"It is now a conventional wisdom that artistic, bohemian, and gay populations increase housing values in the neighborhoods and communities they inhabit." Thus begins a paper by Richard Florida, of George Mason University, and Charlotte Mellander. They go on to quantify the effect and take it beyond anecdotal evidence.

Combined with the paper by Gregory S. Paul (Vol. 7, 2005, of the Journal of Religion and Society) showing better societal health in less-religious developed countries, and other surveys showing the same effect in various US states, we can perhaps conclude that there is a benefit from social diversity.

The ironically-titled Florida paper, "There Goes the Neighborhood", introduces a Bohemian-Gay Index as a proxy measure for regional amenity and openness. The introduction begins:

“Want to know where a great place to invest in real estate will be five or 10 years from now? Look at where artists are living now,” so wrote a 2007 Business Week story provocatively titled, “Bohemian Today, High-Rent Tomorrow.”

The writers reference other studies that found this effect. The current challenge was to find a mechanism, and they have come up with a quantifying scheme that seems defensible.

I feel there may be another way to look at this--that a diverse society is more natural and adaptable. We know there is a premium on genetic diversity in populations; we also know the conventional wisdom if diversifying a portfolio. We know the value to a business or student body of encouraging racial diversity. It is no surprise to see the effect writ large in the overall health of entire cities.