Jackson Free Press

The New York Times has a story about cities trying to attract and keep the vital "creative class." Be sure to read Todd's story about Jackson's "Creative Class Rising" back in our very first issue as well. The Times:

Some cities will do anything they can think of to keep young people from fleeing to a hipper town. In Lansing, Mich., partiers can ease from bar to bar on the new Entertainment Express trolley, part of the state's Cool Cities Initiative. In Portland, Ore., employees at an advertising firm can watch indie rock concerts at lunch and play "bump," an abbreviated form of basketball, every afternoon. And in Memphis, employers pay for recruits to be matched with hip young professionals in a sort of corporate Big Brothers program. A new biosciences research park is under construction — not in the suburbs, but downtown, just blocks from the nightlife of Beale Street.

These measures reflect a hard demographic reality: Baby boomers are retiring and the number of young adults is declining. By 2012, the work force will be losing more than two workers for every one it gains.

Cities have long competed over job growth, struggling to revive their downtowns and improve their image. But the latest population trends have forced them to fight for college-educated 25- to 34-year-olds, a demographic group increasingly viewed as the key to an economic future.

Mobile but not flighty, fresh but technologically savvy, "the young and restless," as demographers call them, are at their most desirable age, particularly because their chances of relocating drop precipitously when they turn 35. Cities that do not attract them now will be hurting in a decade.

"It's a zero-sum game," said William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, noting that one city's gain can only be another's loss. "These are rare and desirable people."

They are people who, demographers say, are likely to choose a location before finding a job. They like downtown living, public transportation and plenty of entertainment options. They view diversity and tolerance as marks of sophistication.

The problem for cities, says Richard Florida, a public policy professor at George Mason University who has written about what he calls "the creative class," is that those cities that already have a significant share of the young and restless are in the best position to attract more.

Previous Comments

ID

90196

Comment

I love this article. And while I think people who say we never disagree on anything are obviously (a) wankers and (b) not very perceptive, if anyone actually is stupid enough to believe that, now would be a good time to point out that I've never liked the phrase "creative class" and have been fairly open about that. But I don't insist that people stop using the phrase just because I don't happen to like it, or throw a hissyfit about "Team JFP" when they don't. Why? Because (a) I don't expect or even want the rest of the world to turn on a dime on my every whim, and (b) I'm not an asshole. Just saying. I love what the article points out about age 35 and relocation. How very true. One thing that I think articles like this do miss is the importance of JSU in all this. Let's ignore undergraduates entirely for a minute: If you can build up a base of 10,000 graduate students in a city, that does amazing things for the city's culture and establishes a stronger peer network for mobile members of the 27-35 demographic. I know that the graduate students I know from JSU make this city look a heck of a lot more appealing. What we need is more stuff you can't get anywhere else in the region. JSU already has an exciting M.A. in Oral History, and is (I believe) the only HBCU in the southeastern U.S. to have a master's program in urban planning, but a few more really innovative interdisciplinary programs could really pull people in. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-11-27T17:20:53-06:00

ID

90197

Comment

...er, one thing I think stories like this do sometimes miss is the importance of universities, not necessarily JSU specifically. And maybe now would be a good time to mention that I haven't actually read the full text yet, so that wasn't intended as a criticism of this specific article! Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-11-27T17:22:40-06:00

ID

90198

Comment

Fortunately, Todd's 2003 piece didn't leave out the importance of JSU. ;-) I don't love the phrase "creative class," either, but I like what it represents: economic progress for the city and the state, and Club JFP is doing everything we can to help on this front. ;-)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-27T17:25:53-06:00

ID

90199

Comment

"Team JFP," ladd. Not "Club." "Team." Sheesh. I, for one, think it's unfortunate that Florida used the word "class" because it's a difficult one to communicate at times. Other words seems a bit mushy, though. I'd prefer, perhaps the name "Creative Community" if it means pretty much the same thing...a core creative community of artists, musicians, teachers, and programmer types surrounded by a "creative community" of professionals and entrepreneurs who tend to control their own destinies and can help fund/support and buy from the core artists.

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2006-11-27T17:50:23-06:00

ID

90200

Comment

What-evvvverrrrr. That's it. You're cooking dinner.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-27T17:58:35-06:00

ID

90201

Comment

I think "Creative Class" is an oxymoron. You see, I'm an engineer. Just kidding, ya'll. As you were.

Author

GLB

Date

2006-11-27T17:59:43-06:00

ID

90202

Comment

Oh, you engineers. I roomed with two (in-training) at State, so this right-brain-left-brain war is deju vu all again again. At ease.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-27T18:00:48-06:00

ID

90203

Comment

My closest friends are a massage therapist social worker with a love of yoga and "energy work", and an actor/director whose greatest loves are musical theather and Disney. So...I'm hip.

Author

GLB

Date

2006-11-27T18:04:18-06:00

ID

90204

Comment

Oh, the "some of my best friends are hip" excuse, huh?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-27T18:12:30-06:00

ID

90205

Comment

Good one, Ladd. You got a laugh out of me there.

Author

GLB

Date

2006-11-27T18:14:18-06:00

ID

90206

Comment

To quote one of my favorite Douglas Adams' lines... "I'm so hip I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis"

Author

GLB

Date

2006-11-27T18:16:09-06:00

ID

90207

Comment

I guess what bothers me is that there is a risk that too much of a city's resources will be aimed at people who are going to do well in life with or without the enticements this city or that may offer them. I think it's well and good for cities to court creative young professionals, but they should do so with an eye toward what this demographic can do to make life better for all the city's residents. Build luxury condos, but use the tax dollars to fund services for all, and don't just clear away poor neighborhoods to make way for the newcomers.

Author

Mark Michalovic

Date

2006-11-27T22:33:37-06:00

ID

90208

Comment

One good "very first" deserves another". In this case, the very first big thread ever started on the forum - this one by an urban planner named Justin Mixed Use Development Making Way in Jackson. It's informative on a lot of levels too.

Author

Philip

Date

2006-11-28T13:36:01-06:00

ID

90209

Comment

You're right. Excellent thread. I'm a huge fan of all our eco-devo geeks who have posted here from the beginning. And, y'all, pat yourselves on the back. Developers tell me they have gotten ideas about catering to the "creative class" from the JFP and, especially, the discussions on these blogs. I mean, David Watkins, has lurked and sometimes posted from the beginning. That's just one example. Good work, Team JFP.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-28T13:38:20-06:00

ID

90210

Comment

Another great idea, from Louisville, KY: Keep Louisville Weird.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2006-12-01T13:09:58-06:00