And Richard Florida is kinda starting to admit he was wrong. Ooops!
For Richard Florida and his Creative Class, Austin was exotic. Austin was not Rust Belt. Cool couldn’t be the place where you were from. Thus, Florida rejected Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was a failed place. Pittsburgh was a place people left, data be damned. All the while, Pittsburgh has been the model for Austin and New York. In Pittsburgh, slackers can slack and have a successful career that won’t cause a tragedy of the commons.
Pittsburgh didn’t become a destination for young adults because the city followed Richard Florida’s script. Pittsburgh became a destination because it zigged when Florida zagged. Better to be Pittsburgh rich than New York poor.
