The next American geography
James Forsyth 5:43pm
Richard Florida’s Atlantic cover-story on how the current recession will re-shape America is a thought-provoking read. He argues that the coming economy requires a different kind of geography:
“the economy is different now. It no longer revolves around simply making and moving things. Instead, it depends on generating and transporting ideas. The places that thrive today are those with the highest velocity of ideas, the highest density of talented and creative people, the highest rate of metabolism. Velocity and density are not words that many people use when describing the suburbs. The economy is driven by key urban areas; a different geography is required
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In short, it will be a more concentrated geography, one that allows more people to mix more freely and interact more efficiently in a discrete number of dense, innovative mega-regions and creative cities. Serendipitously, it will be a landscape suited to a world in which petroleum is no longer cheap by any measure. But most of all, it will be a landscape that can accommodate and accelerate invention, innovation, and creation—the activities in which the U.S. still holds a big competitive advantage.”
Florida thinks that a key part of this new geography is going to be having more people rent than buy. He notes that the importance of home-ownership in American culture ties people to declining places when they would be better served by moving elsewhere. But even if the government removed the tax incentives to buy a home, I still think people would want to do it—it is such an important part of the American dream.
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Alf Tupper
February 15th, 2009 7:55pm Report this commentWhen are intellectuals going to stop trying to write as if they are unleashing onto a craven and undeserving world, some avant-garde manifesto?
Can't they just sober-up and state their case without all the posturing?
For instance, why do we have to bounce in such antithesis, all the way from 'simply making and moving things', to a happier more elevated state in which we are 'generating and transporting ideas'?
Can't we do both?
"a discrete number of dense, innovative mega-regions" Eeesh?
Andrew Zalotocky
February 15th, 2009 8:04pm Report this commentThe Internet means that "generating and transporting ideas" no longer depends on having a large number of creative people gathered together in one place. If you have an idea, company or political or social movement that attracts the talented then they can all contribute from wherever they happen to be at the time.
Of course, a company has to be headquartered in a particular place and some will be anchored to particular locations because they serve clients or industries that are based there. For them moving will never be an option. But for ideas-based companies what will matter most will be the tax and regulatory regimes in each state, because that's what controls how hard it is for an innovative new company to get started.
Florida's "creative cities" are as likely to be islands of fashion-slave hipsters who all think the same as they are to be genuinely creative. It is very old-fashioned to think about creativity in terms of geography, and it is old-fashioned hipster snobbery to throw in a dig at the 'burbs.
Most creativity comes from small companies because all big organisations tend to become more bureaucratic and risk-averse as they grow. What matters is encouraging entrepreneurs, and the way to do that is simply to cut taxation and regulation.
Francis
February 15th, 2009 10:40pm Report this commentTo me the article quoted sounds like impressively and hilariously daft leftie fantasizing. If anything modern communication means that its less important for people to be packed together. Unless the state forces them people will do what they want to do which is have their own home, most likely in the suburbs or the countryside. Unlike mad lefties who care about buzzwords such as the passage is full of and weird utopias most people seem to care about families, homes, communities and aspire to deep roots rather than rootlessness.
Charles Moore wrote an interesting article defending the suburbs against their left wing critics:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/4348788/RevoIutionary-Road-Its-just-snobbery-to-say-the-suburbs-lack-passion.html
What will drive urbanisation in Briatin and America is mass immigration. The stupidities of immigration are too numerous to recount.
John Moore
February 15th, 2009 11:42pm Report this commentApparently the author has't noticed that Silicon Valley, Seattle and Hollywood are low density urban areas surrounded by suburbs.
If by creativity, he means the financial inventions of New York, no thanks!
Verity
February 16th, 2009 12:00am Report this commentAlf Tupper - Quite.
Francis - the left is anything but hilarious. You are right about mass immigration.
seb
February 16th, 2009 10:06am Report this commentAt the multiplexes, cinéastes can enjoy pre-film adverts for the Orange phone network. The ads are very amusing and have celebrities as stars. The preposterous Hollywood executives that these adverts are based on talk like this article. Is there a connection?
Gannet
February 16th, 2009 10:42am Report this commentAt last, Cleckheaton's time has come.
david alexander
February 16th, 2009 1:59pm Report this commentWe have seen the future before, even built it....................
"EUR is also sadly famous for its crime and for public brawls between local neo-Fascist and Communist groups, and local gangs.
The area beside Palazzo dello Sport has security cameras to deter prostitution and vandalism. Graffiti has recently become a problem."
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