Richard Florida

Richard Florida is Co-founder and Editor at Large of CityLab.com and Senior Editor at The Atlantic. He is director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto and Global Research Professor at NYU. More

Florida is author of The Rise of the Creative Class, Who's Your City?, and The Great Reset. He's also the founder of the Creative Class Group, and a list of his current clients can be found here.

Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov

Did Russia Really Win the Sochi Medal Count?

How small countries like Belarus, Norway, and Slovenia dominated the Winter Olympics host.

Global / Feb 23, 2014
Reuters

Norway, Slovenia, and Latvia Are Owning the Sochi Olympics

The overall medal count obscures how these small countries are outperforming their rivals in 2014.

Global / Feb 17, 2014
Kevin Van Aelst

The Boom Towns and Ghost Towns of the New Economy

New York, Houston, Washington, D.C.—plus college towns and the energy belt—are all up, while much of the Sun Belt is (still) down. Mapping the winners and losers since the crash.

Magazine / October 2013
What Is the World's Most Economically Powerful City?

To kick off The Atlantic's new special report on the past and future of the world's global capitals, we ask: What city rules them all?

Business / May 8, 2012
Why America Keeps Getting More Conservative

Religion and education explain why, at the state level, the United States is seeing a clear shift to the right.

Politics / Feb 13, 2012
The Importance of Social Networks to Start-Up Economies

As our metropolitan areas grow larger, the synapses that connect them -- highly networked people -- become more and more essential to economic growth

Technology / Oct 21, 2011
The Spread of Start-Up America and the Rise of the High-Tech South

Start-up culture is taking root in lots of places -- and not just the usual suspects. Some of the hottest hotbeds are in the South.

Technology / Oct 20, 2011
The Shifting Patterns of Patent Growth

Silicon Valley is eight times more productive than the national average. But it wasn't always this way.

Technology / Oct 19, 2011
Where the Innovators Are

Regional data shows how dense areas of invention tend to be

Technology / Oct 19, 2011
How Startups Have Changed the Way American Business Thinks

While other countries may create superior products, America generates startups that forever shift the nation's economic structure

Technology / Oct 18, 2011
Where the Skills Are

Human progress, to a large degree, has depended on the continual expansion of social networks, which enable faster sharing and shaping of ideas. And humanity’s greatest social innovation remains the city. As our cities grow larger, the synapses that connect them—people with exceptional social skills—are becoming ever more essential to economic growth.

Magazine / October 2011
If U.S. Cities Were Countries, How Would They Rank?

San Francisco's metropolitan area contains an economy the size of Thailand. Chicago's would rival Switzerland.

Business / Jul 21, 2011
Teach Job Creation at Our Business Schools

What if creating jobs -- for ourselves and for others -- became the mantra of our MBA, engineering, science and graduate programs?

Business / Jul 20, 2011
Detroit's Main Street, Then and Now

A look at the city's major artery before, during, and after the automobile boom

National / Jul 19, 2011
The Geography of How We Get to Work

Where we live makes a huge difference in our commuting choices -- but not always in the ways you'd think

National / Jul 13, 2011
How the Great Reset Has Already Changed America

The recession's aftermath will give birth to mega-cities, as families and businesses come in from the foreclosed suburbs

Business / Jul 5, 2011
Why Crime Is Down in America's Cities

Abortion, poverty, unemployment—none of these factors is the main reason our metro areas are getting safer

National / Jul 2, 2011
Top Metros for Same-Sex Couples with Children

Nearly one fifth of gay couples are raising children -- but not in the cities where you'd expect to find them

National / Jun 28, 2011
How New York Changes the Gay Marriage Landscape

Twice as many Americans now live in states that recognize same-sex marriage

National / Jun 27, 2011
America's Top Cities for Bike Commuting: Happier, Too

A nationwide analysis shows that towns where people bike to work are richer, fitter, and more successful in many other ways

National / Jun 22, 2011