City Journal Winter 2004 | The Curse of the Creative Class by Steven Malanga: "

Professor Richard Florida of Carnegie Mellon, says that cities "must become trendy, happening places in order to compete in the twenty-first-century economy is sweeping urban America. In his popular book The Rise of the Creative Class, which just appeared in paperback after going through multiple hardcover editions, Florida argues that cities that attract gays, bohemians, and ethnic minorities are the new economic powerhouses because they are also the places where creative workers--the kind who start and staff innovative, fast-growing companies--want to live. To lure this workforce, Florida argues, cities must dispense with stuffy old theories of economic development--like the notion that low taxes are what draw in companies and workers--and instead must spend heavily on cultural amenities and pursue progressive social legislation."
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This provocative article challenges the notion, with hard facts and sensible reasonings, the idea that making economic decisions based on artsy theories of cultural diversity will produce economic advantages for a city. Just the opposite.