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Who's Your City? How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life
In the age of globalization, some claim that where you live doesn't't Alaska, Idaho, and Alabama are interchangeable. The world is, after all, flat.
Not so fast. Place, argues the great urbanist Richard Florida, is not only important, it's more important than ever. In fact, choosing a place to live is as important to your happiness as choosing a spouse or career. And some regions, recent surveys show, really are happier than others. In Who's Your City , Creative Class guru Richard Florida reports on this growing body of research that tells us what qualities of cities and towns actually make people happy -- and he explains how to use these ideas to make your own choices. This indispensable guide to how people can choose where to live and what those choices mean to their lives and their communities is essential reading for everyone from urban planners and mayors to recent graduates.
Not so fast. Place, argues the great urbanist Richard Florida, is not only important, it's more important than ever. In fact, choosing a place to live is as important to your happiness as choosing a spouse or career. And some regions, recent surveys show, really are happier than others. In Who's Your City , Creative Class guru Richard Florida reports on this growing body of research that tells us what qualities of cities and towns actually make people happy -- and he explains how to use these ideas to make your own choices. This indispensable guide to how people can choose where to live and what those choices mean to their lives and their communities is essential reading for everyone from urban planners and mayors to recent graduates.
384 pages, Paperback
First published February 19, 2008
132 people are currently reading
1902 people want to read
About the author
Richard Florida
38 books203 followersRichard Florida (born 1957 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American urban studies theorist.
Richard Florida's focus is on social and economic theory. He is currently a professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management, at the University of Toronto. He also heads a private consulting firm, the Creative Class Group.
Prof. Florida received a PhD from Columbia University in 1986. Prior to joining George Mason University's School of Public Policy, where he spent two years, he taught at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College in Pittsburgh from 1987 to 2005. He was named a Senior Editor at The Atlantic in March 2011 after serving as a correspondent for TheAtlantic.com for a year.
Richard Florida's focus is on social and economic theory. He is currently a professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management, at the University of Toronto. He also heads a private consulting firm, the Creative Class Group.
Prof. Florida received a PhD from Columbia University in 1986. Prior to joining George Mason University's School of Public Policy, where he spent two years, he taught at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College in Pittsburgh from 1987 to 2005. He was named a Senior Editor at The Atlantic in March 2011 after serving as a correspondent for TheAtlantic.com for a year.
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January 22, 2011
Richard's "Who's Your City?" is a frenetic, sloppily edited, fact-filled book that suffers from identity crisis. Is it a self help, economics, business, city planning, popular psychology, or sociology book? By trying to be everywhere, Florida risks going nowhere. Despite an underlying manic confusion of ideas, however, Florida still manages to conjure up plenty of interesting demographic and economic facts in an entertaining and digestible way, making this, his latest installation, worth the read.
In the opening chapter, Florida positions his book as advice, "I have structured my advice around three key ideas..." These three ideas end up not being the cohesive thread we are lead to believe, in the book's introduction, they will be. One of Florida's "key" ideas is a clear repudiation of those espoused in the popular book "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman, "Despite all the hype...over the 'flat world', place is more important to the global economy than ever before." Florida posits that the world is in fact becoming increasingly "spiky", or concentrated into a few dozen mega-regions, where all creative talent and wealth creation is collecting and snowballing. But the majority of the book that follows seems less an elucidation of these three ideas as a way to offer advice, and more a bunch of ideas, facts, statistics, and citations.
In the heart of the book Florida bounces from references to city planning visionary Jane Jacobs to psychologists Martin Seligman and Abraham Maslow to everything in between, not within the context of a cohesive thread, but rather with the juvenile sense that more facts, despite their efficiency and relevancy, strengthen an argument. Florida attempts to make up for a lack of cutting purport with manic energy. Florida has written a book that is sure to be cited, re-tweeted, and talked about often; but this facet of the book's construct compromises the impact of its central arguments.
In the concluding chapter, suddenly the book that for 280 pages has veered from being anything resembling a self-help book, and been more an idea biography, is now suddenly, frustratingly reshaped as a "ten step" guide. We are suddenly being sold a "basic framework, some real-world tools, and a ten step plan."
Despite my frustrations with this book's lack of a focus or well-crafted narrative, I read it in a week's time, found it entertaining, and at many moments provocative. I was invigorated by its insights and curation of ideas. Many of these ideas helped be better understand the cities in which I have chosen to live, why I may have made those decisions, why others may have decided to live where they have, and how shifting demographics are impacting immigration patterns and the character of cities, suburbs, and mega regions.
Place is indeed becoming less and less a function of nation states; it is becoming divided along far more elusive lines. Florida's tireless energy is both his blessing and his curse: up to the might of tackling such a big idea, but constantly undermining the tautness of his argument.
