CITIES BENEFIT FROM USING
THE ARTS AS AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOL
Urban-focused Realtor Carson Brooks, owner of EXIT Realty Metro in Minneapolis, links the arts with sustainable economic recovery and the future of our cities.
"I made a huge move out of a large suburban real estate office where I was managing broker into a small start-up in the city. We opened our office next door to a nationally known contemporary art museum and public sculpture garden," Brooks said.
"A big part of my initiative in doing this was about the major shift our economy is forcing on all of us. Urban sprawl was a part of our nation expanding beyond its means. The infrastructure, in most cases remains in our cities, and needs energy and rejuvenation."
Brooks said the rejuvenation at the core of many of our nation's large cities begins with arts and culture.
"It is an amazing concept when a tired quasi- industrial area of a city can germinate an artist-friendly neighborhood. It can begin with affordable studio space in old warehouse buildings and grow with coffee shops and retail in the same locations where pre-WW II grocers and corner bars once thrived," he explained.
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