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June 4, 2012

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J. Patrick Coolican:

Our success may hinge on embracing a bohemian philosophy

By (contact)

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 | 2 a.m.

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J. Patrick Coolican

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Richard Florida, author of “The Rise of the Creative Class” and intellectual entrepreneur extraordinaire, argues that if cities are to be prosperous, they must embrace the “three Ts”: talent, technology and tolerance. This isn’t a groundbreaking argument, but he adds a seductive twist: To capture these three Ts, we must also embrace bohemianism.

To have a cubicle army, Florida might say, we must have Foster the People for their earbuds.

Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto, is constantly name-checked in the media, I suspect in part because he offers an especially appealing argument for journalists, since many of us view ourselves as part of this “creative class.” (The reality is less glamorous — a shocking number of journalists can’t write at all, and in high school they weren’t bohemians; they were gossips.)

Even though I’m skeptical of the flash and the buzzwords, Florida — in town Thursday for the Chamber of Commerce Preview Las Vegas 2012 — has some valuable stuff to tell us. Last year he named downtown Las Vegas one of the top 10 up-and-coming urban neighborhoods.

First, though, let’s turn to his tough-love observations.

In a March 2009 piece in The Atlantic, he noted that Las Vegas was far too dependent on construction and development as an economic growth model and would suffer years of stagnation: “Yet the boom itself neither followed nor resulted in the development of sustainable, scalable, highly productive industries or services. It was fueled and funded by housing, and housing was its primary product. Whole cities and metro regions became giant Ponzi schemes.”

He was mostly right. (The Las Vegas Strip is indisputably an awesome economic engine, but it was not enough to sustain us once the crash came.)

“These construction jobs,” he said in an email, “will not come back for a long time. That’s why I’m visiting Las Vegas, to make the case for economic diversity, a new model of growth with a sustainable center and upgrading service jobs.”

Luckily, our downtown warriors are trying to build something that will bring those three Ts.

Ideally, once online retailer Zappos moves into the old city hall, a cluster of technology companies and firms that support them will follow.

A recent New York Times story and follow-up column by Princeton economist Paul Krugman showed why clustering is so important: “The advantages of industrial clusters — in which producers, specialized suppliers and workers huddle together to their mutual benefit — have been a running theme since the 19th century.” The Las Vegas Strip is a perfect example of an economic cluster, but we need more of them, and Downtown is ripe to become one. I’m not certain, however, that a few hipster bars on East Fremont will get it done.

In a review of Florida’s “Creative Class,” Harvard economist Edward Glaeser offered praise but also examined the data and concluded: “Mayors are better served by focusing on the basic commodities desired by those with skills than by thinking that there is a quick fix involved in creating a funky, hip, Bohemian downtown.”

What basic commodities? Good schools, low crime and access to inexpensive large lots with single-family homes. (Sorry, but creative people have kids, and then a lot of them want to live in the ’burbs.) Do we provide these commodities? The record is decidedly mixed.

I asked Florida about this: “Quality of place matters. This includes the basic needs that Glaeser points out but also amenities that create an authentic culture and feel.”

He points to the Gallup Soul of the Community, a massive survey of tens of thousands of Americans, in which two factors emerged as central to well-being and happiness in a community: openness to diversity; and quality of place, which included basics like good schools but also environmental quality, parks, historic structures, cultural offerings and street-level culture.

I buy it. Still, before we get all giddy on booster fumes, let’s be at least a little skeptical: There are tens of thousands of unemployed construction workers who know all too well the cost of our previous delusions.

This story originally ran in the Las Vegas Weekly, a sister publication of the Sun.

Discussion: 12 comments so far…

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  1. By BChap (Bradley Chapline)
    Feb. 7, 2012
    5:09 a.m.
    Flag

    Well, well, here I go again with J. Patrick Coolican. I really don't like having to admit that Coolican has written one fine article. But, he has with this one entitled, "Our Success May Hinge On Embracing A Bohemian Philosophy".

    Is all this just staged? Or, are there really some journalistic dissidents actually surfacing publicly in cliques within the ranks of the Las Vegas Sun? I would be shocked to hear that some of you may be attempting this. So, is this well documented left-wing "creative class" of journalists beginning to weaken? Do you mean that Brian Greenspun's army of journalistic mercenaries are beginning to withdraw back to a neutral zone? Can this be true? Well, can't say as I'm a believer, just yet. However, it would be a step in the right direction, for me personally, if I was taken off the "banned list" of trusted Las Vegas Sun commentators who will not be published in letters submitted to the editor.

