• news
  • SUNDAY JULY 22 2007 4:00 PM

My City is Better Than Yours, Fuckheads!



I live in San Francisco. The vast majority of you idiots reading this do not. My city is better than yours. Period. No argument.

Now, I’m not simply throwing this out there willy-nilly. Sure, everyone thinks their city is the best (except for those of you living in Fresno or Denver or something) but I have actual proof. And I’m not even talking about proof in the our-weather-is-better kind of way or the have-you-seen-our-views!? kind of way. I’m talking about actual scientific proof.

F’reals, assholes.

Richard Florida, a professor from George Mason University and author of the book The Rise of the Creative Class argued that the more "gay-friendly" a city is, the more economically prosperous it will be.

In his March 2007 paper "There Goes the Neighborhood," Florida uses something he calls the "Bohemian-Gay Index" to demonstrate that "artistic, bohemian, and gay populations" have a "substantial effects on housing values across all permutations of the model and across all region sizes." He also found that more open and "gay-friendly" areas generally support higher income levels.

This morning on CNN's In the Money, Florida argued that educated kids are generally moving to the most "gay-friendly" cities after graduating from college because those cities tend to have the best job markets.


That’s right. I know you’re jealous, but it’s not my fault your cities aren’t as rad as mine. By definition, no city can be more “gay friendly” than San Francisco. Thus, all of the cool people are naturally attracted here. I didn’t look this up or anything, but I’m pretty sure that on a scale of 1-10, San Francisco’s “Bohemian-Gay Index” is going to be approximately a 150. By contrast, I’m figuring that a place like Boston or New York would be like a 17, Houston or Detroit would be a 5 and LA would be about a 2.75 (because if Los Angelenos were creative at all they would surely be able to think of a better place to live than Los Angeles.)

How does this “more gays equals more money” equation work? Well, Professor (and future SF Mayor) Florida has this to say.

"Places that were open to gay and lesbian people were also the kind of places that could attract not only smart young people, but also Indian and Chinese immigrants who come here and start a lot of high tech companies," he said. "They were attracting people across the board, building up a talent base, and then innovating and starting these new enterprises."

Florida said he thinks it is the open mindedness of these cities that has allowed economically successful communities to emerge, rather than prior economic success attracting open minded people.

"Places that a large gay and lesbian community gravitated to, a large group of musicians and other open minded people gravitated to. When these kind of geeky entrepreneurs became important economic growth, those were the places that accepted them, too," he told CNN.


The full story of how much exactly everyone should envy me for my area code’s overwhelming personal, cultural and economic superiority can be found here. In case you’re more of a passive learner, I've included some clips of the good professor explaining things. He yammers on a bit about the power of “creativity” and how that “creativity” leads to greater intelligence, cultural relevance and competitive economic ability, but don’t lose sight of what you should really be taking from his work: that San Franciscans are better than you.


Were you counting how many more times San Francisco (or its surrounding areas) were mentioned vs. how many times any other city was mentioned? Because I was, and it was twice as much as any other city. That makes the Baghdad by the Bay twice as good. It's simple mathematics and everyone else can eat a dick.

I suppose it is also worth discussing his ancillary point, because the idea that artistic and cultural creativity is a strong indicator of economic prosperity makes a lot of sense. Furthermore, the idea that artistically and culturally creative people are attracted to open-minded areas where risk-taking and divergent lifestyles are accepted makes even more sense. What’s more, the numbers seem to bear it out. The areas of the country that are known for fostering an open, creative environment are our current centers of industry. The areas of the country who are not, simply aren’t.

But again, that’s the secondary point. The real lesson to take from this is that the more you other plebes try to make your city like San Francisco, the better off you’ll be. Not just in the intellectual, cultural or existential senses, but in the pocketbook as well. Now get going, kids, and good luck. You’re gonna need it, suckers!


This is the 100th article I have been fortunate enough to write for the SuicideGirls.com Newswire. I’d like to earnestly thank those who have let me write and those who have bothered to read. It’s been a great time, and very rewarding for me. Thanks again, and I’ll see you around.

 

Previous

PAGE: 

1 ... 

21 | 22 | 23

Next

Comments
crispy

crispy

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

OCT 01, 2007 07:38 PM

timjbjr said:
ever hear of chicago, shorty?


I went to school with Chicago Shorty.

He's taller than you'd imagine.
And, strangely, he's from Cleveland.

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

OCT 01, 2007 09:04 PM

crispy said:

timjbjr said:
ever hear of chicago, shorty?


I went to school with Chicago Shorty.

He's taller than you'd imagine.
And, strangely, he's from Cleveland.



Chicago Shorty the mobster, Chicago Shorty the pool player, or Chicago Shorty the blues guitarist?

gwenness

gwenness

United Kingdom
September 2007

OCT 01, 2007 10:07 PM

is San Fran ever -not- foggy? tongue

gwenness

gwenness

United Kingdom
September 2007

OCT 01, 2007 10:10 PM

opening picture, extended exposure...
is San Fran ever -not- foggy? tongue

Subrosa

Subrosa

San Francisco, CA
July 2004

OCT 01, 2007 10:52 PM

gwenness said:
is San Fran ever -not- foggy? tongue



Yes. Like... right fucking now, actually.

Margot_Dent

Margot_Dent

Los Angeles, CA
February 2004

OCT 02, 2007 06:43 PM

Subrosa said:

gwenness said:
is San Fran ever -not- foggy? tongue



Yes. Like... right fucking now, actually.



i could have sworn that said "is San Fan ever -not- faggy?"

eeek

gpthestar

gpthestar

United Kingdom
July 2006

MAR 17, 2008 02:06 PM

Fuck me there are loads of posts on this thread - so many i am not going to read them all saying 'fuck you my dad is harder than yours.

I think i will end it all hear and let you know what city is the real winner of this

GLASGOW - Scotland

much better than your over heated american cities and you can usually walk home also when you are fucked up from a night out.

Any one want to come visit let me know and i will take you on a tour

;0)



Virtute

Virtute

Brooklyn, NY
July 2007

MAR 17, 2008 02:25 PM

Sorry, Clint.
NY wins, now and forever.

willam9

willam9

Philadelphia, PA
January 2008

MAR 17, 2008 02:33 PM

Subrosa said:
First of all, it's a bit disingenuous to simply call California the "entertainment" capitol.



i think i agree with subrosa surreal, calling it simply the entertainment capitol is a bit myopic. it ignores some incredibly important aspects of the state such as the development of silicon valley and their incredibly progressive policies toward stem cell funding.
http://www.cirm.ca.gov/

bean

bean

STAFF

Los Angeles, CA

MAR 17, 2008 02:37 PM

Page 15 > Page 16. Go back a page and see if you might be able to figure out why I'm euthanizing this thread.

Note: if you come up with an answer, sit back and smugly consider how brilliant you are. There's no need to rush to me with the answer, or start another topic to enlighten everyone else.

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
This thread was so much cooler in its heyday. This whole trend of "getting the thread back together and doing another tour" is bullshit, and just results in threads parodying themselves, or worse, attempting to become serious again long after their time has gone. These threads should really know when to throw in the towel and pass the torch to younger, more timely threads.

Previous

PAGE: 

1 ... 

21 | 22 | 23

Next