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When “creative class” economics guru Richard Florida spoke to the Star Tribune, he had one suggestion for how to boost Minneapolis through the recession: a high-speed train to Chicago.

In the current issue of The Atlantic, Florida examines the fates of U.S. cities such as Las Vegas in the post-recession era in an article titled “How the Crash Will Reshape America.”

As Minnesota struggles to weather the recession, how well its leaders protect the state’s most valuable assets — and position the region for growth — will determine its place in a reshaped American economy. Florida says Minneapolis-St. Paul “will still be standing” in 2030.

In March’s The Atlantic article, Florida argues that the suburbs present as much of a challenge for revitalization as the cities they surround.

In The Atlantic’s cover story entitled How the Crash Will Reshape America, Florida analyzes the changes, by geographic region, that he believes will come as a result of the current recession. Specifically, he predicts that certain cities and urban regions in the US will suffer a “body blow” from which they may never fully recover, while others will emerge stronger and more strategically relevant than before.

Florida evaluates the current financial crisis in the context of previous convulsive shifts in the development of capitalism in the U.S., starting with the late 19th century–the original Great Depression. He argues that different phases in capitalist development engender and are enabled by specific geographies.

This economic crisis is the perfect opportunity for us to get real about how our way of life is changing. But it seems there are many desperately clutching to the past.

Seattle and the impact of the current economic crises.