Richard Florida, Torontonian on “The Colbert Report”

On last night’s Colbert Report, Colbert did a piece on the current housing slump and a possible solution by way of a study that looks at the “Bohemian/Gay Index” (to which he remarked “that may sound like another name for the San Francisco phone book”).

The study says that artistic, gay and bohemian populations increase the housing values of the neighbourhoods in which they reside. It’s based on the theory that tolerant communities where gays and bohemians are welcome tend to nurture open-minded, creative communities which in turn are the sorts of places that drive prosperity for the cities they’re in.

While watching this segment, I thought “that sounds like something up Richard Florida’s alley!” Only seconds later, Colbert brought in Florida, whom he introduced as coming from “The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management“. That introduction was pretty surprising, seeing as the announcement of his coming to Accordion City is only days old and he hasn’t yet had his first official day on the job.

Near the end of the interview, Florida says “You know, we just sold our house on Sunday to move to Toronto, my wife and I”.