COVER

> / / T H E H E A D L I N ER

20 //< FIRST MON DAY

 //> COVER

As cities across the nation duke it out for today’s

young and mobile knowledge worker, where does
central florida rank in terms of cool? Economic
vitality could be riding on the answer.

july 2008 >// 21

//> COVER

Just days after tossing his gold-tasseled
cap into the air at the University of
Central Florida’s 2000 graduation,
22-year-old Rodel Oiga packed his
belongings, said his goodbyes and drove
across the country to Vegas.
After a two-year stint in Sin City, he
tried on L.A., West Palm Beach and
New York for size. Why not? It’s the
itinerant lifestyle of his generation.
As a self-starting creative type (think
iPhone-toting, bald-headed, part hip-
ster, part computer genius), he was in
search of a city up to his standards: one
with rich cultural vitality and diversity
to stimulate his eclectic interests, one
where he could easily geek out, hit the
snowboarding slopes, catch a Korean
indie flick or feed his passion for hip-
hop music.
With his new degree in management
information systems, he could have
easily snagged a job in Orlando, but
instead he went on a quest to find the
location that best fit him (which after a
long search ended up being New York).
The perfect job part came later (he
now works for the Fashion Institute of
Technology, where he handles all things
digital in the graphics lab).
Clearly, metro Orlando has a lot going
for it. In 2007, a Harris Poll ranked it
as one of the “most desirable places to
live”; it has a new medical school on
the way, easy access to beaches, and it’s
a place where a young worker can easily
get connected.
This begs the question: Why was this
young talent anxious to skip town?
For him, Oiga says, it was more than
finding a good job — he wanted a life,
too.
It’s the collective mindset of the Gen X
and Gen Y crowd, asserts Lou Musante,
CEO of Catalytix, a division of Richard
Florida’s Creative Class Group, based
in Pittsburgh. “Two out of three seniors
graduating from college are making the
decision on place over job,” he says.
“That’s why a lot of regions have what
we call a brain drain.”
Cities that don’t register on the hip-o-
meter tend to lose out on young workers
like Oiga because, these days, deciding
where to live ranks right up there with
choosing a life partner or a career path,
according to Richard Florida, professor
of “business and creativity” at the Uni-
versity of Toronto and principal of the
Creative Class Group.
Power of Knowledge
Florida, a guru of social theory and
urban planning, explains in his latest
book “Who’s Your City?” that 40 mil-
lion people make up the creative class,
including Oiga and anyone else who is
paid to “think” for a living. The term can
be difficult to define, says Musante: “It’s
more than the arts and culture sector.”
The creative class makes up 30 percent
of the workforce and 50 percent, or
$2.1 trillion, of the U.S. payroll.
In other words, if you categorize all
the workers nationwide into groups,
there are three main buckets: the ser-
vice class (who provide services, such
as cleaning a hotel room or waiting on
tables); the working class (who perform
labor functions like construction or
plumbing); and the creative class (many
of whom make a living by coming up
with ideas).
The latter is a widespread group play-
ing host to an amalgam of professionals,
including architects, software engineers,
designers and writers. It’s an expanded
definition of what prolific management
consultant Peter Drucker labeled the
knowledge worker nearly 50 years ago.
The primary difference today — with
the nation’s shift from a manufacturing-
based economy to a more knowledge-
oriented one — is that the creative class
is on the rise. And to attract and retain
the best and brightest, a community
needs to foster creativity on all fronts.
“For the first time in human history,”
Florida emphasizes, “the basic logic
of our economy dictates that further
economic development requires the
further development and use of human
creative capabilities.”

Out of 166 places evaluated and 28,000 people surveyed,

see how Orlando stacks up:

General Orlando Rankings

Singles (20-29) – No. 62 overall, No. 93 “best buy”*
Professionals (29-44) – No. 65 overall, No. 74 “best buy”*
Families with Children – No. 92 overall, No. 100 “best buy”*
Empty Nesters (45-64) – No. 64 overall, No. 79 “best buy”*
Retirees (Over 65) – No. 49 overall,  No. 25 “best buy”*

Orlando Rankings for Gays and Lesbians

Singles (20-29) – No. 52 overall, No. 78 “best buy”*
Professionals (29-44) – No. 35 overall, No. 42 “best buy”*
Families with Children – No. 62 overall, No. 65 “best buy”*
Empty Nesters (45-64) – No. 26 overall, No. 29 “best buy”*
Retirees (Over 65) – No. 31 overall,  No. 7 “best buy”*

Source: Richard Florida, “Who’s Your City”

* “Best buy” takes cost into account.

