1. Cultivating the Creative Class: But What About Nanaimo? Gary Sands, AICP Laura Reese November, 2006

2. “Cities must attract the new ‘creative class’ with hip neighborhoods, an arts scene, and a gay-friendly atmosphere – or they will go the way of Detroit” -- Richard Florida

3. But, what about…

4. Mid-Sized Canadian Cities

5. The Virtuous Path Talent Technology Economic Health/Growth Tolerance

6. Research Propositions “Creative class” populations must be present Correlation must exist between Creative Class and diversity, tolerance and high technology indicators Correlation must exist between Creative Class, diversity, high technology and economic health or growth.

7. Tolerance Measures Visible Minorities/Immigrants Non-Christian Racial and Ethnic Minorities Same Sex Couples

8. Talent Measures Graduate Degrees University Employees Design Services Independent Artists Arts Companies

9. High Tech Measures Manufacturing Computers, Pharmaceuticals, Aerospace, Medical Devices Services Engineering, R&D Services, Computing, Scientific Consulting

10. Economic Health/Growth Measures Population Average Earnings Median Family Income Unemployment Downtown Health

11. Factors Gay/Creative Diversity High Tech Services Computer/Aerospace Manufacturing Life Sciences Manufacturing

12. Gay/Creative Factor Same sex households.68 Design services.70 Computer services.64 Scientific services.60 Independent artists.84 Arts companies.62

13. Diversity Factor Black.82 Hispanic.92 Arabic.87 Asian.86 Foreign born.96

14. Services Factor Engineering Engineering services.78 R&D services.78

15. Manufacturing Factors Computer/Aerospace Computer Manufacturing.94 Aerospace.94 Medical Pharmaceuticals.80 Medical devices.80

16. Change in Health Over Time Health rankings relatively stable Healthy communities stayed healthy Distressed communities stayed distressed Some notable exceptions

17. Change in Health Index Rank 1996-2001

18. Economic Health Index Change 1996-2001

19. Conclusions Gay/creative and Diversity indicators are separate concepts “High Tech” includes several distinct concepts Gay/creative and Diversity measures do not correlate with High Tech measures

20. Conclusions Diversity and Gay/creative are related to Economic Health High Tech does not relate to Economic Health No link between Economic Growth and any instrumental variable

21. The Virtuous Path Talent Technology Economic Health/Growth Tolerance

22. The Virtuous Path Gay/creative Technology Economic Health Diversity Economic Growth

23. Next Steps Case Studies Education indicators 2006 census data Employment data

24. And, what about Nanaimo?

25. What about Nanaimo?: An Epilogue One size does not fit all Local economic development must allow for a variety of goals and strategies Improving quality of life for residents is perhaps the most universal goal But there are many paths to that end Nanaimo and other mid-sized cities can be successful on their own terms