The Rise of The Creative Class

And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life

By: Richard Florida

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

The national best seller that defines a new economic class and shows how it is key to the future of our cities. The Rise of the Creative Class gives us a provocative new way to think about why we live as we do today - and where we might be headed. Weaving storytelling with masses of new and updated research, Richard Florida traces the fundamental theme that runs through a host of seemingly unrelated changes in American society: the growing role of creativity in our economy.

Just as William Whyte's 1956 classic The Organization Man showed how the organizational ethos of that age permeated every aspect of life, Florida describes a society in which the creative ethos is increasingly dominant. Millions of us are beginning to work and live much as creative types like artists and scientists always have-with the result that our values and tastes, our personal relationships, our choices of where to live, and even our sense and use of time are changing. Leading the shift are the nearly 38 million Americans in many diverse fields who create for a living--the Creative Class.

The Rise of the Creative Class chronicles the ongoing sea of change in people's choices and attitudes, and shows not only what's happening but also how it stems from a fundamental economic change. The Creative Class now comprises more than 30 percent of the entire workforce. Their choices have already had a huge economic impact. In the future they will determine how the workplace is organized, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and even which cities will thrive or wither.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2003 Richard Florida (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• The Washington Monthly 2002 Annual Political Book Award Winner

Too Darn Long

Great ideas, observationsn and calls for action. But the book is just too darn long. I strugggled to finish for a lack of cohesion. And a largely uneccessary amount of argument and defense of author's findings. Needs a great editor. At least someone to put the appendix crap in the appendix. The book just needs to be revisited by a proper story teller.

Great academics are normally prolific writers, but not usually good editors. "You must kill your little darlings" and this book is full of darlings.

Interesting

Interesting synopsis of a cultural force in America today.
Keep in mind this book is a little dated, 2000, but a lot of the info is still relevant.

Interesting but way too long

I guess this is a sin of the genre, but these kind of thesis books tend to have way too many examples and cite way too many studies. As much as the proposition of a “creative class” is interesting, Florida doesn’t do much more than justifying the creative class existence throughout the book. I wouldn’t recommend the read.

Creatives run the world

Enjoyed it. Jam packed with info, it should have been two books. Well researched. Down to earth author.

Thought Provoking

Florida is concerned with what makes cities grow and prosper. He looks at technological and social trends in those whcih are successful and those which are not. A key is diversity of thinking an openness to new ideas, for example. I suggest that Florida's thinking is thought provoking, but I am still wary and not totally convinced. I suppose Michael Porter has gotten to me first - but the two are not necessarily incompatible. I wish I had come away from the book with a clearer understanding of how my area of the country could become successful in Florida's terms.

Ultimately, this volume is well worth the ear time of anyone concerned about economic development in any US region or city. Come to his book with an open mind and you will not be disappointed. It is well written, neatly organized, and the reading of Mark Boyett is quite good.

Wonderful insights

What did you love best about The Rise of The Creative Class?

Great research and synthesis of the information

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The author considering himself a member of the creative class is stating the obvious

Which character – as performed by Mark Boyett – was your favorite?

dot com guy

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it's 14 hours.

Any additional comments?

The accompanying PDF does not contain many of the graphs that are mentioned in the book.

Insights into the creative and knowledge economy.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. This is a nice analysis of the why and how of the creative class and their role in the modern economy. For anyone working in the knowledge economy, I'd highly recommend this book for understanding their own role in society, and how it can or should be valued.

Great, a trend beyond USA

What made the experience of listening to The Rise of The Creative Class the most enjoyable?

Very well written and full of insights. This trend is happening also in some cities of Latam as Mexico City, Guadalajara, Querétaro, Buenos Aires, Rio, Santiago, etc.

If you could give The Rise of The Creative Class a new subtitle, what would it be?

The bohemian rhapsody

Any additional comments?

It would be interesting to make the same research in latin-american cities

this should be called "the rise of the tech class"

that said... i found it a stimulating and fascinating "read" (AKA listen).
i believe creativity exists in all fields so no harm done. it is just that two thirds through the book you find out that richard's caliber for "creativity" is mostly a combo of bachelor degrees and patent requests... hmmm, not a lot of art, fashion, design. literature and craft caught in that pinspot.
but hurrah the notice of gays as virtual pollen for the bees!

oh, and speaking from the viewpoint of an artist — richard — you may want to look at the elephant in the room re pittsburgh struggling with keeping it's "creative" class: "pittsburgh" is quite simply NOT a sexy name, no matter how you slice it!
i suggest you change the name to something like mercedes or terrence and you may find they want to linger...
(and no... i am not gay, but i recognized their attracting power in the '70's and have since immersed myself in their fabulousness)

A Sociological Study

Florida writes a lot about the creative class by providing a decent history of its growth, how all of the variables brought it to be, and he gives some very detailed descriptions of who the creative class is and how they behave.

So what?

What are you trying to say, Rich? Is this good or bad? Should something be done about it? Is there a way a business could use the "no-collar" class for their advantage, or a way for a creative person to be better wanted in their field?

There are currently five books by Florida available on Audible all about the Creative Class; if you're interested in the sociological study of economic trends, this will be a good listen. If you're seeking to gain an opinion or some sort of relative knowledge of how you can apply this to the real world, you may need to check out his other books or a different subject (because you won't find that here at all).