Richard Florida

I've become a big fan of Richard Florida. He is an economist who focuses very much on "place".

A few years ago, I read his book, The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life. (I've become an Amazon associate for The Naming Project, so if you click through my links, your purchases will send a donation to TNP). I loved it. He was looking at the cities, and how well those cities are adapting to a new creative (information-based) economy. He was concerned about the decline of the former manufacturing cities (the rust belt), and concerned about the fragility of cities and regions that are solely based on speculation and tourism (sun belt).

He was interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio just a couple of days ago. I'll link to that interview here.

He also wrote an article in Atlantic Monthly, which is quite good.

I'm now interested in the idea of "regions". I can envision a high-speed train that runs from Minneapolis to Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit. I think that there is the possibility of creating a strong region by linking our cities to one another. It allows the creative energy that exudes from Chicago to be able to be matched by the Twin Cities. If Cleveland and Detroit can figure out what to do with themselves, then they could strengthen the region as well.

Place is important. It has always been. Do not take where you live for granted. You are there for a reason. These links that I've given you are based on economics, but place is important for so many other reasons.

Spend a little time appreciating your own habitat.