How do ‘starving artists’ live in the most expensive cities?
It is fundamental to understand that cities often prosper because of artists. Artists can also be more broadly defined as the creative class. Here’s how they thrive in the midst of city neighborhoods with million dollar homes:
1. Artists look for better-designed homes that are not so big, which means more light, an open floor plan/less compartmentalization and maybe higher ceilings.
2. Artists would trade off expensive front and back yards for great views and lots of nearby parks, both free.
3. As Jane Jacobs says, old buildings play an important role here. Most artists prefer older buildings with more character as well.
4. Housemates provide company and cut rent/mortgage payments in half or more.
5. Car? Don’t need one in a walkable community – which coincidentally, is what the most expensive city neighborhoods are.
If all else fails, perhaps Artspace is building an inexpensive artists’ loft near you, but you really have to be an artist!
About The Author
If I was an artist and starving (no money) why would I want to live in an expensive city?
Paris, just after the first world war, was a collection of Picassos, Matisses, Hemingways and others. Gertrude Stein and her brother’s Paris home was the epicenter of action.
Paris at that time was a pretty expensive place to live– in some parts. In other parts, not so. The Left Bank and Montparnass like the Lower West Side and Greenwich Village.
Today, one would be mistaken to believe that most starving artists live in the city. Today, most artists live cheaply wherever they can because they can. The days of the artist’s salon are over, the intellectual intercourse once required to produce art no longer valid. The only artist that needs live in the city is one related to that city’s theater industry. 90210 has been done.
Today, the artist travels to the city for commerce. Even this is becoming less frequent. The intercourse that remains is commercial. This is influenced by the U.S. Art Industry.
The artist still congregates, just doesn’t feel like having people around all the time.
Thanks for jarring this out. Please don’t respond to this correspondence.
E.