Map Monday: Working vs. Creative Class Chicago

This is from a study mentioned in Business Insider about the disappearance of working-class neighborhoods in US cities.

Here’s the description…

American cities today experience distinct class divisions. The “creative class” (tech, law, arts, healthcare, professional jobs) occupies the most economically functional and desirable locations, many of which used to be working-class neighborhoods. The “service class” (lower wage, lower skill jobs like food preparation and retail) live in areas surrounding the creative class. The “blue-collar working class” (factory, manufacturing jobs) has been decimated, and what remains has been relegated to the least desirable places in cities.

[Purple = creative class; blue = working class.]

chicago working class map

 

I’m not that sold on this categorization schema, as I find the ‘creative class’ narrative a bit too broad for my taste, but these maps of different cities are pretty interesting. I’d love to see a similar map of some Minnesota cities.

 

Bill Lindeke

About Bill Lindeke

Pronouns: he/him

Bill Lindeke has writing blogging about sidewalks and cities since 2005, ever since he read Jane Jacobs. He is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota Geography Department, the Cityscape columnist at Minnpost, and has written multiple books on local urban history. He was born in Minneapolis, but has spent most of his time in St Paul. Check out Twitter @BillLindeke or on Facebook.