    Coolican, I liked and admired where you took issue with the so-called "Intellectual Tour De Force" who believes they are not only scholarly, but are colorful in their writings. It is well known that these type of journalists are the cronies of the Brian Greenspun "think-tank". I quote you as saying, Mr. Coolican, "The reality is less glamorous -- a shocking number of journalists can't write at all, and in high school they weren't bohemians; they were gossips." Well said!!!

    Mr. Coolican, I was especially proud of you for not only identifying these "think-tank cronies", but you also, in your own tactful way called them on their phony plight to our city. Again, I quote you, Mr. Coolican, "Before we get all giddy on booster fumes, let's be at least a little skeptical: There are tens of thousands of unemployed construction workers who know all too well the cost of our previous delusions."
    Superb journalism!!!

    You are so right Mr. Coolican!!! These high-class misfits do not deserve to be paid even that of a penny for their thoughts. They do not belong here in Las Vegas as advisors on any level. They do not fit comfortably into our situation or environment.

    Here is the bottom line. If these "book worming yahoo's" come here as tourists, that's one thing. But to come here to siphon money off us for their fancy window-dressed speeches, then just stay away!!!

  2. By sevenfoot (Gary Sauer)
    Feb. 7, 2012
    6:24 a.m.
    Flag

    The conservative Republicans will not like this at all. None of them will bet anything on progressive or creative thinking unless it involves creative tax loopholes or creative ways to destroy a city for personal gain. There have been plenty of ideas on fixes for Las Vegas and Nevada in general that have come from many different places. I have written about a few of my own. Most of what I am hearing (From 'people' who actually live here)is we need to diversify. I have been complaining about this issue for ten years. We have over a hundred thousand square miles in Nevada just sitting there baking in the sun and almost no solar energy plants?!? We could literally cover the state with clean solar power collectors and start selling it back to the rest of the country. Republicans have yet to figure out a way to charge for rays of sunshine so it ain't gonna happen.
    To have real diversity and start using creative thinking as a springboard to take Las Vegas into the next phases of its life we must get the republican greed machine out. Lets face it, it's Creative Republican Conservative ideas that got this country into it's mess in the first place. Writers can write about it til they are blue in the face but it won't change the underlying problem, bad republican management of the states resources.

  3. By airweare (Joe Lamy)
    Feb. 7, 2012
    6:36 a.m.
    Flag

    Quality of place is a concept difficult to discuss when one's primary surroundings are so quintessentially barren, so devoid of substance as Vegas in particular and Nevader in general, the strip's appeal and diamond desert notwithstanding.

    When they see Amsterdam and Paris and Hong Kong and Athens, the Rockies, The Southern XCross or the caves of Mykonos, then they'll forget about the glitz.

    Sense of place and connection to diversity and variations don't seem to belong in the same sentence as Las Vegas. The city seems to have rejected arms or heart, but many still love her for what she is.

    Thought-provoking article, Coolican.

    Civility is a commodity that regenerates and ripples out. It didn't seem to fit in with the Vegas crowd; no price tag!

  4. By BChap (Bradley Chapline)
    Feb. 7, 2012
    7:37 a.m.
    Flag

    Sometimes these commentators from up north really make me laugh. This one particular commentator loves all those big beautiful words and sentences that makes a quasi-functioning mind blossom with majestic frills and thrills from Northern Nevada. How about if someone from this neck of the woods telling me all about the casinos up north and how these people are all so much different from us down here in Las Vegas? How about all those brothels up in northern jurisdictions? Oh I bet the civility really regenerates and ripples out from those businesses!!! Is there a price tag?

    What is the theme up there? (1) First, pay the Madam, (2) Second, take a roll in the hay, and (3) Enjoy a cup of tea and a country crumpet? Wow! Sounds like real diversity to me. I'm sure the class of the "think-tank" has no recommendations for a place like this!!! Yep, for sure, Wynn Las Vegas, City Center, and the Cosmopolitan down south here could never compete with this type of grandeur.

  5. By dipstick
    Feb. 7, 2012
    8:24 a.m.
    Flag

    the nevada state constitution does not allow for diversification nor will the beneficiaries of that same constitution allow any change to occur.

  6. By KillerB
    Feb. 7, 2012
    9:19 a.m.
    Flag

    "I buy it."

    Coolican -- me too. You did good with this one. Urban visionaries like Florida and Randal O'Toole deserve more attention than they get.

    "the nevada state constitution does not allow for diversification nor will the beneficiaries of that same constitution allow any change to occur."

    dipstick -- clarify, please, like what part of our Constitution?

