I agree with Matt that the worst thing to happen is for areas like central eastside to gentrify endlessly 'til they turn into the Pearl. But "Artist live/work space" doesn't have to mean the faux-edgy professional condo lifestyle, does it? My "artist live/work space" is an old house on the east side.
But if I were still really young, loud, and single, I would want to live with other artists as I used to, with large spaces where we could have music and events without attracting attention or getting shut down by the cops. Not a fancy professional condo: a real work space. With a leaky roof. I'd left Oregon during that time, and lived in a city where zoning people and the Fire Department didn't come knocking, trying to dig out potential live-workers. They left us alone and it was great. I've heard nightmare stories about that from people living in industrial spaces in Portland about being hounded, intimidated, and even hit on by inspectors.
Then again, Portland is going to keep being condo-fied and seeing real estate prices inflated compared to what everyday people earn. People are moving here from well-heeled cities, and to them this place looks like a good deal. I don't think we can enact a law to keep them out, so within the changing climate why not help find places for ourselves and other artists?
Mid-career artists were mentioned, but it's also important that younger ones--who are not already established with critically-acclaimed creative businesses, artistic careers, and cool alternative living and working spaces--have somewhere to go. Some of them aren't "crafty" in the ways of the world. Many of the artists I've known in my life, including myself for a long time, have been noticeably un-crafty at dealing with rents, business matters, finances, landlords, spaces, and the like. I don't assume that the most worthy artists will be crafty enough to see their way through a maze of low wages and inflated rents, particularly artists who require large spaces and specialized equipment to create their work. Some wonderful artists will get through it inventively and resourcefully. Many others will drop through the cracks or hightail it out of Portland.
Maybe we're better off without them, Darwin-style. Or maybe the city could encourage community arts resources, including subsidized artist housing. Most artists are poor. Subsidized artist live/work housing could be similar to Section 8 housing, rather than a big yupfest. You don't need the dishwashers. All you need is a warehouse with a shared toilet, sink, fridge, and no officials trying to shut you down all the time. The artists can work out how to make the space work.
I agree with Matt that the
I agree with Matt that the worst thing to happen is for areas like central eastside to gentrify endlessly 'til they turn into the Pearl. But "Artist live/work space" doesn't have to mean the faux-edgy professional condo lifestyle, does it? My "artist live/work space" is an old house on the east side.
But if I were still really young, loud, and single, I would want to live with other artists as I used to, with large spaces where we could have music and events without attracting attention or getting shut down by the cops. Not a fancy professional condo: a real work space. With a leaky roof. I'd left Oregon during that time, and lived in a city where zoning people and the Fire Department didn't come knocking, trying to dig out potential live-workers. They left us alone and it was great. I've heard nightmare stories about that from people living in industrial spaces in Portland about being hounded, intimidated, and even hit on by inspectors.
Then again, Portland is going to keep being condo-fied and seeing real estate prices inflated compared to what everyday people earn. People are moving here from well-heeled cities, and to them this place looks like a good deal. I don't think we can enact a law to keep them out, so within the changing climate why not help find places for ourselves and other artists?
Mid-career artists were mentioned, but it's also important that younger ones--who are not already established with critically-acclaimed creative businesses, artistic careers, and cool alternative living and working spaces--have somewhere to go. Some of them aren't "crafty" in the ways of the world. Many of the artists I've known in my life, including myself for a long time, have been noticeably un-crafty at dealing with rents, business matters, finances, landlords, spaces, and the like. I don't assume that the most worthy artists will be crafty enough to see their way through a maze of low wages and inflated rents, particularly artists who require large spaces and specialized equipment to create their work. Some wonderful artists will get through it inventively and resourcefully. Many others will drop through the cracks or hightail it out of Portland.
Maybe we're better off without them, Darwin-style. Or maybe the city could encourage community arts resources, including subsidized artist housing. Most artists are poor. Subsidized artist live/work housing could be similar to Section 8 housing, rather than a big yupfest. You don't need the dishwashers. All you need is a warehouse with a shared toilet, sink, fridge, and no officials trying to shut you down all the time. The artists can work out how to make the space work.