SAN DIEGO—Innovators are attracted to areas because of their connectedness and high walkability, whether they are urban or suburban in nature, Downtown San Diego Partnership president and CEO Kris Michell tells GlobeSt.com. The firm, in conjunction with Bank of America and the UC San Diego Extension, recently sponsored a discussion led by renowned urbanist Richard Florida that focused on creating an inclusive innovation economy in San Diego's urban core.

Florida is the author of several best sellers including The Rise of the Creative Class. In the discussion, he offered his insights on the opportunities and challenges facing cities around the globe and how their experiences can inform San Diego's urban economic development strategy as it grapples with the convergence of technology, demography and geography.

We spoke exclusively with Michell about the event, what the takeaways were and how she feels San Diego fits in as an innovation economy.

GlobeSt.com: What was the crux of Richard Florida's discussion?

Michell: Steve Clemons, editor-at-large for the Atlantic, was the moderator, and he was so thoughtful about the questions that he asked. I was so excited about Richard Florida's concept of the creative class and how it contributes to urban regeneration. He's coming out with a new book, due out within a month, on his theories about metropolitan regions with a high concentration of tech workers. These workers of higher economic development in creative centers represent the creative class.

Some downsides to this notion of the urban center are that 70% of the world's population will be in urban centers by 2050, but first we've got to get rid of the notion of city versus suburb. We all want to live in great neighborhoods. People who live in the suburbs want the same qualities that exist in urban settings: walkability, bike-ability. The creative class thrives in communities where they feel connected, whether it's urban or suburban.

Another point is that the notion of jobs versus the work is a hard concept for many people to get their minds around, but for Millennials, the notion is very clear to them. A job is working for GE and being in the plant; the work is being an electrical engineer who does this type of work. Today's workers are focused on the work—we had better understand that. As we evolve, the work is what becomes important. Also, for Boomers, we need to think about the work versus the job. This makes perfect sense. With all the moving around that Millennials do, they're not moving from the work—they're moving from the job. The passion is what's constant.

In Downtown, the evolution of the workforce is that many people are leaving a routine career path to be their own bosses. That's empowering, and that knows no demographic. We enable this behavior through education and a flexible workplace.

GlobeSt.com: How do you feel San Diego fits into the convergence of all these elements as compared to other nearby markets like Orange County and Los Angeles?

Michell: Richard was so bullish on San Diego, I wanted him to stay permanently. We held the event in City Heights at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Music Center because we wanted to drive home the urban core. It's not about Downtown proper, but the urban core. Richard spoke about that. He recognized the connectedness of the communities that surround Downtown proper in San Diego and the importance they play in the economic equation. People can have many different lifestyles in the urban core—it's the connectedness, the walkability, the restaurants, the vibe that is really what's attracting workers to these areas.

In San Diego, we have always been ahead of the curve, and he believes we are continuing that. There's also the cost of living, which won't hinder the growth of San Diego as compared to Orange County and nearby markets in the long run because people believe in the quality of life and balanced workstyle that San Diego offer. Richard thinks ours is superior to most cities.

The main concept he talked about was the devolution of power from the federal government to local levels, and he has talked about this for quite some time. At the local level, the ability to problem solve is far superior than it is at the federal level. The devolution of power means those areas that are purposeful about it will be the ones that win. Some of the services the federal government used to provide over the years will be pushed down to the local level. He commented on our mayor, and Steve Clemons did, too, and that concept is spot on: San Diego is proving to show the rest of the world it doesn't need to be that way. It shows the devolution of power seen on a local level.

When I worked for [former San Diego mayor] Susan Golding in the late '90s and Jerry Sanders in 2005 and 2006, the level of service the government provided was very different between the two. I was struck by that as I came back in and thought, “Oh, we don't do that anymore?” This deconstruction of government means organizations like mine rise out of necessity and provide the services that in the past the government may have provided, but we're providing them in a more efficient or effective way with citizenry oversight. This has been happening on a local level at some time. This came at a prevalent time, when there's a lot of conversation around the fact that our country is very divided. Even though people were stunned by the presidential election's result, to Richard it was not as strange of an event as it seems. America is deeply divided along class and geography, and those divides are not going away.

GlobeSt.com: Where do you think San Diego will stand out as an innovative market among other urban markets?

Michell: Richard believes the creative class fosters an open and dynamic professional urban environment, a focus on talent versus projects is better use of a city's use of resources. San Diego is on track to do that, to use talent best. We have high concentrations of tech workers. The creative class is better at regenerating the resources necessary for long-term prosperity, not looking with a singular focus but a constantly evolving group; not so narrow a focus. He talked about San Diego's ability to attract the creative class, on the cost of living, which won't hinder us long term, but maybe short term because of our quality of place and lifestyle.

We spoke exclusively with Michell about the event, what the takeaways were and how she feels San Diego fits in as an innovation economy.

GlobeSt.com: What was the crux of Richard Florida's discussion?

GlobeSt.com: How do you feel San Diego fits into the convergence of all these elements as compared to other nearby markets like Orange County and Los Angeles?

GlobeSt.com: Where do you think San Diego will stand out as an innovative market among other urban markets?

Instant Insights /

How SD is Poised for the Rise of the Creative Class

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