Free Republic

Because the old New Orleans is no more, it could resurrect itself as the great new American city of the 21st century. Or as an impoverished tourist trap. Founded by the French in 1718, site of the first U.S. mint in the Western United States, this one-time pride of the South, this one-time queen of the Gulf Coast, had been declining for decades, slowly becoming an antiquated museum. Now New Orleans must decide how to be reborn. Its choices could foretell the future of urbanism. The sheer human tragedy - and the fact that the Gulf Coast is critical to...

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Gay activists in this staid Eastern Washington city are planning to create a neighborhood of gay-oriented homes, businesses and nightlife, which religious conservatives complain will be at odds with Spokane's family-oriented culture. A gay district would signal that Spokane is tolerant and progressive, proponents contend, the type of community that can attract the so-called "creative class" that will build the economy of tomorrow. "We're talking about an actual physical part of town we would like to establish as a gay district," said Marvin Reguindin, owner of a Spokane graphic design firm, who envisions an area similar...

When I visited, I met dozens of Americans from places like Berkeley and MIT working alongside talented filmmakers from Europe and Asia, the Americans asserting that they were ready to relinquish their citizenship. Many had begun the process of establishing residency in New Zealand. Think about this. In the industry most symbolic of America's international economic and cultural might, film, the greatest single project in recent cinematic history was internationally funded and crafted by the best filmmakers from around the world, but not in Hollywood. When Hollywood produces movies of this magnitude, it creates jobs for directors, actors, and key...

"Where gay households abound, geeks follow." Those are the words of Bill Bishop, a Texas newspaper reporter and former Herald-Leader editorial columnist, as seen in a new book called The Rise of the Creative Class, written by Carnegie Mellon University regional economist Richard Florida. Bishop's remarks sum up one of Florida's key findings: communities where gay people congregate have an economic advantage. Not because gays are smarter or earn more money, but because creativity thrives in places that are tolerant, open and diverse. Florida's book outlines the fascinating, and at times disturbing, consequences of America's shift to an economy fueled...

Every Issue of The Monthly to your door: Subscribe Online Respond to this ArticleWashington Monthly Home Page May 2002 The Rise of the Creative Class Why cities without gays and rock bands are losing the economic development race. By Richard Florida As I walked across the campus of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University one delightful spring day, I came upon a table filled with young people chatting and enjoying the spectacular weather. Several had identical blue T-shirts with "Trilogy@CMU" written across them---Trilogy being an Austin, Texas-based software company with a reputation for recruiting our top students. I walked over to...