In the opening chapter, Florida positions his book as advice, "I have structured my advice around three key ideas..." These three ideas end up not being the cohesive thread we are lead to believe, in the book's introduction, they will be. One of Florida's "key" ideas is a clear repudiation of those espoused in the popular book "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman, "Despite all the hype...over the 'flat world', place is more important to the global economy than ever before." Florida posits that the world is in fact becoming increasingly "spiky", or concentrated into a few dozen mega-regions, where all creative talent and wealth creation is collecting and snowballing. But the majority of the book that follows seems less an elucidation of these three ideas as a way to offer advice, and more a bunch of ideas, facts, statistics, and citations.
In the heart of the book Florida bounces from references to city planning visionary Jane Jacobs to psychologists Martin Seligman and Abraham Maslow to everything in between, not within the context of a cohesive thread, but rather with the juvenile sense that more facts, despite their efficiency and relevancy, strengthen an argument. Florida attempts to make up for a lack of cutting purport with manic energy. Florida has written a book that is sure to be cited, re-tweeted, and talked about often; but this facet of the book's construct compromises the impact of its central arguments.
In the concluding chapter, suddenly the book that for 280 pages has veered from being anything resembling a self-help book, and been more an idea biography, is now suddenly, frustratingly reshaped as a "ten step" guide. We are suddenly being sold a "basic framework, some real-world tools, and a ten step plan."
Despite my frustrations with this book's lack of a focus or well-crafted narrative, I read it in a week's time, found it entertaining, and at many moments provocative. I was invigorated by its insights and curation of ideas. Many of these ideas helped be better understand the cities in which I have chosen to live, why I may have made those decisions, why others may have decided to live where they have, and how shifting demographics are impacting immigration patterns and the character of cities, suburbs, and mega regions.
Place is indeed becoming less and less a function of nation states; it is becoming divided along far more elusive lines. Florida's tireless energy is both his blessing and his curse: up to the might of tackling such a big idea, but constantly undermining the tautness of his argument.
April 28, 2011
What I learned from this book:
New York City is, statistically, the most neurotic space in the U.S.;
Bakersfield sucks (I already know that, book; thanks all the same);
There's something called the 'Gay/Bohemian Index' that you monied-types want your city to fall into because it means shit is about to get gentrified;
I should probably make every effort to be a goatherd someplace in the Third World (it's really all I'm qualified for with all these creative IT nerds running roughshod over everything and everyone).
New York City is, statistically, the most neurotic space in the U.S.;
Bakersfield sucks (I already know that, book; thanks all the same);
There's something called the 'Gay/Bohemian Index' that you monied-types want your city to fall into because it means shit is about to get gentrified;
I should probably make every effort to be a goatherd someplace in the Third World (it's really all I'm qualified for with all these creative IT nerds running roughshod over everything and everyone).
January 3, 2014
I picked this up because it looked interesting and because my husband and I don't intend to stay where we are our entire lives. This wanderlust led me to this book which, I hoped, would give us a starting place on (some idea) of where to go next. After all, it's a big world to be explored.... What I got was something akin to the textbooks that were forced upon me in college. And dry textbooks at that! I found myself skimming for the goods and even skipping entire sections. The book was far too lengthy and was packed with far too many dull statistics to hold my interest. And the rest was just common sense (figure out what matters most to you about your location, make a list of possibilities based on those values, visit your top locations, reach a conclusion & move. Duh.). The entirety of the book could have been condensed into a far shorter volume. A journal article, even.
The consensus: Sounds good, in theory. But there are probably better, more current, more interesting books on the subject out there. Or you could just explore on-topic articles online.
The consensus: Sounds good, in theory. But there are probably better, more current, more interesting books on the subject out there. Or you could just explore on-topic articles online.
December 17, 2009
I waited for this book for eons on my local library's wait list. Have to say I'm somewhat disappointed after such a high state of anticipation. The premise is solid and relevant, the research is there to prove the author's thesis, and the author also injects various anecdotes to keep it readable. Even with all that, it still reads a little bit like a users manual -- which is not a bad thing if you're looking for concrete information in terms of moving to a new city, but this isn't really the book for people looking for broader theory on the relationship between place and psychology.
August 31, 2015
"Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert writes that 'most of us make at least three important decisions in our lives: where to live, what to do, and with whom to do it.' He happens to list the 'where' question first. But like most who study happiness, his book mostly focuses on the 'what' and the 'who.'" ...well, THIS book is about the 'where'.
I first became intrigued by this topic when reading a couple of essays by the software venture capitalist Paul Graham: Cities and Ambition and Can You Buy Silicon Valley? Maybe. Or maybe I first became interested back when I used to play SimCity? Anyway, theories about cities have always intrigued me.
Another interesting book I've read, which seems somewhat related, about things that unconsciously influence us would be: Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are. If you think about it, cities are just large aggregates of people, so if individual people in our lives influence us, then surely our cities do. A more important question, I think, is how is your city NOT influencing you? If you lived in another city, who would you be that you are not today? Since most of us can choose to move, this is one way that we do have some control over our lives.
I first became intrigued by this topic when reading a couple of essays by the software venture capitalist Paul Graham: Cities and Ambition and Can You Buy Silicon Valley? Maybe. Or maybe I first became interested back when I used to play SimCity? Anyway, theories about cities have always intrigued me.
