Published January 2, 2005 in the Hibbing Daily Tribune
Many factors affect the livability of a city or region. For instance, a thriving manufacturing sector helps, just as approaching molten lava hurts – unless, of course, your manufacturing sector produces anti-lava suits. You might have to rebuild a lot, but it’s what industrialists would call planned obsolescence.
On the Iron Range, we have neither lava nor an anti-lava industry, but you can’t walk two feet without tripping over an economic development proposal. You hear many hyphenated phrases to describe these proposals, among them: forward-thinking, outside-the-box, and my personal favorite, “not-at-all-like-the-monorail-from-‘The Simpsons’” Unfortunately, one important aspect to the quality of life and economic growth in our region is seldom mentioned, creativity.
Minnesota’s Department of Economic Development published a feature about the importance of the arts and creativity in its newsletter “Trends” this past month. In her report, Rachel Hillman compares state labor statistics to the findings of economist Richard Florida, who wrote “The Rise of the Creative Class.” In his book, Florida explains what he calls the “Creative Class,” which accounts for about 30 percent of the population including scientists, artists, musicians, writers, developers and anyone who creates something as part of their job. To Florida, this creative class is vital to economic growth and the vibrancy of a community. If the creative class is happy and growing, so too is your town. If the creative class is squeezed, your town is probably struggling.
The state economic development department shows statistics that place the Twin Cities among the nation’s best for the creative class. However, I wonder how the Iron Range is doing. We’re a more rural area, so we won’t be building an opera house next year. But there’s more to it than that.
On Richard Florida’s web site, I found a quiz to determine how cultured your city is. Admittedly, the quiz is designed for cities somewhat larger than those you find on the Range. Questions range from how well immigrants and new people were treated in your town to the kinds of projects pursued by economic development types.
I entered information for the culture quiz as honestly as possible, and the results alarmed me. I don’t think it would be helpful to reprint what the Web site test results said, so I’ll give the same phrase I use when a mother asks me what I think of her well-meaning but homely child.
“Perhaps, one day, he … I’m sorry … she will grow into her nose and eyebrows.”
Point is, the results weren’t pretty. That doesn’t mean we live in a bad town, just that we have a lot of room to improve – especially in our levels of support for the arts and for creativity. Things like theatre, music and design may not generate the most jobs, but they make your town a better place to live, a quality needed to attract the growth and stability we all desire.
We need to stop thinking of ways to “improve” our town that involve copying what other towns already do and focus on ways to enhance the unique qualities already held by the Iron Range. In years past, the Iron Range exported top notch creative people to other areas – more per capita than any other part of the country. Now we’re letting our creative development slip with every cut to educational programs and extracurricular activities – and every time we fail to support community endeavors to try new things.
Jobs are Priority #1, but jobs only arrive when creative minds seek out your town or region. Are we doing enough to make this happen?
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune.