Richard Florida had a lot of great ideas. Greensboro listened to none of them. Richard Florida had some very bad ideas. Like too many cities, Greensboro bought them hook, line and sinker. Now, like a lot of cities in the article, Richard Florida Concedes the Limits of the Creative Class, Greensboro has problems.
Funny thing is, myself and many others knew it and warned of it all along.
Not that I've got anything against creative people, I'm a poet, novelist and children's author myself but sooner or later reality sets in: historically the arts are only successful when the economy is successful, not the other way around.
The great art from the Ming Dynasty of China came at a time when the Chinese empire was fat and happy, the people were fed and looking for things to do. The same is true of the greatest treasures of Rome, Persia, Egypt and the Aztec. People create art to express themselves.
Of course, Florida was also talking about the creative minds that develop new drugs, advance science and further medicine. Problem was: in doing what he did he actually helped fuel the very mistakes cities like Greensboro were already making: pursuing development as an economic driver in the hopes of attracting jobs when they would have been better off creating jobs at home.
So how could cities create jobs at home? Well, for starters: take a good hard look at what really drives economic development, that being manufacturing. Now it's argued that manufacturing is dead in America but everywhere you look there are signs that manufacturing is coming back. Why? High fuel cost for starters. A container that used to cost $800 to ship from China to the US now costs $8,000 with almost all that increase being the rising cost of fuel.
Piracy on the high seas is another problem. While we tend to think of piracy as something that ended a long time ago or only happens to cruise ships off the coast of Africa, piracy in Asian shipping lanes are currently higher that piracy has ever been in the history of the entire world.
Foreign workers have also decided it's time they got paid for working. While wages in Asia aren't as high as they are here, they are going up and when you add higher wages to higher fuel costs and the losses American corporations are facing due to international piracy then manufacturing at home begins to look more attractive.
"So how do we attract those manufacturers to Greensboro?" you ask. The answer: we don't. Instead, we make it necessary for them to come here by manufacturing what they need most.
If Greensboro manufacturers what major manufacturers need most then major manufacturers will come to Greensboro to get what they need without asking for incentives. They will bend over backwards to give us high paying jobs without investing in megasites. They will build factories in the city, in communities like East Greensboro where the jobless rate is highest and available property abounds. In communities like Glenwood where the Lee Street-High Point Road Corridor desperately needs investment. They will build wherever the Greensboro City Council tells them to build. If Greensboro manufactures what it is that major manufacturers need most.
So what is it that major manufacturers need most? Talk to me, maybe I'll tell you. Frankly, I'm a bit tired of giving away ideas to people who refuse to listen and later discovering that someone else all the way across the nation or around the world, was paying attention and making my ideas work for someone else.
Remember this idea Cara Michele Forest? I came up with it in 2007. If you'd listened to me all of Greensboro's homeless would be inside tonight. I even bought the machines necessary to do the job. You see, the true creative class has been here in Greensboro all along but those in power refuse to admit it because to do so weakens their control over honest people like Cara Michele who was scared my ideas might anger the City Council and cause them to pull funding for the homeless.
Funny thing is, myself and many others knew it and warned of it all along.
Not that I've got anything against creative people, I'm a poet, novelist and children's author myself but sooner or later reality sets in: historically the arts are only successful when the economy is successful, not the other way around.
The great art from the Ming Dynasty of China came at a time when the Chinese empire was fat and happy, the people were fed and looking for things to do. The same is true of the greatest treasures of Rome, Persia, Egypt and the Aztec. People create art to express themselves.
Of course, Florida was also talking about the creative minds that develop new drugs, advance science and further medicine. Problem was: in doing what he did he actually helped fuel the very mistakes cities like Greensboro were already making: pursuing development as an economic driver in the hopes of attracting jobs when they would have been better off creating jobs at home.
So how could cities create jobs at home? Well, for starters: take a good hard look at what really drives economic development, that being manufacturing. Now it's argued that manufacturing is dead in America but everywhere you look there are signs that manufacturing is coming back. Why? High fuel cost for starters. A container that used to cost $800 to ship from China to the US now costs $8,000 with almost all that increase being the rising cost of fuel.
Piracy on the high seas is another problem. While we tend to think of piracy as something that ended a long time ago or only happens to cruise ships off the coast of Africa, piracy in Asian shipping lanes are currently higher that piracy has ever been in the history of the entire world.
Foreign workers have also decided it's time they got paid for working. While wages in Asia aren't as high as they are here, they are going up and when you add higher wages to higher fuel costs and the losses American corporations are facing due to international piracy then manufacturing at home begins to look more attractive.
"So how do we attract those manufacturers to Greensboro?" you ask. The answer: we don't. Instead, we make it necessary for them to come here by manufacturing what they need most.
If Greensboro manufacturers what major manufacturers need most then major manufacturers will come to Greensboro to get what they need without asking for incentives. They will bend over backwards to give us high paying jobs without investing in megasites. They will build factories in the city, in communities like East Greensboro where the jobless rate is highest and available property abounds. In communities like Glenwood where the Lee Street-High Point Road Corridor desperately needs investment. They will build wherever the Greensboro City Council tells them to build. If Greensboro manufactures what it is that major manufacturers need most.
So what is it that major manufacturers need most? Talk to me, maybe I'll tell you. Frankly, I'm a bit tired of giving away ideas to people who refuse to listen and later discovering that someone else all the way across the nation or around the world, was paying attention and making my ideas work for someone else.
Remember this idea Cara Michele Forest? I came up with it in 2007. If you'd listened to me all of Greensboro's homeless would be inside tonight. I even bought the machines necessary to do the job. You see, the true creative class has been here in Greensboro all along but those in power refuse to admit it because to do so weakens their control over honest people like Cara Michele who was scared my ideas might anger the City Council and cause them to pull funding for the homeless.
