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Whether size matters
Washington Monthly, April, 2004 by Nora J. Rubinstein
I am deeply impressed by Richard Florida's comprehensive, even-handed, well-researched article, "Creative Class War" (January/February). I have only one quibble: He has neglected one sub-category of creative-class migration--the movement of some of the intelligentsia outside of certain urban centers. The growth of areas like Columbia County in New York State and the southwest corridor of "Vermont around Manchester and Bennington, with all the second home development and tech-commuter communities, suggests that there may be a dispersion of the intellectual and economic elite to these regions outside of the cities. In any case, I am most grateful for this piece and send my kudos to the author and to The Washington Monthly for publishing such high-level journalism.
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Nora J. Rubinstein, Ph.D.
Middletown Springs, Vt.
Richard Florida replies:I agree with Ms. Rubinstein, and, in the context of my book, The Rise of the Creative Class, I note the emergence of many such smaller creative enclaves, particularly college towns like Burlington, Vt., and Madison, Wisc. Creative people naturally seek out communities where they can be themselves and follow their dreams--be those places smaller communities or larger cities in the United States, or in other parts of the world. Meanwhile, declining cities where workers feel forced to conform to some 1950s "company man" norm, are the ones most in danger of losing their creative talent-and so it is high time that civic leaders in those older, more staid places focus on turning their cities into the kinds of places where talented workers can actually thrive using their creative energy.
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