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The region’s urban communities boast an abundance of shops, services, culture, and amusement within easy reach.  Neighborhood business districts, historic neighborhoods, museums, galleries, and performing arts are all powerful resources that can help to attract and retain residents in urban areas.   Urban neighborhoods in the metropolitan Boston region are home to thousands of arts and culture related organizations, facilities, and resources. Ranging from impromptu musical groups to major fine arts museums, these resources are highly diverse in their size and mission. Collectively, they play an important social, civic, and economic role in the region’s urban neighborhoods

14)    Strengthen downtown and neighborhood business districts
The presence of local business districts provides vitality and convenience to urban residents.  In order to function well, those districts should be safe and have an appropriate mix of businesses.  Some districts will focus more on the needs of nearby residents and employees.  Others will attract visitors and shoppers from far and wide.  

There are numerous strategies that communities can use to support business districts.  The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Economic Development operates the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative, which offers a range of services and assistance to communities seeking to revitalize their downtowns. The primary mission of the MDI is to make downtown revitalization an integral part of community development in cities and towns across the Commonwealth. MDI’s guiding principles are that the most effective approach to downtown revitalization is holistic; that it addresses economic and community development needs; and that it provides a framework of interrelated activities that promote positive change in a downtown to keep it healthy and prosperous.

Another model for business district revitalization is the National Trust for Historic Preservation “Main Street” program.  This model encompasses a four point approach that addresses economic restructuring, design, promotion, and community organizing.  The most prominent local application of this program is in the City of Boston, which has 19 Main Street Districts.  Each district receives financial and technical assistance and intensive training in the Main Street approach from the City of Boston Main Streets office and the National Main Street Center.

14.a    Municipalities and corporate partners should create public-private partnerships to create sustainable Main Street-style programs

15)    Support arts and culture to build community and civic engagement
The vitality of urban areas derives in large part from an abundance of arts and culture, in the form of museums, music venues, galleries, art studios, cultural organizations, and festivals.  Not only do these assets provide enrichment to individuals, they also help to build community, foster civic engagement, and establish a positive identity for urban neighborhoods.  The more people participate in arts and culture events, the more likely they are to participate in other activities that support community life.

Public arts events, including concerts, festivals, open studios, and happenings (such as Providence’s WaterFire) can bring people together, boost tourism, and transform how a city is perceived by visitors and residents.  Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and other neighborhood-based community organizations have long recognized the power of culture to build community, often organizing cultural events to support ongoing community organizing and development initiatives.  Municipalities should seek opportunities to apply these lessons to planning projects and other efforts at civic engagement, in order to build broader and richer participation.  A particular focus should be on exposing young people to arts and culture. 

15.a    Civic, business, artistic, and municipal stakeholders should collaborate to plan public arts-related events

15.b    Municipalities should involve arts groups in civic engagement and outreach efforts

15.c    Arts and cultural organizations should provide adults with amateur art making opportunities to expose children to the arts

16)    Support arts districts through public policy
Artistic and cultural ventures are often most successful when clustered together, so they can share resources, capitalize on each other’s success, and create a “scene” that will attract attention.  While such clusters are most vibrant when they develop organically, public policy can support the development of arts districts and help to protect those that already exist.  

Many communities have designated “arts districts.” These districts can encompass a wide range of public and private actions, and can include tax subsidies, zoning changes, community-developed arts district plans, and marketing and branding campaigns. Whether formally designated or not, arts districts provide a range of benefits: they raise the visibility and marketability of the arts to the public, provide a forum around which cultural coalitions can coalesce, create opportunities for social cohesion, and can stimulate new real estate investments.  Municipalities seeking to achieve one or more of these goals may consider creating an arts district, tailored to the unique local context.

Public resources are one important component of the funding needed to develop new facilities in arts districts.  In particular, the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund provides grants to support the acquisition, design, repair, rehabilitation, renovation, expansion, or construction of nonprofit cultural facilities in Massachusetts.  By requiring matching funds, the CFF helps to leverage private resources; however, state allocations have declined each year since the fund’s creation.  The Legislature should stabilize and eventually increase support for this fund.   

Artistic and cultural establishments have diverse transportation needs. Artist studios and galleries may only generate occasional visitors, though may attract large crowds during major events such as open studios.  Other large institutions may experience large crowds on a regular basis.  A 2002 household survey in Metropolitan Boston found that 23% of respondents said “difficulty or cost of getting to or parking at events” was a “big reason” they did not attend more performing arts events.  This does not necessarily mean that art and cultural organizations need an overabundance of parking.  Local planners should seek innovative strategies to meet the needs of arts facilities, through shared parking or transportation demand management strategies.  The state should also provide financial support public transit access and transportation demand management plans for new facilities funded through the Cultural Activities Facilities Fund.  

Artists contribute greatly to neighborhood vitality, but they need places to live and work.  They frequently move from one “frontier neighborhood” to another, always just a step ahead of the wave of displacement.  Efforts must be undertaken to build more artists’ housing and to provide artists with greater security against displacement.  Excellent opportunities for such housing exist not only in core communities like Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, but in smaller cities within the Inner Core as well as Regional Urban Centers.

16.a    Municipalities should adopt zoning incentives to incentivize the creation and clustering of arts facilities

16.b    The state legislature should stabilize and increase allocations to the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund