“Absolutely not (they won’t go),” replied Florida, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and author of the best-selling book, The Rise of the Creative Class.

Florida was in Winnipeg Thursday for a one-day conference, Imagine a City … which officially launched public discussions on a proposed New Deal for Winnipeg.

“Some of the highest cost cities in North America are attracting the most people. You don’t see people fleeing New York,” Florida said.

They stay for other reasons, including it’s an exciting, vibrant city.

It’s about creating a “people” climate, he said. And it’s that people climate that’s been fueling economic growth in North America over the past two decades.

“People … we are the raw material. It doesn’t matter what companies you attract. It doesn’t matter how your business climate is. The one thing you can do is mobilize, harness your creative assets.”

It’s meant re-thinking some basic precepts of economic development, Florida said.

Gone are the days when, in order to grow, a city had to create jobs by attracting companies through handing over tax incentives.

“Today, people want to go to a place that has energy, excitement, that feels good.”

And companies follow, so they can access a ready pool of talented, innovative and creative people. Otherwise, it would take years to lure them away.

“The jobs are moving to where the people are.”

Florida was one of half a dozen speakers at the conference.

Quotes from Imagine A City

“Part of this (a proposed New Deal) is around taxes, but it’s really about how you think. If Winnipeg is prepared to embrace new ways of doing business … no other city has captured the (title of) ‘creative capital.’ It’s yours to capture.”

Al Duerr, former mayor of Calgary

“The three Ts of today’s economic growth are technology, talent (harness that street-level energy) and tolerance (inclusiveness). A fourth T is territorial assets. You don’t want to be to like everywhere else. It’s about what’s authentic, real, different or unique.”

Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class

“Eight and 55 - those are the two figures we have to change to turn our vision into reality … so together we can reinvent our communities.

“Eight is the percentage of all taxes, duties and assessments paid by Canadians that goes towards funding municipalities. That’s eight cents out of every dollar collected.

“Now the other number - 55. That is the percentage of municipal income from land or property tax.”