Kansas City Shines With Creative Class

     Kansas City’s increase in creative critical mass has earned it a Top 10 ranking from SmartAsset’s ranking of the nation’s best cities for young creatives. Kansas City ranked No. 6 this year, largely on the strength of a cost of living that runs below the national average, and on the appeal of  its music scene. Those factors helped contribute to a head count of 90 creative-sector employees per 10,000 working residents.

     Notably absent from this year’s rankings were coastal cities long considered capitals of creative job-generation, paritculary New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. South Bend, Ind., was in; Chicago was not. “New York and Los Angeles may be famous for the number of creatives in residence, but the high cost of living in coastal cities is causing the coasts to lose their edge,” SmartAsset said. “Not one West or East Coast city made our top ten list.”

     Smaller cities, generally in the intermountain range, dominated this year’s list, with Nebraska placing both its urban centers, Lincoln and Omaha, in the Top 10.  The full report is available here.