Another interesting book I've read, which seems somewhat related, about things that unconsciously influence us would be: Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are. If you think about it, cities are just large aggregates of people, so if individual people in our lives influence us, then surely our cities do. A more important question, I think, is how is your city NOT influencing you? If you lived in another city, who would you be that you are not today? Since most of us can choose to move, this is one way that we do have some control over our lives.
May 3, 2010
I read this book quickly in an airport when it was first published, and dug it out again recently when a colleague reiterated the author's WHO, WHAT, WHERE theory to me at a conference when I was having a bit of a crisis of Place. He feels we often focus on the WHO (relationships) and WHAT (our jobs) of happiness, but neglect the WHERE. I thought maybe this would guide me to making a move. It didn't because I'm not so sure his theory is completely accurate. While some places are certainly more suited for us than others (and might house people who are more like us than others), the reality is that the world is what you make it, and no demographic or sociological guidelines are going to guarantee happiness. For me, I have a secure income and a faithful set of friends where I am--as well as many friends who live in exciting places elsewhere. All of that offers opportunities to travel and explore and experience many different places and people without moving to a place for which some study says I am better suited.
July 14, 2025
Fascinating and fast!
February 25, 2009
Florida is kind of a well-spoken but tragically bland guy. Maybe it's his subject matter. Either way, it wasn't going anywhere for me.
Essentially, Who's Your City analyzes what makes a city attractive or not, what qualities those attractive cities have that make them so and who's attracted to those qualities. At face value, it should be an alderman, mayor or city manager's Bible, but it's not. It's stats with some explanation - nothing your mom couldn't tell you.
That being said, this is not to discount the effort Florida goes to to draw you as a reader in. He's an excellent writer who can capably and competently dress statistics into neat little packages with some interesting side thoughts. A particularly interesting but limited thought connects Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to a city. If it's safe and you can survive, what are the next qualities you'll look for? These are some of the questions you'll find explored.
Lamentably, it's nothing you didn't know. Like pretty things? So do most people. That's why New Orleans probably ranks higher than Houston as a desirable city. Dislike traffic? That's a reason Hartford might trump New York. I could drone on for awhile with similar tangents if you so desire.
My frustration is more professional than personal. I come from a public policy background and interest. My first question for you then, Mr. Florida, is what policies would you recommend to improve the overall quality of life in particular localities. Practically, this is an absurdly unrealistic demand. My city (Austin, TX) is worlds different from say Moab, UT. But what kind of trends should a small to medium size city undertake to improve its citizens quality of life? What about a small resort town?
Riddle me that, Mr. Florida, and you will find that not only I will be thrilled with you, but the field of public administration will owe you a debt.
Essentially, Who's Your City analyzes what makes a city attractive or not, what qualities those attractive cities have that make them so and who's attracted to those qualities. At face value, it should be an alderman, mayor or city manager's Bible, but it's not. It's stats with some explanation - nothing your mom couldn't tell you.
That being said, this is not to discount the effort Florida goes to to draw you as a reader in. He's an excellent writer who can capably and competently dress statistics into neat little packages with some interesting side thoughts. A particularly interesting but limited thought connects Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to a city. If it's safe and you can survive, what are the next qualities you'll look for? These are some of the questions you'll find explored.
Lamentably, it's nothing you didn't know. Like pretty things? So do most people. That's why New Orleans probably ranks higher than Houston as a desirable city. Dislike traffic? That's a reason Hartford might trump New York. I could drone on for awhile with similar tangents if you so desire.
My frustration is more professional than personal. I come from a public policy background and interest. My first question for you then, Mr. Florida, is what policies would you recommend to improve the overall quality of life in particular localities. Practically, this is an absurdly unrealistic demand. My city (Austin, TX) is worlds different from say Moab, UT. But what kind of trends should a small to medium size city undertake to improve its citizens quality of life? What about a small resort town?
Riddle me that, Mr. Florida, and you will find that not only I will be thrilled with you, but the field of public administration will owe you a debt.
March 19, 2010
This book is the ultimate guide for anyone who is thinking about relocating - for whatever reasons. Several of it's chapters are very enlightening and the eventual "guide" in the last chapter gives you a good structure to work through your options of places you'd like to live.
The only thing I found a bit disappointing is that the book focuses mainly on the US, despite the growing globalization. But the general advise can be converted to any country or city in the world.
What the book also lacked for me was a chapter for "childless couples" - what is the best place for them?! The one for singles? Empty-Nesters?! Disappointing... I skipped all the stuff about singles and families, so I can't speak for that.
But as mentioned, if you're thinking about relocating, read this first.
The only thing I found a bit disappointing is that the book focuses mainly on the US, despite the growing globalization. But the general advise can be converted to any country or city in the world.
What the book also lacked for me was a chapter for "childless couples" - what is the best place for them?! The one for singles? Empty-Nesters?! Disappointing... I skipped all the stuff about singles and families, so I can't speak for that.
