DCentric

Patrick Feller / Flickr

Is D.C. becoming culturally irrelevant because artists can’t afford to live here?

Slate’s Matthew Yglesias wrote last week that D.C. is “unhip” because it’s too expensive to live here; Washington City Paper‘s Ryan Little disagreed, writing that the District has abundant opportunities for artists.

Now, Atlantic Cities’ Richard Florida weighs in on the debate by providing the numbers on wages and housing for D.C.-metro artists. Arts, entertainment and design workers in our region have an average of $2,465 left over each month after paying for housing, which is far less than similar workers in New York and Los Angeles. Florida writes:

When all is said and done, D.C. seems like a not-so-great place for visual artists, a slightly better than average place for musicians and a pretty good place for writers and editors. New York and L.A. continue to dominate these fields, particularly arts, design and music, and actually provide a comparatively good living even with their high costs of housing.

A number of you responded on Facebook and Twitter to our questions: Is D.C. “unhip?” Is it because the city is too expensive for artists?

Poet Derrick Weston Brown wrote on Facebook:

I live in MT. Rainier MD and pay in monthly rent for a pretty decent apartment what I paid for a room in a house that I shared with three other people in DC. That’s not including utilities. I learned a long time ago DC is expensive. Unhip? No. Segregated and at times exclusive. Yep.

D.C.-based DJ and co-owner of U Street Music Hall Will Eastman tweeted that D.C. “is expensive, but culturally it’s holding its own.”

@jon_fischer @kristoncapps it's hard to live cheaply & make art ANYWHERE. I still have a "day job" & prob always will.

December 29, 2011 4:41 pm via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite

@willeastman

Will Eastman

Bakari Kamau disagreed with the assumption that D.C. lacks cultural relevance, writing on Facebook:

I’m constantly running into talented artists and designers who live in DC. The problem lies with most artists (myself included) failing to form a community and really self promote in inventive, ahem, creative ways.

A number of you wrote that D.C. is “unhip,” but it’s not for a lack of artists:

@jadabradley @DCntrc D.C. is “unhip” due to the high volume of politicians, lobbyists & journalists.

December 30, 2011 11:56 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@newsmatt

Matt Small

Others responded that D.C. is indeed expensive, and it’s priced out more than just artists. The District’s housing prices continue to rise, making D.C. one of only two major cities that saw such increases in 2011.

There are some modest rents available in D.C., but they may not be in neighborhoods chock full of galleries and performance venues. The city provides a number of grants to working artists, and there are some nonprofits working to provide affordable housing to artists. But, as DCentric commenter Mike Licht pointed out, finding a cheap place isn’t the only issue:

It’s not about housing, it’s about artist work space. An artist without a studio is a former artist.

That may be a more difficult problem to tackle given the rising demand for space in the District. It’s becoming more and more difficult for artists, particularly musicians, to find spaces to create.