22 //< FIRST MON DAY


Brain Gain
Why the focus on young workers? The
answer is fairly obvious. “People are
most mobile in their 20s, with mobility
decreasing after that until retirement,”
explains Kevin Stolarick, associate
director and research associate at the
University of Toronto’s Rotman School
of Management. “Families are generally
a lot more ‘rooted’ to a place and aren’t
as mobile.”
Musante, who has studied the
Orlando area for the past five years,
adds, “Growth for the sake of growth
doesn’t help anybody. The question is,
Can you attract more of the right type
of worker?” As it stands, only about 25
percent of Orlando’s workers fall into
the creative class.
The good news: That will likely all
“Growth for the sake of growth
doesn’t help anybody. The question is,
Can you attract more of the right type
of worker?”
—Lou Musante, of Catalytix
change in the next decade. Orlando
is poised to become a top destination
for creative types, according to a 2006
study conducted by Catalytix.
If this is the case, how does the city go
about developing an atmosphere condu-
cive to this sought-after demographic?
According to Florida, the key is to focus
on the four T’s — talent, technology,
tolerance and territory assets.
Let’s take a look in the mirror. Talent?
Metro Orlando has plenty. With UCF,
the Florida Interactive Entertainment
Academy and Full Sail University as
standout creative hubs, it’s no surprise
that the area is producing more than a
genius or two. Technology? Yes, but are we
well known for it? Tolerance? We have a
leg up on places like Memphis or Pitts-
burgh. Territory? The region is known for
fun and sun, of course, but what spe-
cifically does downtown Orlando — the
place that needs to appeal to the creative
class — boast?
It’s All About the People
“When it comes to talent, [metro Orlan-
do’s] brain drain is a little bit below the
national average,” says Musante, who
has lived in the North Allegheny suburb
of Pittsburgh for 28 years. “But it’s not
bad like it is in Pittsburgh. As you start
to build the new infrastructure, it will
entice people to stay a little bit longer.”
He points out a new way of thinking
in the arena of economic development:
“It is as much about the attraction
of people as it is about the attraction
of businesses.”
Ben Noel, director of the Florida
Interactive Entertainment Academy
— UCF’s graduate video game design
school in downtown Orlando — couldn’t
agree more. He scours top schools like
Carnegie Mellon University, Ringling
College of Art and Design, and UCF
for the best and brightest students and
shows them the ways of the gaming
industry. Of the 34 UCF students who
graduated from the 16-month program
last semester, 95 percent were hired in
the industry, many with a starting sal-
ary of more than $50,000. In five to
10 years, they will potentially be making
$125,000 to $250,000.
About 80 percent stay in the area,
while the remaining 20 percent head to
Houston, New York, Chicago and Los
Angeles. Noel — a “boomeranger,” who
grew up in Orlando, left for college and
returned several years later — would like
to see even more of his students stick
around or return just as he did.
At least some of the students who
do stay don’t regret the decision. Take
Rogier van Etten, an FIEA graduate
and Netherlands native. With the wide-
spread nature of the gaming industry,
he had endless options for where to live,
and he chose Orlando. He was offered
a job at 360Ed, a downtown Orlando
educational game-making studio, which
he found compelling, and he was lured
by “the prospect of Orlando ramping
up as a community for young creatives.”
To top it off, Orlando’s relatively low
cost of living, especially compared to
//> COVER
other creative class hotbeds like New
York or San Francisco, made it all the
more attractive, he says.
It Takes a Village
To further entice young creative workers
to stick around, as well as attract loads
of top-notch businesses, Noel is work-
ing with the city to develop a 53-acre
creative village, to be located where the
Amway Arena now stands. The village
will be stocked with restaurants and art-
house movie theaters, peppered with
green space and two-person boutiques,
and anchored by large-scale corpora-
tions and big-name branches like Apple
and Microsoft. It will be the veritable
picture of a well-oiled creative machine,
allowing Orlando to further burnish its
super-high-tech, digital-savvy, up-and-
coming image. “It’s an opportunity for
local companies to really leverage them-
selves,” says Noel. “And it’s where the
high-wage workers are going to be.”
Noel believes the cluster of “creatives”
forms not only a thick labor market, but
a place to spawn great ideas and nurture
professional camaraderie. And this
giant mix of talented and productive
people is what Florida points to as the
real source of economic growth.
“More than ever before, creative types
have the ability to choose a community
where they want to live,” says Florida,
“and regions must understand that if
they want to be competitive in the global
battle for talent.”
Technology and Tolerance
Orlando has been a high-tech hub dat-
ing back to the 1950s. And thanks to
the development of the Florida High
Tech Corridor, technology is a sector
in which metro Orlando continues
to thrive. Companies like Lockheed
Martin and Harris Corp. prosper here,
as do many smaller entities. Technol-
ogy’s impact often relies on reputation,
however.
“Being ‘known’ as a high-tech or
specific technology hub is what helps to
attract both people and businesses,” says
Stolarick. “While Orlando has some tech
strengths — gaming, other entertain-
ment technologies — it doesn’t have a
strong reputation. While UCF is a great
school, it’s known for providing a good
july 2008 >// 23
//> COVER

