A decade after the onset of the Great Recession, the national housing market is finally returning to normal. With incomes rising and household growth strengthening, the housing sector is poised to become an important engine of economic growth. But not all households and not all markets are thriving, and affordability pressures remain near record levels. Addressing the scale and complexity of need requires a renewed national commitment to expand the range of housing options available for an increasingly diverse society. [Executive Summary, p.1]

This scan also indicates that the fields of creative placemaking and affordable housing need each other to be effective and also need to better consider each other as they endeavor to accomplish the overall goal of building healthy communities of opportunity.

This summary provides the key findings of How Art Spaces Matter: II, the second in a series of studies commissioned by Artspace and conducted by Metris Arts Consulting which explores how and why art spaces benefit in-house artists, arts organizations, and surrounding neighborhoods and regions.

This report and its predecessor, How Artist Space Matters (2010), explore how and why art spaces benefit in-house artists, arts organizations, and surrounding neighborhoods and regions. Artspace Projects developed the two case studies detailed in this report, the Riverside Artist Lofts (Reno, NV) and Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts and Tashiro Arts Building (Seattle, WA), as well as the three Twin Cities projects explored in our first report. The report provides both an in-depth exploration of how the Riverside and...

This report offers a detailed answer to a relatively straightforward question: Do artist spaces matter, and if so how? More specifically, do they make it possible for artists to increase the amount of time they devote to art making, share equipment, engage in collaborations, and/or increase income? Do they help arts organizations financially stabilize or grow? Do they bolster neighborhood businesses? Are they linked to physical upgrades in the surrounding area? Do they help increase or stabilize property values without displacement? Are they associated with increased civic involvement,...

In May 2015, the Housing and Community Development Department of the city of Oakland, California, submitted a request through the National Resource Network’s 311 for Cities asking for information on the main barriers facing the preserving and development of affordable artist housing and workplaces in cities. The city also requested that the network research ways to fund the development of artist housing. The request resulted in a “heavy” 311 response from the Network. The following report was researched, developed and shared with the city by...