Creative Class

While cruising around the Chief Happiness Officer blog I read an article that finds that 2 of 3 of British workers are unhappy in their current jobs and more than half of them would gladly take less money to work a job that makes them feel better about themselves. "Two in three people said they were "unfulfilled", "miserable" or
"drifting" in their jobs and more than half claimed they would happily
earn less money in a role that made them feel better about themselves." Some are calling this ideals driven job ‘Zenployment.’

Do you feel like the Brits? Would you give up salary for more meaning and fulfillment? Have you done it already?

posted by David

The New York Times writes:

“This is where it came from,” said Clive Campbell, pointing to the
building’s first-floor community room. “This is it. The culture started
here and went around the world.”  O.K., Mr. Campbell is not just anybody — he is the alpha D.J. of
hip-hop. As D.J. Kool Herc, he presided over the turntables at parties
in that community room in 1973 that spilled into nearby parks before
turning into a global assault. … Mr. Campbell thinks the building should be declared a landmark in
recognition of its role in American popular culture. Its residents
agree …They want to have the building
placed on the National Register of Historic Places."

The full story is here (subscription required).

Ever made a "bad" move? Ever picked a city and then found it was wrong for you and your loved ones?   And then had to do it all over again?

Last fall when I asked for location stories for my new book, Who’s Your City, we were overwhelmed with the number of fascinating accounts we received – more than 200 in all. We’ve sorted through them and even subjected them to a statistical content analysis.

But one thing that’s missing: Accounts of moves and locations that did not work out and what folks did about it.

So, send along your stories to the blog or to rana@creativeclass.org.

Thanks a million.

RF

Creative community development in practice is not easy. It takes a perfect balance of changing with the new while staying in touch with the authentic. Linda Krug, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota Duluth and Creative Class Communities Catalyst, has a great op-ed today in the Duluth News-Tribune on her area’s effort to strike that balance:

If you listen to all of the well-honed “truths” that whirl around us, you might draw the conclusion that Duluth is a dying city.

On a daily basis, it seems, I read about how we are old and aging, about how our tax base is eroding and the city’s share of retiree health costs is ballooning.

I hear about our shrinking school-age population, and I watch our young people move to the Twin Cities immediately after college graduation. Potential business interests seem to suggest that local costs of doing business are too high, and it’s a well-known fact that area manufacturing jobs are evaporating. Then there are our mayor and city councilors.

And yet, I just can’t accept that all is lost. I know for a fact….

Read the whole article here.
Learn more about our Creative Class Communities projects here.

Posted by Amanda
 

It’s a topic I deal with in my new book. Here’s a Washington Post story on how Arlington (the place where I work) is attracting not just the right out of college crowd but re-singled boomers looking for more excitement, zest and well, energy. (hat tip: Steven Pedigo)

With Memorial Day and the summer reading season hot upon us, I recommend new books by two of my favorite bloggers which dig into the BIG question of how to manage your career in the creative age.

Penelope Trunk’s, Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, is a terrific guide to managing your career in today’s horizontal labor market. I devoured it in an afternoon and passed it along to my wife Rana and David Miller who runs Creative Class Strategies to read.  Check out Guy Kawasaki’s interview with Penelope.

Ben Casnocha’s, My Start-up Life. Ben is a 19 year old blogger-entrepreneur-wunderkind. And, his book, as the subtitle says, chronicles, "What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley."  Here’s an excerpt.
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From today’s Boston Globe:

We are all environmentalists now. The growing threat posed by global
warming makes it impossible to ignore the environmental impacts of our
actions. No presidential candidate in 2008 will be able to act as if
climate change is a loony leftist cause best fought with aggressive
development of the Arctic.

Somewhere in Europe, right?  (nope) Or, maybe Madison, Wisconsin — after all they think Karl Marx is raging right-wing lunatic so it must be them, right? (wrong again).

How about Dallas? (Yes, the one in Texas).

Time magazine has a great story in this month’s issue that talks about the new "lavendar" blush on that yellow rose (hat tip: Chi Chi Hoffner).  Full story here.

(As an added bonus, see if you can find the uncredited quote from our friend Gary Gates.)

posted by Kevin Stolarick

Ann Arbor Law Firms, including ArborLaw.com, are providing free services to downsized Pfizerites that start new tech firms in the Ann Arbor area. The folks at ArborLaw’s blog see this as crucial to keeping talent in Michigan.   

posted by David

If cycling and support for cyclists are important to you and your choice of place, check out this story on bicycle friendly places and the list of Bicycle Friendly Cities. (Hat Tip: Fitsugar). Only one city won the Platinum Award (Davis, CA) while 43 won the Bronze designation. Here is the entire list. Short pdf reports are available for many of the cities. "These cities have an awareness of bikers, and many of their roads have
bike lanes. When roads feel safe for riding, MORE people ride their
bikes."

posted by David