But as mentioned, if you're thinking about relocating, read this first.
March 16, 2012
Florida challenges the assumption that in this internet age, it doesn't matter where we live, since so many of us can work from anywhere. He says that simply isn't true, because the synergistic effects of likeminded people coming together to live, work, and play are huge and have far-reaching implications.
3 crucial decisions we all have to make are what we're going to do with our lives, who we're going to do it with, and where we're going to do it. Florida says we don't devote nearly enough energy to this this third decision of "where" and seeks to give us the reasons we should pay more attention to our place, and the factors we should consider when deciding which location we're going to choose to reside in.
I thought the topic sounded fascinating, but I found the book to be dry and a little disjointed.
3 crucial decisions we all have to make are what we're going to do with our lives, who we're going to do it with, and where we're going to do it. Florida says we don't devote nearly enough energy to this this third decision of "where" and seeks to give us the reasons we should pay more attention to our place, and the factors we should consider when deciding which location we're going to choose to reside in.
I thought the topic sounded fascinating, but I found the book to be dry and a little disjointed.
January 18, 2009
It's an excellent companion read to The Big Sort. Unlike others, I found it a quick read (one day) and not overly technical.
I wrote long discussions about Who's Your City at http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/200... and about The Big Sort at http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/200....
I wrote long discussions about Who's Your City at http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/200... and about The Big Sort at http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/200....
July 26, 2015
An interesting agglomeration of statistics about place and personality. The surprising thing is how unsurprising the results are for the surveys and studies described. The most neurotic place is the U.S. is exactly where you think it is. The cities that offer the most amenities and are therefore the most desirable to live in are the same ones that everyone is already talking about moving to.
I can't say that I learned very much in that light, but it is still helpful to read and be reminded of a formalized list of the most important things to consider when picking a place to live. Personal priorities aside, this book makes it feel like you have very few choices from which to choose if you want to continue to participate in anything exciting, innovative, or vital.
I can't say that I learned very much in that light, but it is still helpful to read and be reminded of a formalized list of the most important things to consider when picking a place to live. Personal priorities aside, this book makes it feel like you have very few choices from which to choose if you want to continue to participate in anything exciting, innovative, or vital.
April 16, 2014
This is the perfect subject for a magazine article but I'm not convinced it works as a book. Most of the chapters repeat the same basic points - that where we choose to live affects all other aspects of life. This may seem like common sense but it's good to hear that place does matter instead of the usual 'flat world' bullshit spewed out by Friedman and others.
December 22, 2015
I like the main idea, that the the geographic place influences us more than we care to admit and think through. The data is heavily US-centric but that's understandable since that's what the author's research is based on. The questionnaire at the end is quite helpful. I also like the author's voice and his push for better connected, more tolerant environments that lead to innovation.
September 14, 2016
Interesting book, and did a decent job at making it practical and personally applicable. I found the sections on the relationship between cities and different personality types a bit too abstract for my taste (the conclusion depended on so many conditions being true and was very hypothetical), but in general it's very well researched and well written.
April 19, 2016
Книга must read для тих, хто цікавиться Містом. Як вибір місця для життя впливає на особистий рівень щастя? Як люди, які живуть поруч, впливають на розвиток середовищ?
March 15, 2020
A self-help book that, while containing interesting stats and some thought-provoking concepts, was not all that helpful. I'm actually in a position, with my family, to choose the city we want to live in next, having just sold our house and traveling in the meantime. So after seeing a $3 used copy at an Adelaide thrift store, I jumped at it. But after finishing the book and taking the "Place Finder" quiz online, I don't feel much closer to an answer. And if I'm being honest with myself, I didn't really expect to. The premise of the book felt from flawed the onset, an overreach, and the relatively bland prose doesn't help the cause.
At the same time, it does ask some valuable questions and the sections on the Geography of Happiness (especially matching cities to personalities) were especially enjoyable. Even 12 years after publication, it's worth a skim. Did I mention the book could also be much shorter?
