WashPo wonders if Colorado will get an innovation boost from legal pot

The Washington Post looked at the potential for an innovation boom in Colorado because of legal marijuana in a piece titled, "Is Colorado about to get a Rocky Mountain innovation high?"

Excerpt:

Colorado's new marijuana law also has the potential to lead to the formation of an entirely new type of Creative Class in cities such as Boulder and Denver. As Richard Florida has explained in a series of books and articles starting with The Rise of the Creative Class more than a decade ago, the key to urban revitalization and economic development starts with creating a robust Creative Class. The logic is relatively simple – once you get a critical mass of creative thinkers in a densely populated area, you start to see things like new cafes, coffee shops, art galleries, and independent bookstores. That, in turn, attracts other people to the area, which sets off a virtuous circle of economic gentrification, as abandoned buildings are transformed into urban lofts.

Denver could become the new Brooklyn, with stoners replacing hipsters as the arbiters of the new cultural zeitgeist. Viewed from this perspective, Colorado's pot smokers could become the vanguard of a new influx of artists, writers and musicians to the state. Attracted by the high life, entrepreneurs and professionals in creative fields such as marketing and design would soon follow. As they put down roots and revitalize urban areas, they would attract other creative professionals such as scientists, engineers, and technologists. In short, city planners would be tripping over themselves in a pot-induced daze to attract other pot smokers, rather than finding ways to keep them out.

Read the rest here.