Dallas Real Estate Market Mimics The Atlantic’s City Report on DFW, But What Exactly is The “Creative Class” Anyway?
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Here’s my question to all you sharp Realtors: Does this piece by The Atlantic Cities tell us anything we don’t already know?
Through much of the piece, I was reading sentence after sentence and saying to myself “OK, and … ?” I was looking for a conclusion that was new and eye-opening, something enlightening. I didn’t get one.
You might be able to draw a parallel between the recovery of the Dallas housing market and the purple blobs on the above map. I would say that we’re seeing much of Dallas’ growth in the northern suburbs, parts of the White Rock Lake area, and the ritzier neighborhoods of Oak Cliff. The story does mention Oak Cliff as an island of wealth in an otherwise economically depressed area, but even Oak Cliff has so many varied neighborhoods that the story loses real local perspective, and even neglects to mention Kessler Park altogether.
There is mention of the new West Dallas development, Trinity Groves, but it’s a superficial glazing-over of the project and it’s broader influence on surrounding residential neighborhoods like La Bajada.
The truth is that we’ve been talking about this class divide, which is better referred to as an income divide, for years. In fact, the Editorial Board of The Dallas Morning News started a project about five years ago called “Bridging Dallas’ North-South Gap.” The project has helped bring new light to neighborhoods facing institutional neglect. It puts a face, not numbers, on the divide.
In that way, I think that while this Atlantic Cities piece might be informative to a broader, national audience, all it gives North Texans is a map showing class divisions that aren’t practical (since when is an everyday scribe in the same class as a lawyer or doctor?).
What do you think?
I agree Joanne many publications seem to point out the obvious, or at least what might be clear to someone who is paying attention. The rise of the “Creative Class” really tells a larger story of the United States: people are more transient and jobs are less permanent. Gone are the days when you could have a solidly middle class income working with your hands in a factory. Cities today produce information instead of tangible goods. I think that “Creative Class” also includes writers, artists, research analysts, bohemians, and other people who, while not commanding such high incomes as physicians and lawyers, still would poses some talent and skill from which they earn their income. These people generally possess higher cultural capital (though not always earn more income) than service and working class people. Cultural capital is a currency and the map would also best illustrate this inequality. I think it is important to reflect on the physical, economic, and socially constructed barriers to acquiring cultural capital for the people not living in the purple areas. As for Oak Cliff (I live over there) it’s exciting to see development, but also distressing to see the inequalities of gentrification. I think overall it’s a good change for Dallas, hopefully with increased property values within the city more revenue can be generated to help build and foster a more inclusive city.
I agree Joanne many publications seem to point out the obvious, or at least what might be clear to someone who is paying attention. The rise of the “Creative Class” really tells a larger story of the United States: people are more transient and jobs are less permanent. Gone are the days when you could have a solidly middle class income working with your hands in a factory. Cities today produce information instead of tangible goods. I think that “Creative Class” also includes writers, artists, research analysts, bohemians, and other people who, while not commanding such high incomes as physicians and lawyers, still would poses some talent and skill from which they earn their income. These people generally possess higher cultural capital (though not always earn more income) than service and working class people. Cultural capital is a currency and the map would also best illustrate this inequality. I think it is important to reflect on the physical, economic, and socially constructed barriers to acquiring cultural capital for the people not living in the purple areas. As for Oak Cliff (I live over there) it’s exciting to see development, but also distressing to see the inequalities of gentrification. I think overall it’s a good change for Dallas, hopefully with increased property values within the city more revenue can be generated to help build and foster a more inclusive city.
I would describe the "Creative Class" similar to what Miller has already stated.
Namely it would consist of the primarily under 50 set, college educated and skilled workers , and fairly entrepreneurial in nature – they work in fields like I.T., Telecommunications i.e. Web Designers/App Developers ; Design itself – i.e. Furniture, Art, Interiors ; many are unmarried – and many are LGBT – several authors have concluded that a large LGBT presence is essential to what they call the "Creative Class" particularly on the East and West Coasts and I would venture the same applies right here in Dallas. The term became popularized by the 2004 book by Richard Florida entitled "The rise of the Creative Class."
Here is an excerpt from the book (credit given to author Richard Florida) –
"…in 1998, I met Gary Gates, then a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon. While I had been studying the location choices of high-tech industries and talented people, Gates had been exploring the location patterns of gay people. My list of the country's high-tech hot spots looked an awful lot like his list of the places with highest concentrations of gay people. When we compared these two lists with more statistical rigor, his Gay Index turned out to correlate very strongly to my own measures of high-tech growth. Other measures I came up with, like the Bohemian Index—a measure of artists, writers, and performers—produced similar results."
I would describe the "Creative Class" similar to what Miller has already stated.
Namely it would consist of the primarily under 50 set, college educated and skilled workers , and fairly entrepreneurial in nature – they work in fields like I.T., Telecommunications i.e. Web Designers/App Developers ; Design itself – i.e. Furniture, Art, Interiors ; many are unmarried – and many are LGBT – several authors have concluded that a large LGBT presence is essential to what they call the "Creative Class" particularly on the East and West Coasts and I would venture the same applies right here in Dallas. The term became popularized by the 2004 book by Richard Florida entitled "The rise of the Creative Class."
Here is an excerpt from the book (credit given to author Richard Florida) –
"…in 1998, I met Gary Gates, then a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon. While I had been studying the location choices of high-tech industries and talented people, Gates had been exploring the location patterns of gay people. My list of the country's high-tech hot spots looked an awful lot like his list of the places with highest concentrations of gay people. When we compared these two lists with more statistical rigor, his Gay Index turned out to correlate very strongly to my own measures of high-tech growth. Other measures I came up with, like the Bohemian Index—a measure of artists, writers, and performers—produced similar results."
Oak Cliff is way larger than referenced in the article. That small piece is North Oak Cliff, not the entire area.
My hood!
mine too
Oak Cliff is way larger than referenced in the article. That small piece is North Oak Cliff, not the entire area.
My hood!
mine too