Here's some noteworthy passages:
"Globalization has two sides. The first and more obvious one is the geographic spread of routine economic functions such as simple manufacturing or service work. The second... is the tendency for higher-level economic activities such as innovation, design, finance, and media to cluster in a relatively small number of locations." (p. 17)
"For the foreseeable future, global politics will hinge on the tensions brewing among the world's growing peaks, sinking valleys, and shifting hills... what we face is not a clash of civilizations but a deepening economic divide among the world's spikes and valleys." (p. 32)
"Across the world, fear, insecurity, anger, and resentment are emanating from those falling farther and farther below the world's peaks... And there is no shortage of narcissistic political zealots out there... willing to stoke these mounting fears for political gain." (p. 35) TRUMP
"A dynamic city, according to Jacobs, integrates its hinterland and becomes a full-blown 'city-region'."(p. 39)
"'What defines them [region states] is not the location of their political borders but the fact that they are the right size and scale to be the true, natural business units in today's global economy." (p. 40)
"Psychological studies suggest that while the correlation between money and happiness is real, conventional wisdom has it backward. It is not that people with more money are happier; it's that happier people may be better earners." (p. 135)
"The most creative people tend to fluctuate between intense interaction and intense concentration. They also tend to be the happiest when engaging in a state of flow... people derive happiness from being themselves -cultivating their individuality." (p. 144-145)
"'Squelchers' are control freaks who think they know what's best for their city of region, even as their leadership (or lack thereof) causes a hemorrhage of bright, talented, and creative people... they constantly block community energy and initiatives." (p. 171)
"Great places do many things well. Our analysis of the Place and Happiness Survey identifies seven factors that are critical to community satisfaction: a good place to raise children, a good place to meet people and make friends, a place with physical beauty, good schools, parks and open space, a safe place, and a good place for entrepreneurs and new businesses." There's also an analysis that clusters into 3 spheres (smart and vibrant, aesthetics and livability and comprises natural beauty, and equity). (p. 172)
Interesting section linking five basic dimensions of personality (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) to cities. Openness to experience is the only personality type that plays a consistent role in economic development. Also a note from Seligman - great achievers almost always have high levels of energy. (starts p. 180)
"Because the ability to move (and the likelihood of moving) slows down so significantly with age, the place we choose to locate and settle after college can have a huge effect on our future." ... goes on to share how cities must then attract those just out of college and not wait until they are ready to settle down. (p. 209)
At the same time, it does ask some valuable questions and the sections on the Geography of Happiness (especially matching cities to personalities) were especially enjoyable. Even 12 years after publication, it's worth a skim. Did I mention the book could also be much shorter?
Here's some noteworthy passages:
"Globalization has two sides. The first and more obvious one is the geographic spread of routine economic functions such as simple manufacturing or service work. The second... is the tendency for higher-level economic activities such as innovation, design, finance, and media to cluster in a relatively small number of locations." (p. 17)
"For the foreseeable future, global politics will hinge on the tensions brewing among the world's growing peaks, sinking valleys, and shifting hills... what we face is not a clash of civilizations but a deepening economic divide among the world's spikes and valleys." (p. 32)
"Across the world, fear, insecurity, anger, and resentment are emanating from those falling farther and farther below the world's peaks... And there is no shortage of narcissistic political zealots out there... willing to stoke these mounting fears for political gain." (p. 35) TRUMP
"A dynamic city, according to Jacobs, integrates its hinterland and becomes a full-blown 'city-region'."(p. 39)
"'What defines them [region states] is not the location of their political borders but the fact that they are the right size and scale to be the true, natural business units in today's global economy." (p. 40)
"Psychological studies suggest that while the correlation between money and happiness is real, conventional wisdom has it backward. It is not that people with more money are happier; it's that happier people may be better earners." (p. 135)
"The most creative people tend to fluctuate between intense interaction and intense concentration. They also tend to be the happiest when engaging in a state of flow... people derive happiness from being themselves -cultivating their individuality." (p. 144-145)
"'Squelchers' are control freaks who think they know what's best for their city of region, even as their leadership (or lack thereof) causes a hemorrhage of bright, talented, and creative people... they constantly block community energy and initiatives." (p. 171)
"Great places do many things well. Our analysis of the Place and Happiness Survey identifies seven factors that are critical to community satisfaction: a good place to raise children, a good place to meet people and make friends, a place with physical beauty, good schools, parks and open space, a safe place, and a good place for entrepreneurs and new businesses." There's also an analysis that clusters into 3 spheres (smart and vibrant, aesthetics and livability and comprises natural beauty, and equity). (p. 172)
Interesting section linking five basic dimensions of personality (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) to cities. Openness to experience is the only personality type that plays a consistent role in economic development. Also a note from Seligman - great achievers almost always have high levels of energy. (starts p. 180)
"Because the ability to move (and the likelihood of moving) slows down so significantly with age, the place we choose to locate and settle after college can have a huge effect on our future." ... goes on to share how cities must then attract those just out of college and not wait until they are ready to settle down. (p. 209)
May 15, 2017
3.5 stars. I've always believed that where you live has just as big an impact (if not more so) than the people you know and the job you have. That's essentially the premise of this book, and reading it now felt especially relevant as I am facing yet another move in just a few weeks.
However, Florida published this book in early 2008, right before the housing bubble burst, and so it's a really weird capsule of the real estate prosperity mindset of the time. As a result, this book feels necessarily outdated, and many of the cities Florida highlights were completely reshaped by the recession and its aftermath. The book's conclusions about specific mega-regions aren't all that accurate for 2017, even if the underlying theories are mostly sound.
In addition, Florida implies that these mega-regions are almost always vastly better to live in terms of economic/career/innovation prospects, but he doesn't account for the runaway costs of living in many of these areas and the sacrifices that entails. Yes, you'll make much more money if you work in San Francisco as opposed to another city — but you still might not be able to afford housing there despite your large paycheck, and instead end up living in a trailer park (or, in the case of one Google employee, in a van parked on company premises). Even if you can find affordable housing, you'll most likely have to endure a prohibitively long commute that will keep you from doing almost anything else but working or getting to work.
