Would turning down office and building lights in the city during the evening actually make streets safer? Sure, why the hell not.

Richard Florida's academic clients like to call Creative Class a "think tank." But his company, Creative Class, actually calls itself a "global advisory services firm," which is correct. Apart from the corporate clients—Goldman Sachs, Citi Group, IBM—for whom they advise on how to reach the "creative class," there's work geared to developers and real estate folks, corporate services and "talent management." And then there's his other clients: cities and city-states, and their business-development corporations.

Now Florida is the "anchor" for the Atlantic's handsome new Atlantic Cities site, (as well as a senior editor for the Atlantic). So the publication—which looks good! Love that Atlantic!—doesn't have to bother [...]

I became obsessed with Corsican mint a few years ago, after seeing a photograph of a courtyard garden, which-if memory serves-featured little more than ten or twelve large white stepping stones magically hovering above a translucent carpet of the Mentha requienii. While I had no desire to impose this kind of 'modern' aesthetic onto my own garden-which was already packed full of similar obsessions-I began to research. The plant, I quickly learned, has a preference for a 'climate zone' of 6 through 9-fairly warm– and though Washington Heights is technically a zone 6A, I find that plants do best if I treat the neighborhood as a zone 5. What [...]

Conservative millionaire entertainer and peddler of conspiracy theories Glenn Beck is building a city-state, "an entirely self-sustaining community called Independence Park." I can't wait to visit, it sounds like it will be very welcoming to all kinds of Americans.

He's on the right track, though. So are the seasteaders. And the gun-hoarding survivalists of all stripes. And those of us who are interested in reviving the New York City Secession Movement. (Our plan is to secede and then, uh, magically raise the city by 30 feet. Still working on details there, do check back.) But yes. The coasts will drown, or the United States will disband, or World [...]

Do you like that guy Zach Condon's band Beirut? I sure do. He wrote a very nice new song recently (with especially nice horn parts, as you might expect), and played it in Norfolk, Virginia on Monday. (It's funny that a band named after city makes a song named after a different city. Beirut has done this before, though with a less famous city for the song. Some other band must have done it, too. But can't think of any other examples. Does Boston have a song called "Helsinki?" Did Berlin ever cover Seger's "Katmandu?") Oh, Beirut has a new album coming this summer, which is [...]

Is it because Atlantis is not in fact fictional that it is only ranked at no. 25 on Complex's list of the 50 Coolest Fictional Cities? I don't see any other way that that place doesn't crack the top 5. At least! Regardless of my quibbles (also, I would argue that Tupac's "Thugz Mansion" is not a city, but, you know, a mansion) the list is great fun.

Using a complicated algorithm which takes into account hugely-popular Internet lists like the 10 Worst Places to Live in America and America's Smartest (and Dumbest) Cities and American Cities Ranked by Size of Men's Schlongs, we can determine: which are America's very least interesting, most inoffensive, most averagely endowed, least pageview-garnering cities?