Benchmarking the Creative Class in Arlington Virginia.docx
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BenchmarkingtheCreativeClassinArlingtonVirginia
ARLINGTONECONOMICDEVELOPMENT,ISSUEPAPERNO.6
JANUARY2005
BENCHMARKINGTHECREATIVE
CLASSINARLINGTON,VIRGINIA
HowdoesArlingtoncomparetothenationandtherestoftheWashingtonD.C.region?
Introduction
RichardFlorida’sbook,TheRiseoftheCreative
Class,hasgainedsubstantialattentionamongthe
economicdevelopment
communityasanew
paradigmforeconomic
growth1.Buildingon
regionalgrowththeories
focusedonknowledge-based,
cluster-oriented,and
technology-ledjobgrowth,
Floridacorrelatesjobgrowth
intechnologycenterswith
specificdemographiccharac-
teristics.Hetheorizesthat
communitieswithahigh
degreeofdiversityattract
young,educatedandcreative
peoplethatcontribute
directlytoeconomicgrowth.
Conversely,thelackofdiver-
sity,tolerance,anda
knowledge-basedbusiness
baseleadstoa“braindrain”
ofthispopulationtomoreattractiveCreativeClass
communities.Suchseeminglyunrelatedcitiesas
Tampa,Providence,MemphisandPittsburghhave
basedtheireconomicdevelopmentstrategies,at
leastpartly,onbuildingamenity-richcommunities
attractivetotheCreativeClassworker.
TheWashington,D.C.MetropolitanAreaisranked
byFloridafirstamongmetrosofonemillionor
moreinpercentageofCreativeClasspopulation
andeighthonhisCreativityIndex2.Thispaper
benchmarksArlington’sposition
withintheWashingtonD.C.
regionasaCreativeClass
community.Thepurposeofthis
paperistoprovideperspective
onlocalandregional
demographicsastheyrelateto
thoseattributesassociatedwith
theCreativeClass.
EconomicGrowth
Theories
MichaelPorterpopularizedthe
cluster-basedtheoryofeconomic
growthadecadeago,andthe
economicdevelopmentcommu-
nityhasnearlyuniversally
embracedhisapproach3.Porter
suggestedthatinnovationis
derivedfromspecializationand
densenetworksofinterrelatedfirmsandworkers.
Theworkersmayberelatedbyindustry,occupa-
tion,ageoreducation.Economistssuggestthat
agglomerationeconomies,essentiallyefficiencies
andcomparativeadvantage,occurwhenfirms
clusteringeographicspace.Saxenianand
1
Florida,Richard.TheRiseoftheCreativeClass.BasicBooks.
NewYork,NY.2002.Allreferencestothe“CreativeClass”are
derivedfromthistext.
2
3
Florida,p.237.
Porter,Michael.1990.TheCompetitiveAdvantageofNations.
TheFreePress.NewYork,NY.
1
BENCHMARKING
THE
CREATIVECLASS
IN
ARLINGTON,VIRGINIA
Fukuyamaadvanceaculturalelementtothetheory
toexplainthedisseminationordispersionofinnova-
tionwithinclusters4.Clustersbuildontheir
increasingspecializationandrapidandconstant
innovationtoincreasetheirglobalcompetitiveness.
RichardFloridaaddstothisthenotionthatjob
growthinthenewinformationeconomyis
stronglycorrelatedwithlaborforcecharacteristics
thatmatchuptotherequirementsoftechnology-
basedemployment.Educationisespecially
importantasthesecondofhisthree“T”sof
economicgrowth–technology,talentandtoler-
ance.Thethird“T”,tolerance,isareflectionof
highlevelsof
acceptanceof
ethnicand
lifestylediffer-
ences.These,
inturn,area
functionof
diversity,age
andeduca-
tionamong
otherfactors.
Florida’s
analysiscorre-
latesthese
factorswith
economic
anoverallCreativityIndextodescribeanew
socialclass–theCreativeClass.Hewritesthat
“aswithotherclasses,thedefiningbasisofthis
classiseconomic.Becausecreativityisthedriving
forceofeconomicgrowth,intermsofinfluence,
theCreativeClasshasbecomethedominantclass
insociety.”5What,moreprecisely,isthe
CreativeClass?
Florida’sindexesthatdescribetheCreativeClass
aresomewhatcomplextoexplainandreplicate.
Essentially,hisoverallCreativityIndexisbasedon
fourfactors:
1.TheCreativeClassshareoftheworkforce,
basedlargelyonoccupationalcharacteristics;
2.Innovation,asmeasuredbypatentactivity;
3.Thehightechnologyshareoftheeconomic
base;and
4.Diversity,basedonindexesrelatedtosexual
orientation,bohemianism(countercultureor
cuttingedgeartsandculture),anddiversity
(foreignbornpopulation).
Incombination,thecomponentindexesaddupto
anoverallindexthatrankstheWashington,D.C.
MetropolitanAreainthetop10amongmetroareas
ofonemillionormorepopulation.
TheindicatorsusedbyFloridathataremostspecifi-
callynotusedinthispaperarehisGayIndexand
growthand
suggeststhat
communities
Arlingtonhasthehighesteducated
populationintheregion.
