The Florida Report is an eight-part video series from The Atlantic featuring Richard Florida.
The second installment in The Florida Report is titled “Moving to the Suburbs.” Richard explains why long commutes used to make sense… and why they no longer do.
The Florida Report is an eight-part video series from The Atlantic featuring Richard Florida.
“The Birth of Urban America” is the first installment in The Florida Report. Richard talks to Don Peck, deputy managing editor of The Atlantic, about how the great American cities rose out of the Industrial Revolution.
We are seeing a strong emphasis, greater than ever before, on the importance of quality of place. A community’s arts and culture offerings are a critical part of its identity and authenticity. For many communities, their local college or university serves as a central hub for cultural creativity.
As the third feature in our series, Creative Capstones, we interviewed Jo Moore, administrator of Presidential Lecture & Performance Series at Texas Tech University, to discuss Lubbock, Texas, and how the university is helping to grow and develop an authentic, unique arts scene on the Western Texas Plains.
Creative Class Group (CCG): Tell us about Lubbock. What makes it a special community?
Jo Moore: In a word, the people are what make Lubbock, Texas, a special place in which to live. I moved to the Lubbock area from Dallas, Texas, 17 years ago. From the reactions of my friends and colleagues, one would have thought I was moving to the desolate, uncultured, wild West. While the glitz of the Dallas cityscape, landscaped beauty of its manicured parks, and culinary significance is not as apparent in Lubbock, a natural raw beauty borne in the energy of the wind and splendor of the sunsets eclipse the manufactured glamour of the metroplex. There is an energy, an elemental quality to this region with its wide open spaces and endless blue sky that is unspoiled by high density living. The beauty of West Texas has to be seen to be believed.
A new study (PDF) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides important insight on states where workers toil the longest hours and make the most money. The study by Dante DeAntonio uses data from the Current Employment Statistics – a monthly survey of more than 400,000 U.S. business establishments – to provide estimates for employment, hours, and earnings for all 50 U.S. states. Catherine Rampell summarized some key findings of the study earlier this week over at Economix.
Take a look at the map of the hardest-working states in terms of hours worked. Nevada tops the list with an average of 37 hours per week. Wyoming, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, and Alabama all average more than 36 hours per week. At the opposite end of the spectrum are Montana, the Dakotas, Hawaii, and New Hampshire which average less than 33 hours per week.
Launched today – the new Richard Florida fan page on Facebook!
Come join our growing community and get all the updates about Richard, his books, events, blog posts, and more in one of your favorite social networking locations.
The one and only Yoko Ono (@yokoono) is now following Richard on Twitter.
Become privy to Richard’s thought-provoking Tweets today: @Richard_Florida.
Who are your favorite folks to follow on Twitter?
Check out today’s Tweets focusing on SAS, one of the largest software companies in the world:
Not following Richard on Twitter? Join the club: @Richard_Florida
Richard Florida is in Boston today at the Massachusetts Municipal Association, serving as the keynote speaker for their annual meeting. From their website:
The MMA Annual Meeting and Trade Show is the largest regular gathering of Massachusetts local government officials. The two-day event features educational workshops, nationally recognized speakers, awards programs, a large trade show, and an opportunity to network with municipal officials from across the state.
The MMA’s Annual Meeting is your best single opportunity to:
• Learn about solutions to problems facing your community
• Meet people who can assist you with resources and ideas
• Learn about valuable products and services for cities and towns
• Attend programs that will strengthen your ability to lead and serve your community
What opportunities does your community offer to engage with other residents and incite change?
Last week the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA) had its annual meeting in Santiago, Chile and launched the 2010 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) executive report. The annual meeting was held in a developing country for the first time. The meeting is a mixture of media events, planning meetings, and strategic decision-making. In addition, social events make this a welcome activity.
The 2010 GEM executive report, in addition to reporting on the state of entrepreneurship in the world, had sections on the economic crisis and social entrepreneurship. The main finding was that entrepreneurial activity had declined in the developed countries but not in the developing countries. In other words, do not look to Europe to lead the world in the future. As a founder of the Hungarian team, the so-called transition countries are not going to lead either. The labor force of Europe is in decline and, therefore, Europe and Japan are in no position to provide entrepreneurial leadership in the future as they age.
By the year 2050, most of the labor force in Europe will be aging and the under 40 labor force will be in the developing world according to my colleague Jack Goldstone at George Mason University. In other words, the creative, innovative and entrepreneurial talent will be in Brazil, Chile, India, China, and Indonesia. The developing world will have to provide the economic leadership for the market. While the world will be flat, hot, and crowded, the creative talent will also be in these places. GERA is uniquely positioned to measure and track the progress that the world is making in shifting the creative epicenter from Europe to Asia and South America.
This seminal meeting of the GERA represents the first step of the association in this transition. After spending the first 10 years of this decade trying to figure out if Denmark is more entrepreneurial than the United States, we are now shifting to measuring the entrepreneurial progress of the developing countries. As Richard Florida said to me a few years ago, the young are the same all over the world. If that is the case they will surely be the leaders in the future.
I thought in my first blog post for CCE I should give props to Richard for helping me get to this point. I first met Richard in 2003 when he came to speak in Tampa, Florida for the first time. I had read TROCC at the suggestion of my wife (at the time), Michelle Bauer, who was the executive director of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum. They were part of a unique coalition of groups that brought Richard to Tampa. Also key in the process were the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the Arts Council, and Workforce Tampa. Getting these four entities to agree on one speaker truly was historic!
TROCC and Richard’s talk got me excited about ideas in a way that I had not been excited by ideas since college. It spoke to how I worked, how I thought about my life and my community. I suspect I am not alone in this capacity. I got to know Richard and his former associate Rod Frantz and we became friends, conspirators, and colleagues. Creative Tampa Bay was founded in 2004 and took up the mission of developing the creative economy in the region. I became its second president and within two years I had the honor of sharing a stage with Richard in Perth, Australia, where we talked about the impact of his work on communities like mine.
Richard’s work shifted the direction of my own work and has led me to other incredible thinkers and practitioners in this arena such as Charles Landry, John Howkins, and Carol Coletta. In true creative class fashion, I have been able to create my own career and am doing work I love. Richard had a direct influence on that, and for that, I will always be grateful.
