Noted urbanist and author Richard Florida opened the recent 2016 ULI Florida Summit in Miami by reminding the audience that the creative class and the industries in which it works are the single most important economic drivers in the 21st-century economy. Economic development at the local and state levels can no longer be about enticing companies through special tax breaks or incentives, but about being irresistible to creative, talented people and building neighborhoods where they can simultaneously live, work, dine, drink, play, and experience a high level of interaction with each other. The creative types will be the ones to lure the companies in—or, better yet, start companies of their own, in Florida’s view.
Urban Land Institute Magazine : The Ongoing Challenge of Attracting and Retaining Creative Class
