The Nonprofit Conference this year has given me a lot to chew on. I am going to share some tidbits with you from one of the most poorly attended sessions, a presentation of the efforts of “Creative Tacoma”, an economic development partnership effort. It’s unfortunate that the usual Seattle myopia prevented more people from hearing about this effort.
Tacoma leaders (Chamber, Port of Tacoma, City, businesses, citizens) have come together to work to make Tacoma a more appealing city for members of the “creative class.” The campaign is called Creative Tacoma. This term was coined by Richard Florida, who has done extensive research to try to determine what factors are associated with the unusual economic success of some US cities and towns. He argues that there are “Four T’s” that support a thriving community: Tolerance (of diversity), Technology, Talent and Territorial Assets (such as our beautiful outdoor setting). These factors appeal to and attract members of the creative class, which is a broad term to describe knowledge workers of all kinds (artists but also healthcare workers, high tech workers, etc.). It sounds like Creative Tacoma has bought into investing in the 4 T’s as a economic development strategy, and has had some successes in bolstering community pride and “livability.”
This approach is appealing to me–not a surprise since I am just the kind of bohemian-wannabe person they are trying to attract. By the way, a fun, much talked about aspect of Richard Florida’s work has been that he established a “Gay index” for cities after determining that the population of gay men is highly correlated with economic success. I’m not sure what he has to say about lesbians.
My biggest question to them was about whether the focus on attracting creative class people could be perceived as elitist (this has been a common criticism of Florida’s work). I was impressed with their thoughtful answer, and convinced that multiculturalism (they talked about needing more mosques to attract well-qualified doctors) and retention of Tacoma’s solid blue collar middle class (longshoreman, etc.) were very much a part of their local focus.
For those of you who haven’t been to Tacoma lately, it has much to recommend it. I suggest you visit the Washington State History Museum, Tacoma Art Museum and Point Defiance Park. Eat at Southern Kitchen (okay for vegetarians, but not for impatient people) or the Antique Sandwich Company (near the park). Also, I made sure to remind the presenters at the conference session that one of their greatest assets is Olympus Spa (Korean-style women’s spa).