Revitalizing Neighborhoods the Artistic Way

Traditional neighborhood revitalization programs usually buy up dilapidated buildings and vacant lots and sell them at a discount to private developers. Sometimes, these programs take a back seat to…artists. “A growing number of practitioners, researchers, funders, elected officials, and traditional community development and financing organizations are taking a close look at culture-driven community revitalization” (emphasis added).

Besides creating wealth, artists often change a community’s physical fabric. Some create live-work space in unused or underutilized buildings. Arts organizations have even helped old industrial towns turn warehouses into live-work spaces and galleries. These projects “decrease blight and animate neglected spaces, increase arts-participation for residents, contribute to local pride, and catalyze other economic gains in their communities.”

But culture-driven community development could backfire on the artists and their neighborhoods. “Whether artists develop the space on their own or someone else develops it with artists in mind, artists who do not become owners can soon find themselves being priced out. Longtime residents of the surrounding community can be priced out, too—unless they have a real estate ownership stake” (Communities and Banking, “Artists as Revitalization Agents,” Summer 2011)