Urban Development

Steven W. Pedigo, the Greater Washington Initiative's research manager, was online to discuss the area's creative economy and answer your questions.

A transcript follows.

His discussion coincided with a profile of Richard Florida in The Washington Post. The George Mason University professor and author argues that cities that attract highly educated "creative class" workers fare better economically.

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Rockville, MD: Thanks for taking questions today, Mr. Pedigo.

As a member of the Gay Mens Chorus of Washington, I appreciated Mr. Florida's comments on "openness" here in Washington with regard to the large and vibrant gay community.

However, one thing that alarms me is the perception that -ALL- gay people are affluent. What is a single gay guy to do when the cost of living is continuing to rise, the affordable apartment buildings have been going condo, while wages are remaining stagnant. Or is the relatively low age median of residents going to maintain the constant replacement flow of people?

Thanks!

Steven W. Pedigo: Hello everyone. I am happy to be taking your questions for the next hour. Let's get started.

Thanks Rockville for question...

Find a good-looking partner; two incomes are better than one. Just kidding.

You've nailed one of externalities of the creative economy -- a high cost of living. If you look at all the successful regional creative economies across the country -- Austin, Boston, San Francisco -- they're all facing this issue. When a place becomes more desirable, prices go up. That being said, regional leaders can implement soft policies to control the escalating prices. You can find some evidence of this with the District's stance on having a percentage of affordable housing units in new condo buildings. But let's be honest. Trying to keep affordable housing in a desirable area is an issue that no one has figured out.

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Washington, D.C.: Economist Jane Jacobs wrote that cities should be the economic units of comparison, not states or countries. Considering vibrant cities attract the biggest economic contributors to national economies, so far as they don't attract too many people who aren't substantial contributors to the urban economy (according to Jacobs), how should cities act to attract talent -- how should DC weigh social costs of gentrification with growing vibrancy?

Steven W. Pedigo: Ok Washington, DC...

Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities is one of my favorite books. Jacobs would say that a successful city/ region has to have folks of all backgrounds and income levels. So you're right on target. The region must be mindful of this as it changes and grows. Just off the top of my head, measures for growing inequality could be the increase of property taxes on fixed income residents, the migration of residents to more "affordable areas," etc.

In terms of attracting and retaining world-class talent, a region/ city can emphasize the strong ties to local universities and industries and market the desirable regional assets. In terms of marketing, my organization, the Greater Washington Initiative (GWI) just launched a new ad campaign that builds on the region's highly educated workforce. You can check our ads out on our website.

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Silver Spring, MD: Does Mr. Florida want to preserve the small, beautiful houses and older apartment buildings and the creative people who live there now -- here in Silver Spring and throughout the metro area? Or does "dynamic" mean people moving in and out? Would a waitress who draws or does standup comedy in her precious moments away from the paying job count as "creative class member, and if not, why not?

Steven W. Pedigo: Technically, no, well maybe, yes you've nailed one of the limitations of measuring the creative economy. While the waitress doing stand-up comedy is extremely creative, she is counted by her fulltime job.

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Washington, D.C.: What neighborhoods in D.C. do you consider good candidates for a healthy mix of business/entertainment/residential? I'm most interested in areas that are not destinations at present but appear to have a lot of the pieces in place. Thanks!

Steven W. Pedigo: Several neighborhoods have recently become destinations Barracks Row on Capitol Hill, U Street, and 14th Street. Others that seem to have the right pieces are H Street, NE and Shaw near the convention center. Keep an eye out for what happens around the baseball stadium.

There are probably areas outside the District - but I don't make it across the river often.

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Peoria, IL: I've long believed that the troubles Peoria has in producing a "creative class" is that the local full university is a private expensive school that emphasizes engineering and such. Has there been a study on the exclusionary effect of expensive private schools on surrounding areas as to its ability to compete with other cities in quality of life?

Steven W. Pedigo: Great question, Peoria. Bradley is a fine university. I am unaware of any studies pertaining to just private universities. However, you can check out Richard's site -- creativeclass.org -- for a report about the general impact of universities on regional economies.

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Washington, DC: Steven,

Nice article highlighting some of the creative class opportunities. But let me ask you the same question I have discussed with Richard: how to we expand the creative class and bring DC residents into those types of jobs so we don't end up with a two-tier economy?

Ken Jarboe

Steven W. Pedigo: Ken - I think you're suggesting an economy of the have's and have-not's. You're exactly right. A single focus on the creative economy leads us down that road. Richard has always said that the service sector is important to a successful, vibrant regional economy. We have to do better a job of making those jobs more desirable.

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Trying to keep affordable housing in a desirable area is an issue that no one has figured out.: No, it's fairly easy.

1. Ignore NIMBYs (Critical for all the following)

2. Build taller buildings for mixed use of offices and condos.

3. Use new land like the Soldier's Home property to do #2, and not a make a nice park for the yuppie neighborhhod.

4. Expand transit to match the nice shiny new density.

It was funny to see Florida use London as a comparative example. In London they adapted to the times, allowed for skyscrapers, tall condos, etc... In DC, the people who are already in continue to demand "Colonial Williamsburg" in their 'hoods. This is a major city, and if intends to stay that way it has to adapt to the times and population as well.

Steven W. Pedigo: Here's one reader's interesting thoughts on how to solve affordable housing. The mixed use development suggestion is right on target.

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: Pittsburgh is an aging city, what can we do to boost our economy, and bring more young people back to our city?