education, not for its research.  Tech-
Did You Know? nology reputation often depends on/
derives from a major research university
Full Sail University, know as
with a high-tech reputation.”
one of the premier media arts
With the new medical school and a
school in the world, has been recent surge in R&D funding, UCF is
around since 1979. Since then, moving in the right direction.
it has made huge strides. When it comes to tolerance, Orlando
According to a 2006 study does fairly well, which is a good sign
conducted by The Washington since it can be the most difficult of the
regional growth and prosperity drivers
Economics Group, the univer-
to boost.
sity had a $400 million eco-
Richard Florida’s research shows that
nomic impact that year. With members of the creative class prefer
3,500 employees, it ranks as places that are tolerant and open to new
the second-largest employer in ways of thinking. That’s why cities like
Winter Park and has produced Seattle, Boston and Portland do so well
27,000 graduates in areas like in attracting young people looking to
work in creative fields. “It’s about being
film, Web design and computer
open,” says Musante, as he cites one of
animation.
Orlando’s strong points. “It’s easy to
get connected here,” he says. Unlike
old-network towns like Memphis, where
plugging in can be an uphill battle for
newcomers.
Cultural Upgrade
The last T, territory assets — sometimes
called quality of life — is a strong one for
the region as a whole. The access to water
and year-round sunshine has always
made it a famously ideal climate. When
you narrow in on downtown Orlando,
though, what makes it unique?
To bump up the cool factor, Musante
says, it’s about more than just adding
new bars and restaurants. It’s about
arts and entertainment, and it’s about
adding the “street-corner strange,” the
pleasantly quirky cultural elements.
To help downtown Orlando in its
quest to lure the creative class, Musante
and Stolarick conducted a study in
2006, surveying residents’ wants and
identifying obstacles and opportunities.
The results prompted the city to fund
the new performing arts center, events
center and upgraded stadium.
Furthermore, citing the fact that
national studies show an investment
in the arts is nearly always profitable
to the community at large, Musante
recommended an arts incubator, a sort
of artist greenhouse providing affordable
space and business development services.
“There’s an opportunity there to help
the emerging artist,” says Musante. “It
makes good business sense, and at the
same time you are making it easier for
them to start up and become a prosper-
ous artist rather than a starving one.”
Cities like Detroit are making it work.
Its four-story 4731 Gallery, an old busi-
ness storage building turned funky art
studio, complete with tulip columns,
gothic windows and terrazzo flooring,
is home to furniture designers, along
with painters and poets. It even fosters
budding fashion designers. “You can
go there with an idea for a new line of
clothing,” says Musante. “The incuba-
tor can do everything from help you
design it to manufacture it to market it,
all under one roof.”
Some Cities Sizzle
Austin, Texas, has taken similar steps,
fixing up and providing affordable

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24 //< FIRST MON DAY

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 //> COVER

housing to local rock bands and artists. the first cities to house an economic The key: The city has embraced the four the South by Southwest Music Confer-
Within its iCREATE arts incubator, you development department, a trend that T’s. ence and Festival, held every March, has
can find ceramic artists, international is more common now. “Annually, it is Its broad creative ecosystem, combined transformed this once-bucolic setting by
culinary chefs and creative writers, all No. 1 or 2 on our list of places that the with outdoor activities, a warehouse dis- attracting all types, from high-tech geeks
in one place. creative class wants to go,” says Musante. trict and international gatherings like to budding musicians to recent graduates.
When it comes to drawing the creative
class, consider what has put this diverse
city on the map: high-tech jobs and
its Texas-sized music and filmmaking
scene. Just 40 years ago, it was a cow
town. Now, it ranks No. 1 on Richard
Florida’s Creativity Index and is con-
sidered by many people to be the “live
music capital of the world.”
So, just how did Austin blossom into
a mecca of international acclaim? It
began by building up the University of
Texas and boosting federal and state
research dollars by the millions. With
careful planning in the 1980s and 1990s
and kicking the downtown culture into
high gear, the city attracted businesses
like IBM, Intel and Motorola. And right
next to the high-tech industrial centers,
a thriving arts and cultural scene pumps
energy into every nook and cranny.
“The creative sector is very important
to our identity and the economy,” says
Vincent Kitch, cultural arts program
manager for the city of Austin. What’s
more, 2005 numbers estimated that the
nonprofit arts, film and music indus-
tries in Austin accounted for more
than $2.2 billion in annual activity and
44,000-plus jobs. 
Austin’s leadership has long embraced
arts and culture.  In fact, it was one of

