Gay index used to rank hottest cities

By ANDREW LAXON

The secret to a thriving city is more gays and immigrants - not young middle-class families, says an American expert on urban redevelopment.

Professor Richard Florida, who visits New Zealand for this week's Knowledge Wave conference, says gays are one of the best indicators of a new "creative class" of thinkers and artists who now drive economic growth.

The best-selling academic uses a gay index, a "melting pot" immigrants' index and scores on high-technology and creative occupations to predict a city's long-term economic potential.

"Gays are the canaries of the creative economy," he told online magazine Salon last year. "Gays tend to gravitate toward the types of places that will be attractive to many members of the creative class."

However, the gay index does not work on its own, he added. Some cities with a large homosexual population, such as New Orleans and Miami, still struggle because they have no high-technology base.

The top five large American cities on his creativity index are San Francisco, Austin, San Diego, Boston and Seattle, closely followed by Washington and New York in the top 10.

New Zealand cities have not yet been ranked but there is bad news for Auckland civic leaders still squabbling over public transport options and where to put a new stadium.

Professor Florida argues that creative people don't care about new stadiums or professional sports teams and are more interested in parks, art galleries and cycleways.

He says politicians who try to attract young families as their top priority are guilty of a "losing strategy".

Young, single people work longer and harder, take more risks and are delaying marriage for longer. The family emphasis also tends to drive away talented ethnic minorities, single women and gays.

Queer Nation researcher David Herkt, a former editor of the Auckland-based gay newspaper Express, said the redevelopment of Auckland's inner-city suburbs showed the gay index made sense.

Ponsonby was a poor suburb until gay men moved there and it began to flourish. The same thing was now happening in Sandringham, as gay men moved out of the inner city in search of cheaper houses.

Herkt said the stereotype of gay creativity was not necessarily true - "gays and lesbians can be just as boring as other people" - but the link probably lay in the lifestyle.

Gays tended not to have children and had a high demand for entertainment and restaurants. People from different backgrounds mixed more because they shared the same sexual orientation.

He personally gave Auckland 7 out of 10 for its creativity and openness to diverse cultures.

"From Ponsonby Rd to upper Karangahape Rd is a very small stretch of walking but it's a measurable distance in social terms - from high class restaurants to red-light district, things you can actually look at and that range of people.

"Homogeneous cities bore me. Wellington is a lovely planned city but I just find it very boring in some ways. It's a company city, it's a Government city."

Herald Special Report - February 18, 2003:
Knowledge Wave 2003 - the leadership forum

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