BohemianIndex.Thereislittledoubtthat
Arlingtonwouldscoretowardsthetopofthescale
forthesesmeasures,however,thedifficultyof
thathavethesedemographic,communityand
economiccharacteristicsaremorelikelytobe
economicallysuccessful.
Floridahasusedstatisticaltechniquestocreatea
seriesofindexesthatarehighlycorrelatedwith
economicgrowth.Hethencombinestheseinto
compilingconsistentandaccuratedataacrossthe
regionprecludestheuseoftheseindicatorsinthis
paper.Twofactorshavebeenaddedtothemodel–
mobilityandhousingaffordability.Mobilityis
implicitintheCreativeClassconceptandafford-
abilityisanimportantelementofmobility.
4
Saxenian,Annalee.1996.RegionalAdvantage:
Cultureand
5
Florida,p.ix.
CompetitioninSiliconValleyandRoute128.Harvard
UniversityPress.andFukuyama,Francis.1996.Trust.Simon&
Schuster.
2
BENCHMARKING
THE
CREATIVECLASS
IN
ARLINGTON,VIRGINIA
Methodology
Thispaperdoesnotpurelyreplicateallofthe
measuresusedbyFlorida,butsubstitutessome
relativelysimplemeasuresthatareconsistentwith
thepremisesoftheCreativeClasstheory.Eight
measuresareselectedtoreflecttheattributesofthe
CreativeClass.Nooverallcompositeindexis
derived.Eachoftheindividualmeasuresreflectsan
importantattributeoftheCreativeClassbasedon
Florida’sconstruct:
1.Theproportionofthepopulationaged25–34
representsthemobile,educatedandcreative
heartoftheCreativeClass;
2.Theforeignbornproportionofthepopulation
reflectsculturalandethnicdiversity;
3.Theproportionoftheadultpopulationwitha
bachelorsdegreeorhigherlevelofeducationis
thesourceofinnovationandcreativity;
4.Theproportionofthepopulationin“super
creativecore”occupations-
scientists,artists,designers,
architects,engineers,writers,
etc.aretheCreativeClassas
definedbytheirwork;
5.Thepercentageofthepopula-
tionmovingwithinthepast
fiveyearsmeasuresmobility;
6.Theconcentrationofemploy-
mentintechnologysectors
measureshightech
economicactivity;
7.Patentspercapitaoveraten-
yearperiodmeasure
innovation;and
DataisdrawnfromtheBureauoftheCensus
(www.census.gov)andtheU.S.Patentand
TrademarkOffice(www.uspto.gov).Indicatorsare
expressedaslocationquotients(LQ),whichare
generallyusedtomeasureeconomicspecialization,
butareequallysuitableasameasureofconcentra-
tionsofallsorts.6Theanalysisalsoexamines
changesbetween1990and2000(orotherrelevant
period)foreachindicator.Trendscanbeastelling
asthebenchmarksthemselves.
Age25–34Population
Theproportionofthepopulationaged25–34isof
primaryimportanceinanyanalysisofthe
CreativeClass.AstudypreparedforTampafound
that“statistically,25–34yearoldsarethehardest
workingsegmentofthepopulation.Intheirmid-
20s,theyarealsoatthepeakoftheirmobilityand
morelikelytomoveacrossstatelinesthanatany
timesintheirlives.Inthetimebetweentheir
25thand34thbirthdays,these
youngadultsnotonlystart
careers,butfindmates,start
families,andputdownroots.
Oncerootedinplace,the
likelihoodoftheirmovingto
anotherstateormetropolitan
areawilldecline
precipitously.”7TheTampa
studydescribesthisgroupas
“thegoldstandardinthe
knowledge-basedeconomy”
becausetheyarecriticalto
longtermeconomichealthof
theircommunities.
8.Thepercentageofrenters
spendinglessthan35percent
oftheirincomeforhousing
costsindicatesrelative
housingaffordability.
The25–34yearoldpopulationisthe
“goldstandard”inaknowledge-based
economy.
Overthepastdecade,thenation
lostsome3million25–34year
oldsasthesizeofthiscohort
shrunk.Inmanycommunities,
6
Thelocationquotientmeasuresrelativeconcentration.Itisthe
ratioofavariableinonegeographicareaexpressedasa
percentagetothepercentageofthatvariablenationwide.
3
7TheYoungandtheRestless:
HowTampaBayCompetesfor
Talent.2003.P.5.
BENCHMARKING
THE
CREATIVECLASS
IN
ARLINGTON,VIRGINIA
migrationresultedinafurtherlossofthisyoung,
educatedandtalentedpopulation,representinga
“braindrain”inmanycommunitiesasthishighly
mobilegrouprelocated.Tomanyeconomicdevel-
opers,therecruitmentorcaptureofmobile25–34
year-oldsisasimportantascorporaterecruitment
wasadecadeago.
AlexandriaandArlingtonhavethehighestpropor-
tionsof25–34year-oldswithinthemetropolitan
areawithlocationquotientsof1.79and1.78respec-
tively(Table1).Withintheregion,youngpeopleare
morelikelytoliveinthemosturbanenvironments.
Metropolitanarealostmorethan60,000personsin
the25–34agegroupinthe1990sinspiteofan
o
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