Who Makes Up the

Creative Class?
If you categorize all the workers
in the United States into groups,
there are three main buckets —
the service class (who provide
services, such as cleaning a
hotel room or waiting on tables);
the working class (who perform
labor functions like construction
or plumbing); and the creative
class (who make a living by com-
ing up with ideas).

july 2008 >// 25

//> COVER

Austin is off the charts when it comes
to the key factors of “creative” happi-
ness — job, personal life and place. And
Denver is following in its footsteps.
The Mile High City is part of a
giant economic powerhouse, or “mega
region,” as Florida calls it in his book.
Not to mention that it is home to 4 mil-
lion people and ranks among the top 10
places for “young professionals.”
Why? “Denver’s leadership and
citizens are very open-minded when it
comes to embracing the arts and cul-
ture,” says Ginger White, of the Denver
Office of Cultural Affairs.
White points to the success of a
microlending tool that has distributed
more than $100,000 in loans since
mid-2005 to assist arts-related start-
ups in Denver, with 100 percent repay-

19
ment. “[It] provides start-up capital
in the form of loans for … nonprofit
creative enterprises — graphic design
firms, galleries, musicians.”

<:IDC7D6G9 Some Cities Fizzle

Caution: There is no perfect equation

A>HI:C>C<IDA:69:GH on which to build a creative community,

and Pittsburgh can attest to that fact,
:Xdcdb^XAZVYZgh]^e Musante says. “We have an unbelievable
BZ\8gd[idchZgkZhVhEgZh^YZcid[i]ZLVai9^hcZnLdgaYGZhdgi!dkZghZZ^c\Vldg`[dgXZd[ cultural scene: symphony, opera, bal-
cZVgan+'!%%%8VhiBZbWZghVii]ZldgaY¼hcjbWZgdcZkVXVi^dcYZhi^cVi^dc#=ZggZhedch^W^a^i^Zh let and museums. That’s great for baby
^cXajYZi]ZdeZgVi^dcd[[djgi]ZbZeVg`h!ildlViZgeVg`h!''gZhdgih!9dlcidlc9^hcZn! boomers, but not if you’re part of Gen
9^hcZn¼hL^YZLdgaYd[Hedgih8dbeaZmVcYdi]ZgViigVXi^dch# X or Gen Y,” he notes.
6Xi^kZ^ci]Z8ZcigVa;adg^YVXdbbjc^in[dgbVcnnZVgh!h]ZXjggZcianhZgkZhdci]ZWdVgYhd[ The city has made attempt after
Y^gZXidghd[i]ZBZigdDgaVcYd:Xdcdb^X9ZkZadebZci8dbb^hh^dc!DgaVcYd=ZVai]!VcYi]Z attempt to draw the creative class and
8ZcigVa;adg^YVGZ\^dcVa8dbb^hh^dcdc=dbZaZhhcZhh#BZ\Vahd^hVbZbWZgd[i]ZGdaa^ch to retain the coveted Carnegie Mel-
8daaZ\Z7dVgYd[IgjhiZZh# lon grads. Yet, despite it all (even with
L=:C/ LZYcZhYVn!6j\jhi'%!'%%- BZ\8gd[idc its technology reservoirs, world-class
EgZh^YZci!LVai9^hcZn
 ,/(%·&%/%%V#b# LdgaYGZhdgi universities and easy navigation), Pitts-
L=:G:/ DgaVcYdBjhZjbd[6gi burgh still suffers one of the worst brain
