The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life [Paperback]

Richard Florida (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 25, 2003

The Washington Monthly 2002 Annual Political Book Award WinnerThe Rise of the Creative Class gives us a provocative new way to think about why we live as we do today-and where we might be headed. Weaving storytelling with masses of new and updated research, Richard Florida traces the fundamental theme that runs through a host of seemingly unrelated changes in American society: the growing role of creativity in our economy.Just as William Whyte's 1956 classic The Organization Man showed how the organizational ethos of that age permeated every aspect of life, Florida describes a society in which the creative ethos is increasingly dominant. Millions of us are beginning to work and live much as creative types like artists and scientists always have-with the result that our values and tastes, our personal relationships, our choices of where to live, and even our sense and use of time are changing. Leading the shift are the nearly 38 million Americans in many diverse fields who create for a living-the Creative Class.The Rise of the Creative Class chronicles the ongoing sea of change in people's choices and attitudes, and shows not only what's happening but also how it stems from a fundamental economic change. The Creative Class now comprises more than thirty percent of the entire workforce. Their choices have already had a huge economic impact. In the future they will determine how the workplace is organized, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and even which cities will thrive or wither.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Florida, an academic whose field is regional economic development, explains the rise of a new social class that he labels the creative class. Members include scientists, engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists, and entertainers. He defines this class as those whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology, and new creative content. In general this group shares common characteristics, such as creativity, individuality, diversity, and merit. The author estimates that this group has 38 million members, constitutes more than 30 percent of the U.S. workforce, and profoundly influences work and lifestyle issues. The purpose of this book is to examine how and why we value creativity more highly than ever and cultivate it more intensely. He concludes that it is time for the creative class to grow up--boomers and Xers, liberals and conservatives, urbanites and suburbanites--and evolve from an amorphous group of self-directed while high-achieving individuals into a responsible, more cohesive group interested in the common good. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A pioneering cartographer of talent." -- Fast Company

"An intellectual tour de force, scholarly yet colorfully written." -- Globe and Mail (Toronto)

"Florida draws a vivid picture of what it takes to make a great 21st-century city." -- Denver Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 434 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (December 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465024777
• ISBN-13: 978-1864032567
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.3 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of the bestselling The Rise of the Creative Class and Who's Your City? Richard Florida is a regular columnist for The Atlantic. He has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and other publications. His multiple awards and accolades include the Harvard Business Review's Breakthrough Idea of the Year. He was named one of Esquire magazine's Best and Brightest (2005) and one of BusinessWeek's Voices of Innovation (2006). He lives in Toronto, Canada.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

257 of 272 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The way things work September 2, 2003

By P. Lozar

Format:Hardcover

Richard Florida's study began with a rather straightforward premise: what characterizes the cities and regions that are economically successful today? His conclusions are rather controversial, but, based on the statistical evidence he presents (as well as my own experience), I found them highly convincing.

The liveliest economies, he finds, are in regions characterized by the 3 T's -- talent, technology, and tolerance. The implications are profound, to wit:

1. Conventional wisdom holds that, to boost an area's economy, it's necessary to attract large companies and thus create jobs. In fact, companies locate where the talent is; all the tax breaks in the world won't bring a large company to your area if they can't find the quality of employees they want there. Often, too, the talent itself will generate new companies and create jobs that way.

2. Urban planners assume that, to attract talent/jobs, what's important is to provide infrastructure: sports stadiums, freeways, shopping centers, etc. In fact, creative people prefer authenticity -- so making your city just like everyplace else is a sure way to kill its attractiveness.

3. The often-misunderstood "gay index" doesn't mean that gay people are more creative, or that attracting gays to a community will ipso facto boost its economy. Creative people tend to prefer gay-friendly communities because they're perceived as tolerant of anyone who isn't "mainstream"; a city that's run by a conservative good-ole-boys network isn't a good place to try to start a business unless you're one of the good ole boys.

The book is primarily descriptive and analytical, rather than prescriptive. But I feel it's immensely valuable for pointing out that much of the conventional wisdom about economic development and community planning is just plain wrong, and suggesting alternative approaches that have a greater chance of succeeding. And I'm amused (and bemused) by the reviewers who sneered that this book propounds an elitist, liberal, contempt-for-the-working-masses view of American society. To me, the book is almost TOO descriptive: didn't these reviewers read the many statistical tables and the lengthy analyses that the author provides? Fact: The most economically successful cities and regions have these characteristics. That isn't propaganda; it's the way things work.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Importance of Place July 1, 2005

By Chris M.

Format:Paperback

I highly recommend this book. As a professional who cares deeply about the survival of his own urban area, I found this book an indispensable and provocative read. I do have some reservations (below), but, nonetheless, recommend this book to anyone who cares about the future of cities. More detailed review follows.

Richard Florida's Rise of the Creative Class tells two stories. First, Florida tells the story of an emergent social class comprised of people engaged creatively in the workplace. Because creativity qua capital is the most critical resource in the new economy - as opposed to more traditional sources of capital such as land and natural resources - the "creative class" wields considerable influence in transforming societal norms. The societal transformations ushered in by the creative class are, in fact, means to further nurture and support creativity. Everything from a looser dress code to the postponement of marriage and family can be viewed as reflections of the needs and wants of people actively engaged in creative pursuits.

After detailing this emergent class - and identifying this class as the vanguard of economic growth in the 21st century - Florida instructs regions on how best to attract and maintain the creative class. Cities and regions would do well, Florida insists, on accommodating the needs and wants of the creative class. Places that offer a diverse array of authentic experiences and a tolerant attitude toward different lifestyles will excel in attracting creative workers. Inherent in this argument is that place - more than ever - is the key determinant in fomenting creativity, and, by association, economic growth.

In the first part of the book, where he expounds upon the makeup of the creative class, Florida pulls together a great amount of scholarship from many different disciplines on economic and societal change. This, in itself, is impressive and the book serves as an indispensable repository for the current academic discourse on societal transformation in the post-industrial, post-modernist world. More importantly, Florida gives creative workers much needed attention and recognition. More than just a fringe group of R&D specialists and street performers, Florida convincingly argues that creative workers are the economic leaders and accurate barometers for social change. Although his definition of creative worker might be a bit expansive (30 percent of the workforce), this does not diminish the argument that these workers have influence far beyond what many recognize.

The Rise of the Creative Class is strongest, however, when Florida is on more familiar ground; that is, when Florida, the regional economist, can expound upon the importance of place in attracting and nurturing creative talent. Much of his discussion in this section revolves around the importance "Three T's"- Technology, Talent and Tolerance. Cities with a robust combination of these factors are leading creative centers. Florida's thesis is buttressed by his own rigorous statistical analysis as well as statistical analysis of others based on Florida's observations.

A couple notes of criticism and caution. First, Florida's economic history discussion - all of economic history is a means to harness creativity - is unwieldy and an unnecessary whitewash. This discussion slows the trajectory of his argument and it could be argued that this condensed historical discussion cuts against his general argument that this is a period of singular economic and social change. Also, Florida shifts the focus from city to region a bit too freely. Florida is clear that a vital urban core is a necessary component to a region's attractiveness to the creative class; however, the book falls short of a serious discussion about the critical relationship between core and suburbs. Reading this book with an eye to rejuvenate the urban core, I felt a greater recognition of the struggle for resources between the core and the suburbs was necessary - especially in resource-poor regions. Too often, Florida assumes a natural symbiosis between the two.

That said the book is a must-read for those who care about the future of their cities and regions. The book is certainly provocative and Florida never pulls punches - he even goes after the vaunted Robert Putnam. Although briefly acknowledging the pitfalls of the creative class's social influence, I think it is safe too say that Florida is a cheerleader for the social changes ushered in by the creative class. I'm much less sanguine. The lifestyle demanded by the creative economy - the blurring of work and personal space and the diminished focus on family - could be the creative class's undoing.

121 of 148 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cognitive Elite: Now you see it; now you don't January 25, 2004

By Celia Redmore

Format:Hardcover

Possibly anyone who wrote a book on the �Creative Class� just before 2003 should be exempt from critical review � just like anyone who wrote an investment guide in 1928, or a colonial government primer in 1775. But �The Rise of the Creative Class� has recently been reissued in paperback, is frequently quoted by ambitious politicians, and is still being touted by its author. Therefore, it matters that we re-examine its contents carefully.

Richard Florida�s thesis is that there is a niche group of society, which over the past century has grown to become a separately identifiable class in its own right, distinguishable from the Working Class or the Service Sector Class or the almost-disappeared class of agricultural workers. This is different from saying that today�s better-educated workers need less direct supervision, or that many jobs vary more in content from day to day than used to be the case.

The author struggles mightily to define the nearly one-third of the population that he calls �creative� as a valid class. He proposes definitions, backs up a couple of pages later, corrects his proposal, and starts off down another path. The result is more of an out loud conversation with himself than a clearly delineated model. There are no neat conclusions here.

The book uses both published sources and the author�s own research to identify the characteristics of his new class: who they are and what motivates them. Sometimes the sources are of doubtful value.

One has to wonder why he would turn to his public policy students at prestigious Carnegie Mellon University to find out why highly-paid manufacturing jobs are no longer attractive to young blue-collar workers. A stroll through any of Pittsburgh�s poorer neighborhoods would surely have elicited a more sensible and substantive response than that such jobs were �insufficiently creative�.

Similarly, the book quotes an Information Week magazine survey of high-tech workers on what mattered to them. Florida reads the low rating of stock options as a motivator to mean that respondents valued �creative work� more than money. As one of those respondents, I can tell you that we were simply saying that the declining stock market had rendered all our options worthless. We were tired of being paid in funny money.

A core point in the book�s thesis is that �creative workers� deliberately move to �diverse, open, tolerant� regions and that �creative companies� follow them there � a reverse of the earlier pattern of workers going to where the jobs were. This is one of the many patterns Florida tries to pin down, but which squirm under his microscope. San Francisco follows the pattern, but pleasantly homogenous, middle-class Austin, TX is a high-tech Mecca, while funky, artistic, open, tolerant, diverse New Orleans lags.

Tolerant of whom, by whom? Florida points out that there is a negative correlation between �non-whites� and �creative class� companies. The best leading indicator is the presence of a gay community. But is it surprising or meaningful, that the most affluent areas of the country are frequently home to double-male-income, no-kids households? Surely, this datum isn�t enough to define a new class?

Dr Florida assumes � as did most of us � that 2002 represented the nadir of the US economy and that we were rapidly returning to a more �normal� job situation. In retrospect, we were all wrong, but what can one say about the �Creative Class� thesis with the benefit of hindsight? Let�s quote, as the book does, Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina, the quintessential �creative class� leader of the time:

�Keep your tax incentives and highway interchanges; we will go where the highly skilled people are.�

Most recently, this same CEO has angrily declared her �right� to move those same jobs to a tax-shelter in funky, artistic �. Bangalore. If a million jobs can be re-categorized overnight from �Creative Class� to commodity �Service Sector�, were they ever really part of a �Creative Class� at all?

** Dr Florida has created a web site that can legitimately be regarded as an informal addendum to the book: http://www.creativeclass.org .