Hooray! LA made it to the top of another list. This time LA wins as the best city for artists, according to BusinessWeek. Using a formula that includes the number of art establishments per population, the percentage of population aged 24-35, the number of art and culture resources, the diversity of the population, and the cost of living, the magazine put LA on top. As it turns out, poor hippie communes in the middle of the forest do not make for good artist communities:
In addition to the presence of like-minded individuals, proximity to wealth is also important. The fact of the matter is that artists can seldom earn a living, let alone become rich, selling to other artists. They need wealthy benefactors to buy their paintings or support their local symphony, which explains why each of the places in the U.S. that we found to be the best for artists are in or located near centers of wealth.And God knows Angelenos have plenty of money to throw around for art. Ventura County also made the top ten. Who knew?
· Bohemian Today, High Rent Tomorrow [BusinessWeek]
· America’s Best Places for Artists [BusinessWeek]