Durham, North Carolina is a small city whose gritty history (that we produced 25% of the world's cigarettes in the 1930's is but one highlight of our fabled past) is currently being burnished to a nice bronze patina by a wide variety of folks belonging to the creative class. Downtown studio space is incredibly cheap by big city standards and although many restaurants, music clubs, breweries and the like have opened in the past decade there is still plenty of empty space. One thing to be said about smaller cities such as Durham - you are free to do as you please. I have been here 20 years, and find that there is more peer support than peer pressure. There is no "scene" to speak of, and in a very real way, if someone tried to impose one it would be shouted down. Plenty of artists, plenty of space, plenty of freedom.
I have always enjoyed visiting San Francisco and New York, and in the 70's when I got started in film I had to do so in order to see experimental work. But no way could I afford to live in those cities now, much less have a studio, as I can rather easily afford here in Bull City.
- Tom
From: frameworks-bounces_at_jonasmekasfilms.com [mailto:frameworks-bounces_at_jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of matt's frameworks address
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 2:50 PM
To: Experimental Film Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Moving to San Francisco
"This is just speculation on my part, but it's been widely reported that the suburbs are now increasingly the places where lower income folks can afford to live and not in the urban core: thus recent immigrants, people arriving from other regions of the US, the working class, and minorities of various kinds are entering the collar communities. The characteristic "mix" of art bohemia scenes might now be developing in the burbs? Can anyone report evidence of this in the US? Elsewhere?"
I think the burbs of the big cities in the US are definitely drawing immigrants and working class folks, but I think the young artists of today are more likely to move to cities that are emerging as new 'bohemian scenes' than settle for the burbs. Portland is certainly a perfect example of that, and I think Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh fit that bill as well. I don't know how artists make it in cities like New York or San Francisco- I suppose people have alternate forms of income, as the cost of living in those places is insane.
-matt
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Received on Wed Aug 31 2011 - 13:08:01 CDT
