Federal employees of a republic should not be remote from their fellow citiznes.

I have not tracked his work all that closely but I do have a strong impression of Richard Florida being strikingly wrong on many things much of the time. But misalignment between two views does not mean two parties cannot support the same policy.

A relatively simple way to address inequality, @Richard_Florida writes, would be moving federal-government operations to smaller cities around the country https://t.co/aAqQMQx9tm pic.twitter.com/tffvqkACPE

— CityLab (@CityLab) December 1, 2017

I think this would have markedly limited impact on measurable national inequality but I think it would be a good policy for other reasons.

Increase in federal civil servant's awareness of, sensitivity to, and responsiveness to dispersed American conditions.

Decrease in dangerous centralization in a single geographical location of federal government activities.

Dissemination of economic stimulus throughout the nation.

Decrease in risk of deep state emergence when you reach a critical mass of civil servants in one location.

Decrease, or at least moderation, of lobbying/corruption that rises with centralization.

There are some trade-offs and uncertainties. Presumably there might be some loss of efficiency and effectiveness of the civil service activities. One would guess that there are occasions when it is convenient for an EPA engineer to swing by the Department of Interior for some quick meeting, but the possible loss of efficiency can probably be mitigated by improved virtual communication. Besides, fewer civil servant meetings might actually lead to an increase in productivity.

There might be a higher cost of some labor. EPA engineers are likely easier to hire in quantity in Washington, D.C. than in Mobile, Alabama. On the other hand cost of living is almost certainly going to be substantially lower as the basis for those salaries in those locations.

On the whole though, I have long thought it would be advantageous to move more of the departments away from the environs of Washington, D.C. and into the rest of America and I see the overriding benefit as being an increase in federal government employee sensitivity to the norms of the American citizens outside of Washington, D.C..