Portland is Up-and-Coming For Creative Workers
Posted by: kmikeym | From: November 9, 2005
More on the idea of the Portland's creative class: Fast Company magazine reports that Portland is one of 15 "up-and-coming hubs for creative workers--places that draw people who are talented, tech savvy, and tolerant." Fast Company does a nice job of explaining the methodology of their list of 15 as well.
Portland, Oregon
Poster Child: Jeffrey Butters sold his Xterra SUV a little over a year ago. "It was senseless driving into downtown Portland," he says of his commute to work that now takes 12 minutes on his bike. A native of Oregon, he and several members of his family founded the Butters Gallery--an international contemporary-art gallery that has showcased everything from gold-leafed cow dung to sophisticated modern sculpture and paintings--in 1988. "Maybe five or six years ago people would've been surprised to find a modern gallery like ours in Portland, but not today." Butters, 42, is an artist as well as a gallery owner and has his own downtown studio for painting. His passion for the city matches his passion for art. "I think we've developed a sense of city pride that revolves around being creative," he says. "The city is a wonderful, vibrant place to be."
Creative-Class Cred
Cornerstones: The Pearl District, an 80-year-old warehouse area, has seen more than 50 residential and commercial projects in just over a decade, transforming it into a hip place to live. It's a mix of 19th-century industrial buildings and modern condos and art galleries. Home to the largest wooded city park (Forest Park) in the country, the Portland area is lush with outdoor opportunities.
Caveats: As real-estate prices continue to rise, residents have been fleeing to the suburbs. Big-box stores such as Pier One have been cropping up on the fringes, drawing shoppers from inside the city and stalling development of the downtown shopping district.
Isn't T. Frank a big hater on corporate culture and advertising?
Posted by: Mikey at November 9, 2005 3:49 PM
I think it would be fair to call Frank a "hater" of commodified dissent and of "market populism"; he's just a student of corporate culture and advertising. But actually the author I was thinking of especially was Paul Malizewski, and his essay in Baffler #16.
God this redesign is beautiful!
Posted by: Kevin Erickson at November 10, 2005 6:51 AM
"As real estate prices continue to rise, residents are fleeing to the suburbs."
I wonder if this is actually true. Portland is still one of the best cities to buy an affordable house in, as evidenced by the fact that even people our age own them.
I get tired of the "big box stores, suburban sprawl" stuff, because I feel like people take it for granted that it's happening when, maybe, it's not.
Posted by: Andrew V Peterson at November 12, 2005 1:13 PM
For clarification: maybe it's not happening *in Portland*.
Because Portland residents are awesome and don't want to live in the 'burbs.
Posted by: Andrew V Peterson at November 12, 2005 1:14 PM
Correction: maybe my comments are boring.
Posted by: Andrew V Peterson at November 14, 2005 11:09 PM
real estate in portland rose in value 25% this year
so yeah
also i don't get this creative class thing
it seems to just be about people who do slightly less boring corporate work, as opposed to, say, like, an "creative artists class", who are still basically street scum living off of borrowed chips
Posted by: adam forkner at November 22, 2005 8:41 AM
"It describes a group of people that Florida believes are a key driving force for economic development of post-industrial cities in the USA."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_class
Posted by: Mikey at November 23, 2005 12:00 PM
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Hasn't this sort of economic theory all been thoroughly debunked by Thomas Frank et al in Boob Jubilee, One Market Under God etc?
Posted by: Kevin Erickson at November 9, 2005 3:42 PM