Furthermore, Florida also doesn't really delve into how these exploding mega-regions can suffer from their own success. Many city infrastructures were never intended to support such massive numbers of people moving in at such a rapid rate. For example, cities are prized for their ability to pack a large number of activities and shops into a small space, making it easy to get around and allowing public transportation to become the chief mode of transit. But if that transit breaks down because so many people have been using it and service has to be reduced for maintenance (looking at you, WMATA!), getting around the city becomes not just inconvenient but sometimes impossible, totally defeating the purpose of living in such a mega-region.
I would love to see an updated, 10th anniversary edition of this book that incorporates the 2008 housing bubble burst, the recession, and its fallout, plus the explosive rise (or plummeting fall) of certain mega-regions. But as it stands now, you'll have to take Florida's general arguments and extrapolate his theories to the mega-regions of 2017 on your own.
However, Florida published this book in early 2008, right before the housing bubble burst, and so it's a really weird capsule of the real estate prosperity mindset of the time. As a result, this book feels necessarily outdated, and many of the cities Florida highlights were completely reshaped by the recession and its aftermath. The book's conclusions about specific mega-regions aren't all that accurate for 2017, even if the underlying theories are mostly sound.
In addition, Florida implies that these mega-regions are almost always vastly better to live in terms of economic/career/innovation prospects, but he doesn't account for the runaway costs of living in many of these areas and the sacrifices that entails. Yes, you'll make much more money if you work in San Francisco as opposed to another city — but you still might not be able to afford housing there despite your large paycheck, and instead end up living in a trailer park (or, in the case of one Google employee, in a van parked on company premises). Even if you can find affordable housing, you'll most likely have to endure a prohibitively long commute that will keep you from doing almost anything else but working or getting to work.
Furthermore, Florida also doesn't really delve into how these exploding mega-regions can suffer from their own success. Many city infrastructures were never intended to support such massive numbers of people moving in at such a rapid rate. For example, cities are prized for their ability to pack a large number of activities and shops into a small space, making it easy to get around and allowing public transportation to become the chief mode of transit. But if that transit breaks down because so many people have been using it and service has to be reduced for maintenance (looking at you, WMATA!), getting around the city becomes not just inconvenient but sometimes impossible, totally defeating the purpose of living in such a mega-region.
I would love to see an updated, 10th anniversary edition of this book that incorporates the 2008 housing bubble burst, the recession, and its fallout, plus the explosive rise (or plummeting fall) of certain mega-regions. But as it stands now, you'll have to take Florida's general arguments and extrapolate his theories to the mega-regions of 2017 on your own.
December 27, 2021
I'm generally a fan of the two main theses that Florida outlines in this book. The first being the thesis he expounds on from Rise of the Creative Class, in that it's the creative class that spurs economic growth. The second being an extension of his first, in that the creative class will cluster in cities and will thus affect the nature of cities themselves.
The focus of the book falls on the latter thesis. I found that the middle section of the book was a little bit weaker. It covers why cities are shaped by the creative class on economic grounds, which I think is well-treaded ground and not hard to see; the rise and fall of certain cities is fairly visible (and even aesthetic, as Florida points out in one chapter).
The later sections of the book on personality and age groups (young/parents/empty nesters) I find to be where the real meat of the book lies. Particularly, it's the chapter on personality that is the most intriguing, because it solidifies a common intuition that there is something distinct about what people in each city are like. Florida seems to know that this is intriguing, judging by his remarks about many people reached out to him when he first made the cross between geography and psychology.
However, this is also the chapter that is most prone to stereotypes. He utilizes the Big Five in this chapter, which while the most scientifically valid of all personality assessments, has a noticeable flaw in that each of its characteristics have positive/negative connotations associated with them. Neuroticism is the paradigm example of this; few people would want to be labeled neurotic, let alone an entire city. This falls somewhat problematic when in one of the maps he shows, showcasing the dominant Big Five trait of global cities, 9/20 cities outside of North America and Europe have their dominant trait as neuroticism, a heavy bias against the Global South (in comparison, 0 cities in North America and 3/9 cities in Europe are neuroticism dominant). I would have liked to see Florida at least make note of this phenomenon, though I'll grant that the crux of his argument in this chapter leaned more on the factor of openness. In general, I would have liked to see Florida engage more with the idea of how cities in different countries may be different just by virtue of being in different countries too; this did feel North America-centric.
The book in general would be served well by a 2020's update, noting trends following the 2008 Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the book is a solid addition to Florida's works regarding the creative class.
The focus of the book falls on the latter thesis. I found that the middle section of the book was a little bit weaker. It covers why cities are shaped by the creative class on economic grounds, which I think is well-treaded ground and not hard to see; the rise and fall of certain cities is fairly visible (and even aesthetic, as Florida points out in one chapter).
