnet group of proactive creatives and entrepreneurs, here’s a look at where they perceive things are, where they’d like it to be, and how they plan to get there.

First, 400 of them were surveyed, and below are percentages of how many of them felt the particular asset was important to whether they stayed or left, followed by what’s actually there.  You can see why people flee.

Cost of living:  90%
- Perceived as above average: 

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The creative class population of Maine’s northern MidCoast region longed for more of the kinds of jobs, housing and entertainment/nightlife they felt was necessary to retain them and attract others to Maine, so they took it upon themselves to make that message clear and established Midcoast Magnet, “a non-profit organization of people dedicated to vibrant culture, entrepreneurship, and bringing people together socially and professionally”.  The governor was so impressed that he had the state

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How a ‘living room for the creative community’ came to be

Just as Richard Florida’s research shows jobs follow talent, CS, the only workplace/living room for the creative/entrepreneurial community of its kind (profiled yesterday) would not have happened without talent.

The initial talent in C3’s case is Bob Mooney, chairman of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, and Andy Stefanovich, ‘In Charge of What’s Next’ at Play, an award-winning local creative consulting firm and a model of

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The creatives in Tampa Bay, FL knew they were important to their city, they just didn’t know how to communicate that… until Richard Florida, author of the best-seller Rise of the Creative Class, presented to 500 of them in April 2003.

Later that year, CreativeTampaBay was founded, a nonprofit “dedicated to connecting and energizing the community’s assets to cultivate an environment that encourages innovation, expands the economy and is a magnet for creative people.“

Their principles include:

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How did bohemia become a given in every town today?

Just a few decades ago if you were a bohemian, you’d have to travel to Haight Ashbury, San Francisco or Greenwich Village to feel at home.  Today, every town has its own ‘Greenwich Village’.  What happened?  That’s the underlying question that Vanderbilt professor Richard Lloyd answers in his new book, Neo-Bohemia: Art and Commerce in the Postindustrial City.

The simple answer?  Because our evolving creative economy depends on it.  The

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15 hot cities for creative types

Yesterday I re-introduced Richard Florida, and as promised, here’s his most current list, as featured in the November issue of Fast Company, of the hottest cities for creative types like yourself.

In no particular order:

Sacramento, CA - WIne is big, the downtown is coming around, and outdoor recreation abounds.
Phoenix, AZ - Artists like its free spirit, biotech is booming downtown, and yes, few rainy days.
Salt Lake City, UT - Mormons are big on

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A re-introduction to Richard Florida and the creative class

You may notice the term ‘creative class‘ pop up here and there, with a category on this website covering it.  I first mentioned Richard Florida - the person who coined and legitimized the term - way back in April 2003, so it’s time for a re-introduction, especially since the creative class best defines the market most attracted to ‘cooltowns’.

Richard is an economist and the author of the best-seller Rise of the Creative Class and

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CoolTown picture game

Ever played one of those games where you had to find the list of items that were blended into the picture?

a. Can you find the entrepreneurial workplace where a dozen creative businesses collaborate and celebrate in a living room setting?

b. Can you find the 24-hour diner that’s filled to capacity on a Wednesday morning at 2 am?

c. Can you find the national chain that doesn’t quite belong?

d. Can you find what one magazine called one of the best bars in America?

e.

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Economic evidence that creativity spurs growth

Artscape, a nonprofit in Toronto, Canada that develops both physical and virtual artist communities, felt the need to prove that the right buildings jumpstarted the economy around it.

So they documented the economic impact in the areas surrounding their projects, and here’s some of the not-so-surprising findings:

In Toronto, in the five years after Artscape development openings, one surrounding area had an increase of approximately $9M/year and

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Keys to Brooklyn’s rise

As posted yesterday, affordability and transportation/convenience were long-time Brooklyn assets that did little for economic rejunevation until safety began to improve.  But how and why did these neighborhoods become safer?

As is more than well known by now, it was just a matter of time before the artists began moving in.  The number of designers increased 2.5 times from 1980 to 2000, while authors/writers more than doubled from 1990 to 2000.  Williamsburg, a

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A typical neighborhood scene at 2 am?

Depends on where you are.  This photo was taken at 2 am, last week Wednesday night/Thursday morning at The Diner in Adams Morgan, Washington DC.

Since evidence shows that the creative class drives the economy...

Question: Is your city attracting creatives?

Answer:

- Does it have a place like The Diner that looks like this at 2 am on a typical late Wednesday night?
- Is that venue an independent restaurant like this one, and not a Denny’s, IHop, or

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Small towns that ‘get’ the creative class

Some small towns that are looking to boost sagging economies and abandoned downtowns have committed to attracting the creatives. The results have been more than positive, as this on New York’s progressive small towns illustrates.

Within 10 years, Hudson’s neglected downtown Warren Street became a vibrant destination by establishing 19 galleries, and 40 restaurants and shops focused on the arts community. Since 2001, home value increased

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