Sure, during Art Basel Miami Beach our fair city is the art capital of the world for one week, but the rest of the year we can't even make it onto The Atlantic's list of "The Most Artistic Cities." We're apparently less artistic then cultural hot spots like Danbury, Connecticut, Watsonville California, and, uh, Jersey City, New Jersey.
Of course, like so many lists authored by America's number one listacle author, Richard Florida, it's the result of a whole lot of cold hard numbers crunching which hardly paints the clearest picture of what cities are most "artistic." Nothing about the quality, influence, or worth of locally produced art is taking into account.
Florida used numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau of people who identify their occupation as "artists and related workers." Even without population taking into account, Miami ranks only 28th. Which isn't too bad considering Miami is only the 44th most populous city in America. Though, its unclear if he's writing about the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County or the Miami Metro Area.
He then ranks the cities on how much of their population is made up of "artists and related workers." Sante Fe, New Mexico comes in number one. Which, I guess makes it America's art capital? That is, if you like the work of aging hippies, we suppose.