The later sections of the book on personality and age groups (young/parents/empty nesters) I find to be where the real meat of the book lies. Particularly, it's the chapter on personality that is the most intriguing, because it solidifies a common intuition that there is something distinct about what people in each city are like. Florida seems to know that this is intriguing, judging by his remarks about many people reached out to him when he first made the cross between geography and psychology.
However, this is also the chapter that is most prone to stereotypes. He utilizes the Big Five in this chapter, which while the most scientifically valid of all personality assessments, has a noticeable flaw in that each of its characteristics have positive/negative connotations associated with them. Neuroticism is the paradigm example of this; few people would want to be labeled neurotic, let alone an entire city. This falls somewhat problematic when in one of the maps he shows, showcasing the dominant Big Five trait of global cities, 9/20 cities outside of North America and Europe have their dominant trait as neuroticism, a heavy bias against the Global South (in comparison, 0 cities in North America and 3/9 cities in Europe are neuroticism dominant). I would have liked to see Florida at least make note of this phenomenon, though I'll grant that the crux of his argument in this chapter leaned more on the factor of openness. In general, I would have liked to see Florida engage more with the idea of how cities in different countries may be different just by virtue of being in different countries too; this did feel North America-centric.
The book in general would be served well by a 2020's update, noting trends following the 2008 Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the book is a solid addition to Florida's works regarding the creative class.
July 27, 2017
If you're not happy with the place you live in, it takes very little to convince you that place matters. Most people understand this fact and we don't need to read a book like this to convince us that where you choose to live is important. So this book is more for people who haven't realized this, which is probably a minority of people, which ironically is not the target reader of this book.
With that said, this is a book I didn't need to read, but I'm glad I did read. It gives hard proof, as in caps-lock HARD PROOF, on why geography is correlated to higher GDP, education, income, and overall happiness for people. That part of the book, which is most of the book, was a drag to go through. The surveys, the charts, and maps. Maybe I just didn't appreciate it because I read the Kindle version.
One reason I chose to read this book is because I'm planning a big move in a year or so. While reading it gave me a sense of validation on my thinking, it doesn't deliver on it's title, which is discovering where you should move. It does give you common sense advice that anyone would give you like, visit a place before moving and things like that, but I'm looking for something with more depth. Something that will help me decide which is my city.
With that said, this is a book I didn't need to read, but I'm glad I did read. It gives hard proof, as in caps-lock HARD PROOF, on why geography is correlated to higher GDP, education, income, and overall happiness for people. That part of the book, which is most of the book, was a drag to go through. The surveys, the charts, and maps. Maybe I just didn't appreciate it because I read the Kindle version.
One reason I chose to read this book is because I'm planning a big move in a year or so. While reading it gave me a sense of validation on my thinking, it doesn't deliver on it's title, which is discovering where you should move. It does give you common sense advice that anyone would give you like, visit a place before moving and things like that, but I'm looking for something with more depth. Something that will help me decide which is my city.
December 6, 2024
Most important life decisions: who you marry, what you do for work, and where you live.
Love the environmental psychology aspect and am in awe that this exists. The overlay of socioeconomics, industry, geography, AND big 5 personality traits makes a lot of sense. It’s been a while since this book was published and his megaregions has definitely continued.
Specifically to then label cities and regions with the Big 5 makes so much sense having lived in a various places I felt it as a truth while reading!
Openness to experience - places where innovation is high also where alternative groups come together - THIS is where startups thrive because like minded very open people come together who are naturally curious and problem solve together.
Other traits like agreeableness and conscientiousness, although obviously so needed, are more status quo kind of locations, like regional and farming areas. They won’t rock the boat. I live in a region like this now and distinctly feel the difference and my desire for more and varied experiences.
Brilliant.
Love the environmental psychology aspect and am in awe that this exists. The overlay of socioeconomics, industry, geography, AND big 5 personality traits makes a lot of sense. It’s been a while since this book was published and his megaregions has definitely continued.
Specifically to then label cities and regions with the Big 5 makes so much sense having lived in a various places I felt it as a truth while reading!
Openness to experience - places where innovation is high also where alternative groups come together - THIS is where startups thrive because like minded very open people come together who are naturally curious and problem solve together.
Other traits like agreeableness and conscientiousness, although obviously so needed, are more status quo kind of locations, like regional and farming areas. They won’t rock the boat. I live in a region like this now and distinctly feel the difference and my desire for more and varied experiences.
Brilliant.
April 7, 2019
I'll admit that there were portion of this book that I skipped over and just didn't find personally interesting to me, but I loved the book as a whole, and it was a surprisingly quick read. I definitely appreciated the breadth and level of thought that the author takes in considering Should I Stay or Should I Go in terms of hometown. I think I found this book at the right time for me, and it's definitely put into words some of the questions I've been pondering and research I've been doing and distilled them into a set of tools and recommendations. If you don't have the attention span for the full book, at least read the last "Place Yourself" chapter. If you do have more time, you might appreciate how the author blends together research in different subject areas with gut or common sense into figuring out key components that distill to give places a sense of personality and a certain level of energy that draw people to them.