 ')&+Cdgi]B^aah6kZcjZ!DgaVcYd!;A('-%( drains in the nation. Musante cites one
8DHI/ &*#%% >cY^k^YjVaegZeV^Y of the chief problems: It is not an open
 '%#%% >cY^k^YjVaYVnd[i]ZZkZci or tolerant community.
I]Vc`hidDjgAZVYZgh]^eHiZlVgYh[dgI]Z^gHjeedgi
Prepped and Ready
It all goes back to the all-important T’s.
Each T must be strong and vibrant for a
truly creative community to emerge.
8:CIG6A;ADG>96HB6AA7JH>C:HHHJBB>I Metro Orlando is moving in the right
direction. After all, it is a relatively
I]Z8ZcigVa;adg^YVHbVaa7jh^cZhhHjbb^i^hi]Z]dihediidcZildg`!ZmeVcYndjgb^cY!VcY
young city, and with that, comes oppor-
iV`ZndjgWjh^cZhhidi]ZcZmiaZkZa#NdjVgZ^ck^iZYidheZcYdcZYVnl^i]^cYjhignaZVYZghVcY
ZmeZgih!VgZVZcigZegZcZjgh!VcYhbVaaWjh^cZhhdlcZgh#I]ZHjbb^id[[Zghdeedgijc^i^Zhid/ tunity to build a thicker infrastructure.
™>ciZgVXil^i]VcYaZVgc[gdbcVi^dcVaanVcY^ciZgcVi^dcVaangZcdlcZYWjh^cZhh]ZVYa^cZgh# Better yet, metro Orlando is part of
what Richard Florida has dubbed the
™=ZVgi]ZgZhjaihd[i]ZÄghiGZ\^dcVaGZhZVgX]dc:cigZegZcZjgh]^e#AZVgcl]VigZhdjgXZh!
hZgk^XZh!VcYhjeedgihnhiZbhVgZVkV^aVWaZid8ZcigVa;adg^YVZcigZegZcZjgh#EVgi^X^eViZ^c So-Flo “mega region” of 15.1 million
^ciZgVXi^kZ¹AZVgc^c\AVWhºdc^bedgiVcihbVaaWjh^cZhhide^Xh# people in Orlando, Miami and Tampa,
™EaVn^c\d[[i]Z]^\]"egdÄaZhjXXZhhd[i]ZheZZY"YVi^c\e]ZcdbZcdc!¹H8DG:HeZZY with a collective economic output of
8djchZa^c\ºl^aaegdk^YZ&'%hbVaaWjh^cZhhZhl^i](%"b^cjiZ![gZZ!^cY^k^YjVa^oZYXdjchZa^c\ =ZVg[gdbB^X]VZa<ZgWZg! $430 billion. Metro Orlando’s prox-
hZhh^dch[gdbH8DG:·6bZg^XV¼hegZb^ZgZcdcegdÄihdjgXZ[dg[gZZWjh^cZhh`cdlaZY\Z# Xdch^YZgZYi]ZLdgaY¼h& imity to Miami and Tampa means that,
HbVaa7jh^cZhh<jgj with some effort, the city could lever-
L=:C/ ;g^YVnHZeiZbWZg'+!'%%-
age the vast knowledge of the mega to its
 GZ\^higVi^dc/,/(%V#b#
advantage.
 Egd\gVb/-/(%V#b#·)/%%e#b# :m]^W^i7ddi]h
 GZXZei^dc/)/%%·*/(%e#b# Hedchdgh]^eh Even more encouraging is the simple
&%%86H="768@ fact that leaders and residents here
L=:G:/ DgaVcYdLdgaY8ZciZgBVgg^dii >cXZci^kZid6aaHbVaa7jh^cZhhZh VgZVkV^aVWaZ#
 -,%&LdgaY8ZciZg9g^kZ!DgaVcYd
EVgi^X^eVi^c\^cH8DG:8djchZa^c\HZhh^dch# ;dgbdgZ^c[dgbVi^dc!eaZVhZXdciVXi actively want to make it happen. And for
8ncY^BVio^X`Vi)%,#-(*#'*&(dg
people who want to affect change, this is
8DHI/ &.*>cXajYZhGZ\^higVi^dc;ZZ!BZVah!GZ[gZh]bZcih XncY^#bVio^X`5dgaVcYd#dg\#
 Yjg^c\hX]ZYjaZYZkZcihVcYVaaBZZi^c\BViZg^Vah# a place to be.
It can happen here. “Orlando,” con-
cludes Florida, “can follow suit — mar-

GZ\^hiZgDca^cZVilll#dgaVcYd#dg\ keting itself as a great place to live and a

desirable location for creative workers.”

26 //< FIRST MON DAY