    "From people who merely pray we must become people who bless." -- Nietzsche (1883)

  7. By wharfrat (pat hayes)
    Feb. 7, 2012
    11:59 a.m.
    Flag

    I enjoy the Sun and Patrick's articles because they usually demand thinking rather than a visceral response. I've had the good fortune to live in cities with vibrant cultural scenes.....Beirut before the crazies, Paris in the 60's, Seattle and Portland during its transition from natural resources manufacturing and shipping. They all had things in common: leadership; sense of community; willingness to take risks; commitment to education; pride of place.

    I've been in LV for five years and in that time I have yet to see broad-scale commitment to making this a better place. There are attempts...the Cleveland Clinic comes to mind as does Zappo's...but to some degree those seem artificial as in "Here's a bucketful of money, let's have an arts district, or a health center for tourists or a whatever".

    The first thing that struck me when I moved here was how dirty the place is. That hasn't changed. You can't change the desert and the wind but you can clean up the plastic bags, bottles, cans, garbage left out anywhere, etc.

    Another negative is the poor quality of public sector leadership and the criminality that goes along with it. An acquaintance said that it's " Chicago-style" politics. No it isn't.....you're nowhere near a good as the folks in Chicago.

  8. By airweare (Joe Lamy)
    Feb. 7, 2012
    12:58 p.m.
    Flag

    Okay Brad Chapline, I'm no common tater. I'm a Russet, boiled and riced and blended with spicy peanut sauce and shreds of kale.

    You of all people know this. Watch out what you say; you could be passin out woof tickets! HaHaHa

    Working in Annapolis these days is like working in a hospital or being sheriff in a small town - you get to know people's hearts and ways. It's a small town, but very upbeat and sandwiched between DC and Baltimore with the Naval Academy and oodles of retirees of all sorts of services, this is a rich crossroads that contrasts sharply with both Washoe and Clark Counties.

    But it's fun to keep up with the same old folks in Las Vegas. Love shootin off my mouth!

    Peace out.

  9. By BChap (Bradley Chapline)
    Feb. 7, 2012
    1:14 p.m.
    Flag

    Patrick Coolican. Is it possible for you to present a "booby" award of some type to commentator Pat Hayes for the most bizarre and mendacious comments ever posted in the Las Vegas Sun's discussion rooms?

    I quote her writing about Las Vegas, "Another negative is the poor quality of public sector leadership and the criminality that goes along with it. An acquaintance said that it's 'Chicago-style' politics. No it isn't.....you're nowhere near as good as the folks in Chicago."

    For real ??? The city of Chicago??? The city of "greased palms"!!!

    Even Jason Savage wrote about Chicago, Illinois.

    "Sometimes humorous, occasionally appalling, Illinois has earned it's reputation as the most corrupt region in the country. With all the media attention surrounding Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, perhaps it is time to revisit some of the corrupt politicians of past and present in the great state of Illinois. While the state has been known to produce the occasionally clean and upstanding public servant (Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan were both born in Illinois), it is more often known to produce the filthy, greedy and dishonest sort."

    Maybe you, Mr. Coolican, as a representative of the Las Vegas Sun would present Pat Hayes with a statue of a large seabird that hangs around and silages from the Chicago Waste System. This might be most a most appropriate award.

  10. By dipstick
    Feb. 7, 2012
    2:18 p.m.
    Flag

    i live in illinois and reagan WAS a filthy greedy and dishonest sort. on the bright side, his wife was worse.

  11. By lovinglife (Bob Coburn)
    Feb. 7, 2012
    11:02 p.m.
    Flag

    Any column that quotes Krugman is worthless. You cannot take anything that loonie leftists says seriously.

    Move to China with him and enjoy your Bejing hi-rise and see how you like it.

  12. By staralioflundnv (Star Ali Mistriel-Kogan)
    Feb. 8, 2012
    5:39 a.m.
    Flag

    Our planet Earth is diverse, and to successfully compete, grow, and thrive, life on this planet must also be diverse. It is a vital component of our evolution. For me, "bohemian philosophy" is just another "spice" to season what's on our plates in life. We all have different "tastes" that are unique and work for us as individuals.

    Life would be rather "bland" if there was no flavor. Image having a great food without a touch of that certain seasoning. It would suddenly become unappealling, even unpalatable.

    Variety is the spice of life, and we should also include a "dash" of bohemian to spice things up and excite a change of tastes.

    So the "bohemian philosophy" fits on the great cookbook shelf with the rest of the wonderful ideas. Select as needed or desired.

    Blessings and Peace,
    Star

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