Florida on Florida, in the office and soon, on the street

So I went to the Martin Prosperity Institute this morning to meet with Richard Florida, who (not surprisingly) had a great deal of thoughtful, nuanced responses to the polemic critiques of which he's been the subject, not only here, but for much of his very public career.

This isn't the place to explore them, but the casting of Florida as the great neo-liberal Satan, according to him, seems to be a problem of interpretation and application. Florida says he's neither an advocate nor a salesman of solutions, but rather, a quantitative analyser of some potent, widespread -- and worrying -- urban trends.

If that's the case, the trouble happens when these ideas become institutionalized as prescriptive -- which they have in a great many cities, including our own. Is there a way to unravel this? Given the pace of institutional change and adoption of policy, is it too late? I have no idea. But I'm going to try to figure it out. Check the paper on Saturday, where I hope my flailings will bear at least some fruit. A promising sign: I proposed to Florida that he enjoin his self-styled adversaries in Creative Class Struggle in a public forum, on their turf. He accepted, with enthusiasm; they're up for it as well. Now, we're trying to work out the details. Stay tuned.

Comments

[Kim Simon]

Thanks Murray, for advocating for direct dialogue... looking forward to that public debate.
Kim