Leisure choices of the creative class

•Researches a central tenet of Richard Florida’s theory of the creative class.•Evaluates the amenities most attractive to the creative class.•Finds limited support for Florida’s hypotheses.•The creative class is not unique in its leisure choices. Richard Florida’s theory of the creative class has led cities to offer amenities as a way to attract the knowledge workers that he argues drive the economy. At present, scant evidence exists concerning the leisure activities different worker classes choose to engage in. Using logit analysis on data from the American Time Use Survey, I analyze the leisure preferences of the creative class and find limited support for Florida’s assertions about their amenity use. Cities and policymakers should consider the evidence here before trying to create unique amenities to attract the creative class, because they may not require distinctive activities to choose a location.