Somewhere in almost any location's promotion package
is a photo of the local symphony's shiny brass instruments, a footlight's view of
a whirling ballet production, a child viewing a watercolor on a museum's wall, or
some other evocative image of the arts.
Yet, of all the factors that draw mobile people -- lower living costs, safer streets,
expanding
job opportunities, milder weather, good schools -- everything from studies by geographers
to annual surveys from Money magazine show the arts to be least important
in deciding where to settle.
Perhaps the real reason why the arts are pushed in economic development promotion
is
because they are symbols of civilization. For mobile executives, some regions of
the country may be captioned "Here Be Dragons," in the same way unknown
parts on a map of the world were marked by cartographers centuries ago.
Unfortunately, the arts aren't distributed fairly. Of all the quality of life
factors, the variety and supply of arts and culture most often gets better with the
size of the city. But not always. Take two metro areas: Jacksonville and Las Vegas.
Both are thriving. Both topped one million in population early this decade. Both
are forecasted to outperform most other metro areas in total personal income and
in job growth well into the next century.
For all that, the number of dates booked for symphony, ballet, opera, theater,
and touring artists in "Jax" or "Vegas" makes them resemble the
mid-size areas they were in the 1960s, rather than the powerhouses they are today.
True enough, a lack of artistic and cultural amenities hasn't hurt either area
in attracting new employers and residents. Both areas have bloomed so fast that local
art museum collections
and touring artist bookings haven't caught up with the demand. You can also argue
that there are lots of other things to do in Las Vegas and Jacksonville, aside from
sitting through a performance of La Traviata.
Still, something is missing in these and in other Sunbelt metro areas. Besides
white-collar employment and retail trade, a busy, well-subscribed performing arts
calendar adds another dimension to downtowns from Boston to Toronto, and from Louisville
to Des Moines. The arts keep the city center open a few hours more and have their
own economic impact.
So what is the point in all this?
For all their troubles, the arts still outdraw all of professional sports, and
many other
activities as well. They add another, attractive dimension to central business districts.
Economic development advertising uses the arts in a savvy way. They tell you that
your destination looks just like home. But they also tell you that there's another
dimension here
to quality of life, a dimension Las Vegas and Jacksonville may yet acquire as they
continue
to grow into the next century.
David Savageau is the author of the best-selling book, Places Rated
Almanac.
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