Steven W. Pedigo: Pittsburgh is a fantastic city that has great bones - cool neighborhoods, amazing universities, history and great burgers at Primanti Brothers. But, I can say this cause I lived there: the area is not as tolerant toward diversity as places like Washington, Chicago, or Seattle. Also, the city needs to make a better connection between its universities, industries, and employment opportunities for young talent.

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Fairfax, Va.: I saw in the Post that you say 47 percent of DC-area jobs count as "creative." How do the various parts of the area stack up with "creative" jobs? I am particularly interested in Fairfax County. Thank you.

Steven W. Pedigo: Most occupational data -- job classifications (i.e. computer programmer, biologist, etc) -- is on the metropolitan level. However, you could look at the County Business Patterns data for county employment figures -- but it's focused on the industry categories and not job categories.

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washingtonpost.com: County Business Patterns

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Washington, DC: I am a little confused on Florida's theories of a creative economy. Urban development is good, but only if it retains the character of a particular location and staves off homogeneity?

Also, it seems to me that the creative economy development of an area, like that of DC, inherently would bring higher rents and thereby begin to dissolve the creative economy that Florida proposes was the impetus for the development in the first place. How can a city maintain a creative economy over the long term?

Steven W. Pedigo: Well, with all the smart people, a creative economy should be able to figure that out! Just kidding. Strategies for this will vary from location to location. However, the basic underlying principles are there: a tolerant and open community helps to attract and retain talent.

In addition, places, as we've suggested before, have to take on the issues of traffic congestion, housing affordability, and workforce training.

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Capitol Hill: Let me take issue with a previous comment about affordable housing. The "Manhattanization" of DC will not necessarily lead to affordable housing. Just look at housing prices in, for example, Manhattan.

Steven W. Pedigo: This appears to be a response to the prior reader's comment. I agree. Just because the District and the region becomes more densely populated, it doesn't necessarily mean that housing will become more affordable.

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Arlington, VA: Going back to your response that the region's universities and industries contribute to attracting and retaining world-class talent, isn't it true that Richard Florida implies that in a creative economy there should be intentional collaboration between what amounts to a diverse groups of competitive institutions, including local/state/ federal government, to work together to enhance their individual and collective interests?

If so,how do you initiate these kinds of regional collaborations? Particularly between itensely competitive learning institutions?

Steven W. Pedigo: Arlington, you're right on target. Regional cooperation in the Washington region - even outside the university system - is difficult. However, I think there are some good examples of regional cooperation in the region, including my organization, the Greater Washington Initiative, and the Consortium of Universities.

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Georgetown, DC: My hometown of Knoxville TN is trying to redevelop its riverfront, but I'm not convinced that their efforts will appreciably change the mix - considering it's still a very conservative bible-belt kinda town, despite having a large land-grant university in place. Any thoughts on how to attract the creative class that can diversify the community? A world's fair didn't work.

Steven W. Pedigo: Hello Rocky Top. Tough loss this weekend. It takes more than basic amenities and a one-time event to attract the creative class. Keeping the creative class at home requires an atmosphere that embodies the values that are important to the creative class: tolerance, innovation, diversity.

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Georgetown: Hi:

I'm founder and president of a music management agency where I represent Grammy award winnng music producers. I'm often looking to connect with business leaders in the creative fields and was wondeirng if there is any organization that serves as a conduit for this?

Steven W. Pedigo: You can check out the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington.

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Silver Spring, MD: Speaking as someone with a planning background, I am often struck by the divergence between the beliefs espoused by planners and the projects they pursue. Rather than establish systems to support the creative, diverse communities that can arise organically, the tendency is to clear properties to make them safe for another Starbucks. My neighborhood is a wonderful, diverse, and established community where the common cry is why don't they leave us alone when talking about the county government.

Steven W. Pedigo: Here's an interesting thought from Silver Spring.

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Washington, DC: The newest residential and office buildings in DC seem to be architecturally uncreative, especially in Mount Vernon Triangle, Near Southeast in the Baseball District. More specifically, DC's recent architectural patterns are not on par with the rest of the world's capital cities like London, Paris, Stockholm, or Tokyo.

What causes so much banality, and why aren't developers expected to be more creative?

Architecture is one of a city's competitive advantages. All I see nowadays is a re-creation of suburban homogeneity in some of our city's most promising neighborhoods.

Are people really that bland here? I expect more uniqueness in the capital of the United States of America.

Steven W. Pedigo: I am not able to get to everyone's questions, but I am publishing a few without responses to keep you all thinking.

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20011: Whenever I travel to other creative cities (Seattle, Minneapolis, etc.), I'm alarmed at just how non-objectionable DC is. It almost seems like everyone is playing it safe, going for the lowest common denominator. For example, I'm a big fan of certain restaurants in DC, but am always surprised by how inventive restaurants are in other cities. Other cities have wacky and exotic bookstores, but we have Barnes and Noble. Other cities have exceptional live music venues that are well-run AND attract groundbreaking artists, but we have the awful 9:30 Club, overrated Black Cat, and ineptly managed (though well-booked) Warehouse Next Door. Other cities have cool art spaces that showcase local talent, but we have the Smithsonian.

Anyway, my point is that there are several things going on in this city that work against the creative class. The local government won't make any risky decisions because its hands are tied by the federal government. Rents are completely out of control, so business have to squeeze every penny out of every square foot. What would you do: open a steakhouse or open something that's never been done before?

How do you think DC can start to move in a way that it really supports creativity?

Steven W. Pedigo: One more...

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Steven W. Pedigo: Thanks everyone for your questions. If I didn't get to your questions, you can hit me at stevenpedigo@bot.org or visit our website, www.greaterwashington.org.

My organization is looking at some creative economy issues in the Greater Washington region. Stay tuned.

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