Benefitting Cities

http://www.citylab.com/work.2015.how-the-arts-add-to-city-economies/4211191

Point of pointe shoes
put.org

Hello and Happy New Year Everyone:

Yours truly hopes you all had a lovely and safe New Years.  Nothing but best wishes for all of you

We start off 2016 with a look at how the arts benefit urban economies.  Arts institutions, such as dance companies, museums and galleries not only bring people to the cites can spur innovation.  Richard Florida, in his recent article for CityLab "How the Arts Add to Urban Economies," clearly explained this connection.  Despite those who say that arts institutions only benefit the wealthier cities, a new study published in Economic Development Quarterly, The Association Between Professional Performing Arts and Knowledge Class Growth, suggests that "arts do in fact add to urban economies overall." (edu.sagepub.com).  To understand how this works, the study authors: Arthur C. Nelson, Casey J. Dawkins, Joanna P. Ganning, Katherine G. Kitterell, and Reid Ewing, used a unique set of information focused on professional performing arts organizations with annual budget of more than $2 million.

American Balalaika Orchestra
aborchestra.org

The study uses the data to analyze the change in knowledge-class workers (similar to the creative class) between 2000 and 2010 in about 350 American metropolitan regions.  Mr. Florida reports,

Its statistical analysis controls for a wide variety of other factors that might be thought to affect the growth in knowledge or creative class employment, including overall employment change, population, density, housing values, the share of college grads, race, the share of the population that is foreign-born, and natural amenities like climate and terrain...

The Broad Museum
Los Angeles, California
lattices.com

The study produced substantial evidence to suggest that performing arts organization greatly contribute to the increase of knowledge class workers and to urban economies.  The statistic support the findings: cities with one type of arts and cultural institution "...saw a 1.1 percent increase in knowledge-class employment" during the ten year study period.  Cities with two kinds of these institutions experienced a "1.5 percent increase;" those with three varieties of arts and cultural institutions had a "2.2 percent increase."  Study observes that while these may seem like modest growth, it adds up over time.  During the study period, "...the 118 metros with at least one performing arts organization generated a whopping $60 billion in annual income and more than half a million additional knowledge-class jobs created over that time frame."

Knowledge Class Jobs Attracted (thousands)
Martin Prosperity Institute
citylab.com

Knowledge Class Income Attracted (millions)
Martin Prosperity Institute
citylab.com

 Isabelle Ritchie, a colleague of Mr. Florida at the Martin Prosperity Institute, generated a pair of maps demonstrating "...the change in knowledge-class jobs and income for all 118 metros with one or more performing arts organizations."  The maps on the left show that metropolitan areas in California, the East Coast, and parts of the Midwest had some th greatest gains in knowledge-class workers and income.

If we look at the 28 metropolitan areas with three or more arts and cultural institutions, listed in the table below left.  (edu.sagepub.com)   What we find is that the New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania Tri-State area attracted the largest share of knowledge-class employment (64,100) and income ($5.7 billion).  The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area came in second "...with 41,700 new knowledge-class jobs and over $3 billion in income."  Chicago and Washington D.C. produced in excess of"... $2 billion in knowledge-class income, while cities like Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, and San Francisco each generated one $1billion."  The number for San Francisco is a little surprising given its excellent variety of arts and cultural institutions.

Smaller metropolitans, with one or two arts and cultural institutions, also showed measurable gains: "Austin, Nashville, Cincinnati, Providence, San Antonio, and Sacramento each generated more that $200 million in

Incremental Jobs and Income Linked to the Presence of
Three Types of Major Performing Arts Organizations
(edu.sagepub.com)
newsflow24.com

knowledge-class income from 2000-2010."  The study also examined the economic impact of arts and cultural institutions on three medium-sized metropolitans:
San Antonio, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

The San Antonio Symphony has become a vital economic asset.  Richard Florida writes, "Of the 245,000 knowledge-class jobs that San Antonio gained between 200 and 2010, around 2,700 of them can largely be attributed to the symphony.  The study also finds that the symphony helped to generate $222 million in annual employment income during this time, as well as nearly a third of a billion in annual economic impart.

Miki Thunder of the Oklahoma City Ballet
okcballet.com

Both the Oklahoma City Symphony and Ballet each added about 2,500 of the region's 165,000 knowledge-class jobs.  The study estimated that each institution helped stimulate around $150 million in yearly employment income and $225 million in annual economic impact.  To further underscore the point, Mr. Florida writes, "And the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ballet West in Salt Lake City together  added around 3,600 knowledge-class jobs (out of 170,000) between 2000 and 2010."  The study also estimated that the annual employment income from these smaller arts and cultural markets was about $230 million, "...while the annual economic impact was the same in San Antonio-about a third of a billion dollars."

What The Association Between Professional Performing Arts and Knowledge Class Growth authors: Arthur C. Nelson, Casey J. Dawkins, Joanna P. Ganning, Katherine G. Kitterell, and Reid Ewing have demonstrated is while these statistics may not be the direct result of arts and cultural institutions, they are vehicles for "broader creative and cultural climate of a city or metro area." It does demonstrate that the tangible link between arts, talent, and economic growth is complex and additional research will be required to analyze the long term affect.  Be that as it may, The Association Between Professional Performing Arts and Knowledge Class Growth does provide good clear evidence that arts and cultural institutions really do enhance the ability of all metropolitan areas, regardless of size, to attract talent and increase their economies.