What is the scene like for artists in the Folsom area?

[wburg]

Originally Posted by iajo

When I was trying to figure out where to show my work, I brought my portfolio to several different galleries. Both the 20th Street Gallery and the Chroma Gallery in Fair Oaks showed interest, but the 20th Street Gallery was willing to put me into a show faster, so I ended up dealing with them. But if things had worked out differently, I could have been working with the Chroma Gallery.

Your insight into how regionally showing work at galleries is interesting, but think for a moment: How many art galleries are there within a mile or two of 20th Street Gallery? Even if you don't count the many businesses that aren't primarily art galleries but show art at Second Saturday and otherwise, quite a lot within a short walk.

Now try the same thing with Chroma Gallery. I'm sure there are a couple, but not very many, and fairly widely separated.

Now, if you're an artist using your system, you can only show in one gallery in the region so it's no big deal. But if you want to check out the work of a large number of artists in a comparatively short length of time, where would you think to go? Out to Fair Oaks, or Midtown? If you're an artist looking for places to show, is your time better spent in a part of town with 2-3 galleries a car drive apart, or a part where you can show your portfolio to 20-30 galleries in the same neighborhood?

That's what I'm talking about. I am not saying that the central city has a 100% monopoly of creative outlets, and never have. But there are more per square mile, and people are more aware of it. The same applies to other creative outlets. It's not that there aren't live music venues or theaters for plays in the suburbs, because there obviously are--but there are more in the central city, closer together, and that attracts more of the same.

[Phil Minor]

Originally Posted by wburg

But where artists and musicians go, yuppies follow, and today eight-year-olds have pink hair and nobody gives it a second look (at least not in California) and now Midtown is considered the city's success story. The artists and musicians are moving into Oak Park, which was way worse 20 years ago and is currently still pretty sketchy but the rent is cheap. There are still artists in the central city (especially since rents have come back down in the face of the boom) but it's harder to be a part-timer than when you could rent a studio apartment for $250 a month or crash in the back of the stucco factory where you did your artwork.

The data really isn't supporting this argument.

In the early 1990's, income growth in midtown was lagging the rest of the region. Both East Sac and Land Park were getting wealthier, but income growth in midtown was lagging.

http://130.166.124.2/atlas.ca/CASAC023.GIF

If you look at poverty rates in the 95816 zipcode, it actually was flat or getting worse going from 12.6% in poverty in 1990 to 12.7% in poverty in 2000.

MCDC Demographic Profile 3 Trend Report, 1990 - 2000 - SACRAMENTO

But midtown is and was much less poor than Oak Park. In North Oak Park (95817) the poverty rate went from 28.5% in 1990 to 31.4% in 2000. In South Oak Park went from 18.4% in 1990 to 19% in 2000.

MCDC Demographic Profile 3 Trend Report, 1990 - 2000 - SACRAMENTO

MCDC Demographic Profile 3 Trend Report, 1990 - 2000 - SACRAMENTO

In short South Oak Park has a poverty rate about 2.5 times the poverty rate in midtown in 1990. (31.4% v 12.6%).

The poverty rate in South Oak Park (31.4%) is actually higher than the poverty rate in Compton.( 28%)

MCDC Demographic Profile 3 Trend Report, 1990 - 2000 - Compton city

Whereas the poverty rate in midtown is similiar to the poverty rate in Rancho Cordova in 1990 (11.6%).

MCDC Demographic Profile 3 Trend Report, 1990 - 2000 - Rancho Cordova CDP

We don't have really good zipcode data from the census bureau for the period past 2000, but I suspect the gentrification that midtown has seen has mostly occurred in this decade. Moreover, it was probably mostly due to the fact that city redevelopment agency started subsidizing above market housing projects. I am sure foothill farms would gentrify if you had the redevelopment agencies subsidizing above market housing in that zipcode too.

But I am with Iajo here. If midtown was spontaneously gentrifying, then there would have been no need for the redevelopment agencies to subsidize above market housing. They could have spent there money in other areas that had bigger problems like Del Paso Heights, Meadowview or Oak Park.

Instead the money went to the place closer to downtown that had more clout at city hall.

[wburg]

Phil Minor: Midtown isn't fully gentrifying, and probably never will, because there are too many apartments. Midtown is, in fact, very very resistant to gentrification, and that's one of the greatest things about it. Instead, it is becoming economically integrated--which makes it look like crap when you look at "the numbers" because it isn't just rich people or just poor people but a mixture, so things like average incomes and poverty rates end up looking pretty flat.

And please keep in mind that folks like artists and musicians tend to not be very wealthy, and the first wave of migration from the Bay Area was fallout from the tech-boom bust around 2000. That's when rents started bouncing upward and land prices skyrocketed...maybe you heard about it.

What "above market" housing projects did the city redevelopment agency subsidize?

[hydro]

Scene? none, really.

[Ben Gaelic]

too funny. I was the singer in Mr T & the Screaming Vikings. that was our bass player that left the turkey in the pizza place.

thanks for remembering us. ha! good times.


There were shows in the suburbs then, and a few hangouts like Birdcage Walk--but often a venue would only last a show or two before the owner would change their mind or wouldn't want that crowd around anymore, or someone would do something stupid (like a member of "Mr. T and the Screaming Vikings" leaving a dead turkey they found in a dumpster in one of the booths at a Roseville pizza place that put on punk shows in 1992.) So yes, there were suburban punks--I know, because I was one--but many moved downtown, creating more of a concentration there than in the rest of the region.

[wburg]

Good times indeed. I'm still a big Knifethruhead fan!

[Ben Gaelic]

nice. Ashely Roachclip will be pleased to hear it!