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Chapter 8 The Evolution of Arts and Cultural Districts Ann M. Galligan ARTS AND CULTURAL DISTRICTS1 have gained recognition as important policy tools for municipalities with respect to community planning and redevelopment. As a strategy for revitalizing urban landscapes, as well as reinvigorating local economies, cultural districts serve as important catalysts in developing vibrant and regenerated areas that transform often blighted or underused urban spaces (and a growing number of suburban ones) by attracting tourists and visitors, generating revenues, and acting as magnets for both for profit and non profit organizations, including theaters, galleries, convention centers, hotels, restaurants, and retail shops. In the last three decades many cities and towns have expanded the scope of cultural districts from an arts organization–based model to include live/work spaces for artists and small arts businesses as integral components of their revitalization strategies. This second wave of cultural-district development includes artists as well as collective arts’ enterprises. Creativity is at the core of the second-wave cultural districts. As such, cultural districts act as magnets in attracting artists and other creative individuals, filling spaces such as lofts and underutilized buildings and light industrial spaces in vacant mills and factories. Cultural Districts as Municipal Policy Tools The focus of this chapter is to provide an overview of the evolving definition and impact of cultural districts as tools for cities and towns in achieving specific policy goals. A policy tool is an instrument or plan of action undertaken by a municipality in achieving social, economic, political, or aesthetic goals with clearly delineated outcomes in mind. Policy tools for the arts can include rent control, tax breaks, and tax-stabilization options for artists, 129 Chap-08.qxd 2/25/08 3:46 PM Page 129 arts-based corporations, and nonprofit arts entities. Some municipalities utilize additional governmental economic development instruments such as Community Development Block Grants (CDGBs), enterprise zones, and local Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), as well as federal and state historic and preservation tax credits to aid the arts.2 By obtaining a National Register of Historic Places designation from the federal government, many cultural districts are now eligible for state historic tax credits in addition to 20 percent federal historic tax credit.In sum,there are significant tax policy tools for restoring a rundown urban city area through the establishment of a cultural district. Some of the desired results in designating an area as a cultural district include supporting the arts, preserving architectural treasures and historic properties, filling empty real estate, and boosting a failing section of a no-longer-vibrant downtown or commercial area. In order to compete with major cities, many smaller cities are developing cultural districts geared toward attracting young professionals and recent college graduates for their workforce potential. Cultural districts have been created to provide vibrant arts and entertainment options for workers who otherwise might leave the city for the suburbs in the evening or not come into the city on weekends.Another goal is to create a sense of place for a city or a downtown, as cultural districts can unite disparate parts of a city into a cohesive whole.One such example is Near North in Columbus, Ohio.Another approach is to give an area a new brand identity through the creation of an Avenue of the Arts, as have Boston, Philadelphia, and Rochester, Minnesota. Cultural districts come in many sizes, shapes, and forms. As will be discussed later in this chapter, some districts have received formal designation and others simply have come into existence more organically as a result of individual entrepreneurship or collective grassroots efforts. Some are heavily funded and some exist on little or no money at all. Some have formal plans and others do not. Some have dedicated staff to manage them and others are more voluntary and informal in nature. Not all cultural districts are meant to be permanent; some achieve short-term goals and become extinct, while others have existed for decades. Some exist only as long as artists or small arts organizations, galleries, and merchants can to afford to stay in the area. Will cultural districts become a permanent part of the landscape? Will these districts prove to have the ongoing economic,social, and political impact that cities desire? How cost-effective are they in the long run? This chapter explores some of these questions and looks at new models of cultural districts as they continue to evolve. Definition of Cultural Districts What is meant by a cultural district...

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