January 20, 2008
Posted on 01/20/08“It’s Time for Springfield”…again
A 1978 article in a report titled “It’s Time for Springfield” asked the question: “are there any tangible economic benefits to be derived from the presence of arts in a community?” The article then quoted Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, speaking on behalf of the United States Conference of Mayors that “Every dollar spent on arts activities is multiplied four times in related expenditures.” A 1972 study commissioned by the MA Council on the Arts and Humanities determined that the total impact of art activities on the state’s economy was $71 million and 100,000 jobs. A 2002 study by the New England Foundation for the Arts showed that the total economic impact of the arts in MA was $4.229 BILLION and that the industry provided 36, 763 jobs.
The 1978 report cited above had it right. And in the years to follow, studies conducted by prestigious universities and independent think tanks continue to show a positive correlation between the presence of artists in a community and economic vitality. Those cities that realized –and embraced the connection between urban revitalization and the arts have experienced economic prosperity and neighbourhood stabilization. And in those cities, such as Philadelphia, Newark, Minneapolis and Atlanta, success was measured not by the presence of institutionalized arts such as symphonies, opera companies and museums. Instead, success was most visible in what were once run-down neighbourhoods with an abundance of abandoned factories, cheap apartments and interesting architecture.
As artists moved in to take advantage of big working spaces and low rents, other small businesses followed with related services such as restaurants, cafes, framing shops, independent book and music stores. Writer Richard Florida’s research documents the relationship between economic revitalization and the presence of bohemian artist’s communities. The presence of artists attract young, new economy workers and cultural creatives who value the quality of life created in these communities.
The 1978 Time for Springfield report cited another study showing that vibrant arts communities were a significant factor in attracting new businesses and residents into an area. In his book, The Rise of The Creative Class, Richard Florida explored the reasons for this relationship. His findings suggest that new economy workers are more interested in quality of life than high salaries and suburban amenities. They seek out places to live that offer diversity – of people, of lifestyles, of entertainment. In city after city, Florida has demonstrated that new economy workers and cultural creatives follow the artists. And businesses are close on their heels.
One of the major recommendations in the Urban Land Institute study of Springfield was the following: “Make downtown the urban center of the Pioneer Valley, a great place to live, work, and play. Reducing crime is a threshold issue. Encouraging market-rate housing, additional amenities, and ultimately more retail and entertainment will make Springfield what it can be, not a stepsister to other towns in the valley.”
Springfield is a city rich in the resources required by artists working in every genre. Our downtown is filled with abandoned factories and neglected real estate. Ours is a walkable city with beautiful architecture, sophisticated museums, a symphony and a performing arts center. Springfield is ideally situated between New York and Boston. We are on the path travelled by tourists who make their way by the thousands every year to the Berkshires and MassMoca.
Attracting artists to live and work in downtown Springfield to fill the now empty factories and office buildings will ultimately generate pedestrian traffic, and in doing so, begin to change the perception of dark, empty streets and the perception of crime.
We are also a city of great diversity, a place where people from around the world call home. I would suggest that it is time to take advantage of these attributes, to leverage them as positive factors. It is true that the factories such as those on Taylor and Worthington Streets will never again be used to manufacture cars or bicycles. However, they do represent an opportunity to make this city thrive in a way that makes good economic and social sense in the 21st century. My proposal does not require multi-year planning studies or large expenditures of government dollars. Instead, it requires a defiance of the status quo that says Springfield is dying and beyond resuscitation. For a detailed explanation of the Creative Capital Springfield project, I invite you to visit the following website: www.creativecapitalspringfield.com.
The ULI report claims that Springfield is its own worst enemy. I am suggesting it’s time for Springfield to remember its place
January 10, 2008
Posted on 01/09/08Yesterday I walked around downtown Springfield for almost four hours. I went up Taylor Street, down Worthington, across Matton (where I saw a beautiful brownstone for sale for $385,000!). I was struck, once again, by the beautiful architecture of those old apartment buildings, the variety of styles. I kept th inking that Springfield is one of the most attractive and foot-friendly cities I have ever walked through.
I had a delicious lunch of Indian food at Sitar on Main Street. I walked to towards the South End and stopped at the cafe in the Sovreign Building where Louisa made me a perfect espresso. Then I headed won to Milano Specialty Food Store to buy a gallon of extra-virgin olive oil ($19.99!) and a half pound of the best proscuitto I have had outside of Italy.
I made my way to the Museum Quadrangle, stopped in at the library to borrow a couple of books. At a store across the street, I watched a young Hispanic man embrace five or six elementary age children as they got off the school bus. A couple of men were working on the roof of an old Victorian house – and blasting classical music into the street below. A group of teenage boys disbanded their circle on a sidewalk on Spring Street to let me pass. It was a warm January day and as I headed down the hill towards Taylor Street and my car, a canopy of pink clouds hung over the city. I was filled with pleasure.
Except for an hour at lunch time, the streets of Springfield were very quiet. It seems to me that the streets of Springfield, like all fully awakened cities, ought to be filled with noise, the chaos of people pushing up and down the streets as they attend to errands. In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs says that “the activity generated by people on errands or people aiming for food or drink, is itself an attraction to other people…the sight of people attracts still other people, something that city planners seem to find incomprehensible. They operate on the premise that city people seek the sight of emptiness, obvious order and quiet. Nothing could be less true.”
I encourage you to get out of your office buildings, and out of your cars, and walk the streets of Springfield. Get off of Main Street and walk the streets up towards the Quadrangle. Be visible. Wake up the City with the tap of your shoes and boots along its streets…all of them.
Who We Are
Creative Capital Springfield was organized by a group of people determined to contribute to the revitalization of Springfield. We see in Springfield a sleeping beauty waiting for a kiss – an infusion of energy that will wake up a place that has languished for too long on the banks of the Connecticut River. We are motivated by a love for a City filled with beauty, charm, historical significance and deep potential. We have been studying the ways that other sleeping cities woke themselves up by taking advantage of their strenghts to become vital again. We believe the neighborhoods of downtown Springfield offer great opportunities to attract creative capital – new economy workers and artists who need large, beautiful, affordable living and work spaces.
We invite you to talk with us, share ideas, follow our progress and join the party!
Sincerely, Ann Black, Linda McInerney and Evan Plotkin