Ranking Denver Using Florida's Technology, Talent and Tolerance Criteria

In my recent blog entry about Metro Denver's historical connection to the Beat Generation and ongoing concentration of Bohemians, I discussed Richard Florida's work on what he calls the creative class. Florida defines this group as:

"engaged in science and engineering, research and development, and the
technology-based industries, in arts, music, culture, and aesthetic and design
work, or in the knowledge-based professions of health care,
finance and the law." (Cities and the Creative Class, p. 3)

Additionally, Florida theorizes that three interdependent factors help explain why some economic regions have been successful in the new knowledge-based economy and others have not.

"The key to understanding the new geography of creativity and its effects on
economic outcomes lies in what I call the 3 T's of economic
development: Technology, Talent, and Tolerance. Creativity and the members of the
Creative Class take root in places that posses all three of these critical
factors. Each is a necessary, but by itself insufficient, condition. To attract
creative people, generate innovation, and stimulate economic development, a
place must have all three. I define tolerance as openness, inclusiveness, and
diversity to all ethnicities, races and walks of life. Talent is defined as
those with a bachelor's degree and above. And technology is a function of both
innovation and high technology concentrations in a region." (Cities and the
Creative Class, p37)."

This raises the obvious question of “How does Metro Denver compare to other regions in the United States?”

The table taken below is from the Appendix in Florida’s book Cities and the Creative Class which was published in 2005 and some of the indices are likely substantially older than that. However despite the age of the data, it does provide a recent historical reference point from which to analyze Denver's economic position from a Floridian perspective.

The Tech-Pole Ranking comes from the Milken Institute and is based on a region's location quotient of high tech output. According to the Tech-Pole Index, Denver is the 13th ranked high tech region in the United States. Denver's ranking on the Tech-Growth Index (10) and Gay Index (8) are higher than its Tech-Pole Ranking but its rankings on the Composite Diversity (17) and Melting Pot (29) indices are below its Tech-Pole Rankings. Its Bohemian Index rank of 14 is very close to its Tech-Pole Index rank. These rankings seem to fit pretty well with my anecdotal understanding of Metro Denver's demographics. As an inland city, away from the coasts, Denver has a relatively small percentage of foreign-born residents.

This data also got me thinking that the college town of Boulder (also my hometown), probably plays a key role in contributing to the region's strong Tech-Pole, Tech Growth and Bohemian rankings but relatively lower diversity rankings. Boulder is part of the Denver Metro Region and is home to several national laboratories and the State of Colorado's flagship university. It also has a relatively ethnically homogenous population with a large percentage of tech companies and workers and long-standing ties to counter-cultural movements.


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