Renaissance Man; Economic Expert Richard Florida Believes Syracuse's Rebirth Lies in Its Creative Class

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Traditionalists may scoff at the contention that flocks of bohemian types, or bohos, are important to the future of any city, but Florida's no schlump: He's got serious cred. Embedded deep in the hallowed halls of academia, he's the Heinz professor of economic development at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, as well as head of its Software Industry Center, which investigates emerging trends in the global software industry. He's flexed his professorial muscle as a visiting professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, and currently calls Washington, D.C.'s Brookings Institution--where he's a visiting scholar--home.

The MDA brought in Florida and Company to the tune of $500,000. "We wanted the best thinking we could get to identify our areas for growth and none was better than Battelle," [Irwin Davis] says. "But at the same time we realized that no matter how masterful a high-tech strategy would be, if you're not addressing the people side, you're not developing a community that's going to retain and attract the creative class." Without the creative capital, "You're not going to be able to get high-tech companies to come here."

When it comes to local industry, Lou Musante, managing partner at Catalytix, Inc., also based in Pittsburgh, talks about the 61 colleges and universities that call upstate New York home. "That's your industry," he states, adding that traditional decision-makers aren't yet hip to the potential just waiting to be mined from what Florida calls the knowledge corridor. "They're so hung up on manufacturing, they're missing what's under their nose."

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Renaissance Man; Economic Expert Richard Florida Believes Syracuse's Rebirth Lies in Its Creative Class

To succeed, you just need to get creative. That's according to economics guru Richard Florida, author of the best-selling tome The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life (Basic Books, New York City; 2002). Along with colleagues from consulting firms Catalytix Inc., of which he is a founder, and Battelle Memorial Institute, Florida landed at the OnCenter Feb. 26 to present their combined findings on the creative state of the region to the Metropolitan Development Association's annual luncheon. They've been compiling and analyzing since last spring and they've definitely reached some conclusions.

"Your region needs to think much more broadly, and work your connection to Canada as well," asserts Florida. "If you continue to see yourselves as a bunch of small towns competing against each other, you're going to have real trouble competing in this creative age. You've got to see the shift from industrial to creative, because the key to your future is creative jobs."

Spend enough time in upstate New York and you'll learn ...

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