Are smaller cities, like Syracuse, having any success in attracting “creative class” employers?
As a matter of demography, there are not enough yuppies to go around for cities like Syracuse or even Cleveland to ever compete with San Francisco, Boston, or Seattle. And the much hyped, and hoped-for, return of “empty nesters” to the city has not yet materialized. But Syracuse, which has some 1,500 vacant residential properties, has seen more hotel rooms and luxury condominiums built than affordable housing units redeveloped over the last 10 years. But there are some positive developments. If the federal loan guarantees can be secured, a plant in Syracuse will be producing electric cars for the Indian company Reva. This didn’t happen because of the research and report on the Syracuse economy that Richard Florida was paid to do. What attracted Reva was the existence of an idle manufacturing plant, an underutilized work force with manufacturing skills and experience, and generous public subsidies. Another interesting local example of a traditional development approach that is likely to
