CITIES BENEFIT FROM USING
THE ARTS AS AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOL
The area still has plenty of rescue missions and social service agencies, but they share the former mean streets with chic restaurants, hip bars and galleries that make up one of the most popular monthly art walks in the nation.
"Believing in the power of the arts to transform, I helped found Downtown LA's Gallery Row, Art Walk, Neighborhood Council and Downtown Fashion Week," Westwater said, noting that a half dozen new loft residential spaces have also opened in the once abandoned and lawless historic core. "I also did most of the leasing of the art galleries and then the fashion stores in the area, pro bono. The arts community took the worst part of the Downtown Heroin District and turned it into the creative heart of Downtown. "
Wright frequently writes about Smart Growth and sustainable communities. He recently participated in the prestigious Forum on Land and the Built Environment: The Reinvented City sponsored by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Contact him at: stevewright64@yahoo.com
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