Although it will not premiere on television until January 21, the first episode of Portlandia is on line. Hulu says something about it expiring in three days, but if the video below doesn’t work, you might be able to watch it here or here.
Richard Florida claims that, by attracting the “creative class,” cities like Portland are building wealth and enhancing productivity. On the other hand, the thesis of Portlandia was best summarized by economist Randall Pozdena in 2007: “We are attracting (to Oregon) a lot of young, enthusiastic people who aren’t particularly well trained and who aren’t bringing a lot of human capital to the region.”