January 15, 2024
This is book is for all those who didn’t spend a lot of time deciding where to live.
The main concept is that innovators, scientists, and other creative folk (including LGBT folk, as explained through the “Bohemian-Gay Index”, which notes that housing prices are higher where LGBT people live) tend to congregate in certain areas and that the benefits to the economy of that clustering isn’t available to all in the global economy. “When people – especially talented and creative ones – come together, ideas flow more freely, and as a result individual and aggregate talents increase exponentially: the end result amounts to much more than the sum of the parts. This clustering makes each of us more productive, which in turn makes the place we inhabit even more so – and our collective creativity and economic wealth grow accordingly.”
Looking at the various cities’ personalities was fascinating!
The main concept is that innovators, scientists, and other creative folk (including LGBT folk, as explained through the “Bohemian-Gay Index”, which notes that housing prices are higher where LGBT people live) tend to congregate in certain areas and that the benefits to the economy of that clustering isn’t available to all in the global economy. “When people – especially talented and creative ones – come together, ideas flow more freely, and as a result individual and aggregate talents increase exponentially: the end result amounts to much more than the sum of the parts. This clustering makes each of us more productive, which in turn makes the place we inhabit even more so – and our collective creativity and economic wealth grow accordingly.”
Looking at the various cities’ personalities was fascinating!
May 10, 2018
This is a great book that gives data and research results for all kinds of information about cities and regions in the U.S. and whether those places are family-friendly, have more extroverts, are considered creative and artistic hubs, etc. If you're planning on relocating and moving to a totally different place, this is the book for you! OR if you're just interested in what parts of the country are specific to certain values, ideals, tendencies, etc. this would be an informative book!
CONS: it could be viewed as totally all over the map, as I've seen in some others' reviews of this book. While it gives lots of research data, it also delves into the psychology of people quite a bit in correlation to choosing their city. And the author does tend to gives lots of personal life experiences giving it a memoir vibe.
CONS: it could be viewed as totally all over the map, as I've seen in some others' reviews of this book. While it gives lots of research data, it also delves into the psychology of people quite a bit in correlation to choosing their city. And the author does tend to gives lots of personal life experiences giving it a memoir vibe.
August 4, 2018
This book has an excellent subject matter, but is written in such an organization that it takes forever to read. I would table this books for a week at a time because I struggled to maintain interest. This was a shock, given I am an urban geography student by trade, and thus this book should have been gripping me.
Florida writes a textbook and sells it as a casual reading book. This has really great (maybe a touch outdated in 2018) data within it, and some GIS work that, while translating poorly to a black/white format, does tell a compelling story about urban geography in the age of globalization.
If you're looking to move and you're curious about the implications of your move, then I would recommend this book. Otherwise, there are better books on the subject of globalization and urban change that are more worth your time.
Florida writes a textbook and sells it as a casual reading book. This has really great (maybe a touch outdated in 2018) data within it, and some GIS work that, while translating poorly to a black/white format, does tell a compelling story about urban geography in the age of globalization.
If you're looking to move and you're curious about the implications of your move, then I would recommend this book. Otherwise, there are better books on the subject of globalization and urban change that are more worth your time.
November 1, 2025
In Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life, Richard Florida argues that your choice of where to live is as crucial to your success as your career or life partner. Challenging the idea that the Internet has made location irrelevant, Florida explains how different cities can shape your opportunities based on factors like culture, economy, and community. With tools like the “Bohemian-Gay Index” and a 10-step plan, he helps readers identify places where they can thrive. Combining statistics with engaging stories, Florida’s book offers fresh insights into the profound impact of location on personal and professional fulfillment.
July 14, 2018
It gets a little repetitive and his writing isn’t my favorite, but the content is fascinating. The last chapter, Place Yourself, is one I plan on rereading.
I definitely think this book has changed my perspective on location and has likely influenced some of my major life decisions.
I do question a few things, like how Florida emphasizes how a place attracts certain people without giving much attention to how a place might shape people to become a certain way, which is more of how I think about it.
I definitely think this book has changed my perspective on location and has likely influenced some of my major life decisions.
I do question a few things, like how Florida emphasizes how a place attracts certain people without giving much attention to how a place might shape people to become a certain way, which is more of how I think about it.
July 29, 2017
Hmm. Some decent information and studies, interspersed with personal anecdotes and allusions to how great the author is. He seems full of himself, and it shows in his writing. Partially as a result, I don't remember much from this book, besides the kind of "common knowledge" we know about cities: artists and creative people lead to higher property values, gentrification is a thing, exurbs suck, etc. And you are a good little creative-class yuppie. Blah.
August 25, 2017
This book could have been condensed into more charts and fewer paragraphs; its message would not have been lost. I don't really know who this book is for, since those rooted will not move and those ready to move will do so without this book convincing them to. It seems a study for study's sake, or maybe for someone that wants to move to convince someone that does not. I listened to this on Audibles at 2X speed during a long car drive and enjoyed it either way.
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