Quote:
Originally Posted by jigglysquishy
Richard Florida is considered a bit of a joke in planning circles. I remember reading his book where he said wealth and innovation is concentrated in cities with large gay populations.
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Actually I think this was one of his more coherent and significant observations, although it is dated now and there tends not to be much depth to what he writes or talks about.
Back in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's, most of North America was hostile toward gay people, so their presence was a sign that either a given city was relatively tolerant of social diversity or at least had residents who were rich and powerful enough that they didn't have to conform rigidly to social norms. In those days, out gay males were a rich, urban demographic.
There was also a theory about gay people as a stepping stone in the gentrification of neighbourhoods. Theoretically, because gay men had fewer kids they were willing to move to areas with marginal schools, thereby improving them and paving the way for straight couples with children. I think this theory is a US-centric and weirdly ignorant toward gay people, but then again it fits the reality of traditional gay neighbourhoods in a bunch of Canadian cities.