Durham is named America's #1 Creative Class Metro

If you are a regular reader my blog (thank you!), you probably know that I am not a big fan of rankings of various sorts because so few of them use metrics that shed light on anything other than the publishers motivation to increase click-through rate on their websites. Every now and then, however, there is a ranking that is both methodologically  rigorous and eye-opening.

The latest ranking compiled by the Martin Prosperity Institute and featured on the Atlantic Cities Blog (required daily reading), is of this rarer variety, using the data from the Bureau of Labor Statics to take a look at metro areas with the largest concentrations of the "creative class," defined as professionals in the fields of science and technology, design and architecture, arts, entertainment and media, and healthcare, law, management and education.

 Durham came out on top with 48.4% of its workforce employed as the creative class. This bodes well for our future, as the creative class has been the only meaningful long-term driver of stable middle-class jobs in the U.S. economy in the past decade, and there is little evidence of this trend changing anytime soon. For a much more thorough and in-depth treatment of the creative class and what role it will play in our economic well being, I direct you to the excellent book by Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class.

The full article from the Atlantic is reprinted after the break.

Local Indy's 2012 Best of the Triangle Winners

The Independent Weekly, an alternative Triangle weekly, is famous for many things, including outstanding music and entertainment reporting, groundbreaking investigative pieces and high quality and in-depth local news reporting.

But perhaps one of its most visible features is the "Best of the Triangle" series in which people vote for a broad range of best in everything - from a radio station to a strip club, with restaurants, bakeries, groceries, music stores, and anything-else-you-can-imagine thrown in between. And, as in most years, the Ninth Street and its adjacent area business did not disappoint.

In fact, it is striking how many of "best in the triangle" establishments of all sorts are located within a one-mile radius of Ninth Street. From a music venue to a pool bar, a jeweler to a fabric store, a dance studio, top-notch french food, fantastic breakfast, sea food, coffee shop, bookstore, B&B, cake-maker, and frozen desert, one cannot walk more than a few feet without bumping into an establishment of one sort or another that has been voted Best of the Triangle.

A full list, clocking at a staggering 23 different categories of best in the Triangle Ninth Street businesses is after the break.

Durham Leads North Carolina in Public Transit Use

Although the bar is set  pretty low, it is heartening to see that according to American City Business Journal, The tri-county area that includes Durham leads the State in the number of transit users per capita. About 4% of all commuters in Durham use public transit, a seemingly low number that is made no less low by the fact that in the city the size of Charlotte only about 2% of all commuters use public transit. The number is still below the national average of 5% although, according to the Triangle Business Journal article, from which this data was taken, that number is heavily skewed by large transit-dependent cities like New York and Boston.

Of course, the hope is that with the wider implementation and adoption of the transit initiatives following last November's referendum, Durham numbers will rise significantly. And judging by the number of bike commuters in our own neighborhood, alternative forms of transit are increasingly taking root in the Bull City.

The increased use of public transit is good for the environment, the health and economic vitality of the community and for property values. In a recent article in the Atlantic Magazine, the authors describe how favorable public perception of light rail affects economic development and property values in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Is Durham the most tolerant city in America?

I have previously voiced my skepticism of rankings of various kinds, be they complementary or critical of the Bull City. But the appeal of traffic-pleasing ratings arms race is too strong for many online publications to resit. The latest, courtesy of the Daily Beast, crowns Durham the most tolerant city in America. Durham comes ahead of San Fransisco (third) and Honolulu (second).

The rankings were based on measuring racial diversity, religious tolerance, same-sex marriage rates and hate-crime reporting rates. But this analysis conveniently ignores the larger tapestry of state laws that,arguably, affect local residents to the same if not greater extent than the cities where they live.

Although I am very proud of Durham's diversity and progressive politics, we are still living in a fairly conservative southern state. To say that Durham is a better place for a same-sex couple than New York City or Boston would be ludicrous, as both of those states have legalized gay marriage. Similarly, no matter how welcoming a community Durham may be to undocumented migrants, the larger policies of North Carolina are surely less advantageous to that community than the more immigrant-friendly laws of California and Hawaii.

So readers, we’d like to know what you think.Do you think Durham is the most tolerant city in America?

Lies, Damn Lies and Businessweek Rankings

As the title of this post suggests, I am not a big fan of rankings, particularly rankings of cities by using some arbitrary criteria taken out of context. Fore more on why city rankings are always wrong, see this fantastic Salon article.So now we have these new rankings from Businesweek of best cities to live in the U.S. and Raleigh comes in at #1, while Durham is at #37 behind Greensboro (#31). Give me a break! The full description is after the break.