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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > March > 05
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Brooke Bryan: Not all ‘creatives’ choose NYC
I beg to differ with Richard Florida’s somewhat doomsday forecast of Midwestern cities in The Atlantic .
Florida forecasts that people will continue to concentrate in the gold-standard handful of cities currently enjoying an influx; and that the growth of mega-regions — or multi-city corridors — will continue to strip less prime areas of their mobile, educated, and innovative workforce. The article looks at how the economic bust will hasten and concretize the trend.
He cites the diversified economy of New York City as the reason it will be spared serious deleterious effects in the present bust. NYC is a breeding ground for arts and media and culture, a longstanding stronghold of the creative class — surely part of the genesis of the creative class theory.
But what of the cost of living?
For Florida, this is a side note. But as a freelance, day-job dodging fiber artist, writer, and mother, I can assure you that no cultural allure can cause me to live in a place where I may never afford an apartment larger than 700 square feet. Analysts think high median real estate prices mark a strong economy. For me, they signify it’s time to look elsewhere.
Apparently, I’m not alone in sensing a shift.
A New York Sun article (from pre-bust December 2007) entitled “New York in Danger of Losing Its Artists” cites the city’s efforts to retain its creatives.
The article quotes notable arts director Theodore Berger:
“It’s a question of how we attract and maintain talent in this city, and how that talent matures in the city.”
Now that sounds awfully familiar. New York is struggling to retain them. Dayton wants to attract them. The only thing we know for sure about the “bohemian” part of the “creative class” (questionable classifications with notably uncreative tags) is that it defies the status quo.
The point is that dominant social trends often present counter-trends of some significance. In my humble opinion, forecasts of a long-to-linger post-manufacturing interior tell us more about the creative class theory than about how creative people — driven by ideas and the want of basic freedoms — actually move through times and spaces.
Brooke Bryan is a journalist, multimedia folklorist and quilt maker. She runs the Web site for DaytonCREATE and is documenting the place and people of Yellow Springs.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment | Categories: Brooke Bryan, City of Dayton, Dayton Creative Class Initiative, Economy, Guest Columns
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