Artists Fleeing New York City for Cleveland
According to Crain’s New York Business, artists cannot afford to live and work in New York City anymore, and, after moving from neighborhoods like SoHo, then Chelsea, then Williamsburg, and being pushed out of each due to rising rents and gentrification, they have finally started moving out of the city entirely, to friendlier places like Berlin, Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland.
The Cleveland neighborhood of Collinwood is mentioned in the article as one of the places “courting” New York artists with incentive programs and housing deals. The 16 vacant properties that Northeast Shores Development Corporation has purchased and renovated into artist lofts are one reason that artists are inquiring from New York, when Northeast Shores expected to attract Cleveland artists.
Interestingly, the article draws the connection directly to economic development and the negative impact on industries such as advertising and that such a diaspora might mean for New York City.
According to the New York Foundation for the Arts, 11% of artists surveyed felt they would have to leave New York within 6 months, possibly turning New York into a city like Washington DC, with many venues for the presentation of art, but no arts community creating art. “The recession has created a situation where people don’t consider New York City to be a place of opportunity,” says Robert Elmes, director of a New York performance space.
Can you say, “Hello, Cleveland?”
Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20101114/FREE/311149985
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