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April 14, 2003 - SMG Meets With Dr. Richard Florida

On his recent visit to Tampa Bay, SMG had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Richard Florida, the author of the ground breaking book on economic development, The Rise of the Creative Class. Dr. Florida, a professor of Economic Development from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, was brought here as a guest of the Tampa Bay Partnership and the Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Florida met with local business leaders and politicians in his two day stay to discuss how Tampa Bay can become a magnet for what he calls "the creative class." This group includes everyone who's ideas are their primary product; everyone from artists and musicians, to computer programmers, to lawyers, engineers, doctors and marketers. Dr. Florida's research has shown that these people have a common desire to live in a place that offers professional, personal and cultural options. To attract and keep these people, communities need to be more than places to work. They need to create a lifestyle that is rich with possiblities, open to new ideas, culturally diverse and tolerant of different lifestyles.

Beyond the obvious efforts to support the arts such as the Orchestra and local theaters, Dr. Florida suggests even more grass roots efforts that impact the way people live. This might include building skate parks for kids, dog and pet parks, establishing local music festivals, and business support for "non-traditional" entrepreneurs. Government and business leaders can start the process, but true creativity bubbles up from the street level. Our jobs as community and business leaders will be to remove the impediments that stand in the way of creativity people and find ways to make what they do just a little bit easier.

Dr. Florida's visit culminated in a two hour lecture at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center which was attended by over 500. As a testament to the overall appeal of Dr. Florida's message, supporting organizations for the event ranged from the Tampa Chamber, the Arts Councils from both St. Petersburg and Tampa, the Tampa Bay Partnership and the Tampa Bay Technology Forum.