4 ms·

Unfortunately, Ferlinghetti's San Francisco is long-gone; the artists have moved on. Tech rules the City now.

LeanderK 8y ago
are there any pockets of artists left? I don't mean famous ones, there's probably someone who can pay enough to compete with tech-workers
- mykowebhn 8y ago
  What about on the East Bay? Isn't there a more lively artist community in places like Berkeley, Oakland, or El Cerrito?
  - mushufasa 8y ago
    My impression is that there was recently a "golden age" for art in the east bay which is now waning, in large part because it's not seen as an affordable destination for young artists. During my pit-stop in SF last November, I made a point of attending the famous monthly underground art variety show (Tourettes without Regrets) in the east bay, because I happened to be there that day. I was shocked to see the audience and performers were much older demographically than I remembered when I lived in the area 5 years ago; most attendees seemed to be over 30 rather than under 30. So, anecdotally, it seems to me that the artists who established there years ago may still be there, but the east bay's not attracting new artists as much as it once was.
    - ericmcer 8y ago
      I have been in Oakland for about ten years and the only young people I know who still go to the art/variety shows have been enabled by family wealth. The culture is still here because people are drawn to this area specifically for it, but it feels hollow at this point, none of it is coming from an organic place.
  - Gibbon1 8y ago
    The fallout from Ghost Ship Fire destroyed most of the communal artist spaces. What's left is carefully hidden now. But rents had doomed it anyways. Artists need spaces, time and spare money to work. And high rents consume all three.
- convolvatron 8y ago
  there are still a few hundred in SF. every fall there is an open studios (www.artspan.org)...like someone else posted about the east bay, the average age is getting up there. numbers are dwindling pretty rapidly because of health and displacement issues.
- abalone 8y ago
  Only the ones with rent control from 10+ years ago, which the techie-YIMBY types are for the most part opposed to as well to make more room for them. Fortunately there is some positive backlash brewing in local politics which is focusing on expanding tenant protections and actual affordable housing. See for example Dean Preston and the very active SF DSA chapter.[1] Another challenge: affording commercial gallery space. [1] https://www.votedean.com/ https://www.votedean.com/
  - techieyimbi 8y ago
    >YIMBY types are for the most part opposed to as well to make more room for them I'd like to say, that's an extremely uncharitable and untrue view of YIMBY positions. When you have intense housing pressure, landlords will abuse the law if they think they can get away with it. This is instead of legislating locking people into place (for example, having to commute 10 miles across sf like one of my friends does due to rent control "lock" in). I would rather rents be dropped by matching demand. It's working in Seattle, it's working in Portland. Building housing to match the influx of people moving into all cities (there are more people today than when they were built), in combination with moderate rent control and strict tenant protection is the only way out of this mess.
    - abalone 8y ago
      > It’s working in Seattle... Not for artists it’s not. “in spite of decades of indisputably strong development, Seattle’s share of cost-burdened renters has barely budged.” “...by overbuilding housing for the wealthy, Seattle has achieved some short-term improvement in affordability for the middle class, at the expense of substantial displacement and continued upward pressure on the most vulnerable. In this, it is similar to California as a whole, with the state’s 300,000-unit surplus for above-moderate income earners, in spite of Seattle’s proportionally superior housing production. As the city considers a greater emphasis on inclusionary zoning, even supporters of robust development have begun to question some of the core assumptions of supply-side models.”[1] [1] Seattle, a Cautionary Tale for Supply-Side Housing Advocates https://knock-la.com/seattle-a-cautionary-tale-for-supply-side-housing-advocates-5b4ca5ed6d02 https://knock-la.com/seattle-a-cautionary-tale-for-supply-si...

are there any pockets of artists left? I don't mean famous ones, there's probably someone who can pay enough to compete with tech-workers

mykowebhn 8y ago
What about on the East Bay? Isn't there a more lively artist community in places like Berkeley, Oakland, or El Cerrito?
- mushufasa 8y ago
  My impression is that there was recently a "golden age" for art in the east bay which is now waning, in large part because it's not seen as an affordable destination for young artists. During my pit-stop in SF last November, I made a point of attending the famous monthly underground art variety show (Tourettes without Regrets) in the east bay, because I happened to be there that day. I was shocked to see the audience and performers were much older demographically than I remembered when I lived in the area 5 years ago; most attendees seemed to be over 30 rather than under 30. So, anecdotally, it seems to me that the artists who established there years ago may still be there, but the east bay's not attracting new artists as much as it once was.
  - ericmcer 8y ago
    I have been in Oakland for about ten years and the only young people I know who still go to the art/variety shows have been enabled by family wealth. The culture is still here because people are drawn to this area specifically for it, but it feels hollow at this point, none of it is coming from an organic place.
- Gibbon1 8y ago
  The fallout from Ghost Ship Fire destroyed most of the communal artist spaces. What's left is carefully hidden now. But rents had doomed it anyways. Artists need spaces, time and spare money to work. And high rents consume all three.
convolvatron 8y ago
there are still a few hundred in SF. every fall there is an open studios (www.artspan.org)...like someone else posted about the east bay, the average age is getting up there. numbers are dwindling pretty rapidly because of health and displacement issues.
abalone 8y ago
Only the ones with rent control from 10+ years ago, which the techie-YIMBY types are for the most part opposed to as well to make more room for them. Fortunately there is some positive backlash brewing in local politics which is focusing on expanding tenant protections and actual affordable housing. See for example Dean Preston and the very active SF DSA chapter.[1] Another challenge: affording commercial gallery space. [1] https://www.votedean.com/ https://www.votedean.com/
- techieyimbi 8y ago
  >YIMBY types are for the most part opposed to as well to make more room for them I'd like to say, that's an extremely uncharitable and untrue view of YIMBY positions. When you have intense housing pressure, landlords will abuse the law if they think they can get away with it. This is instead of legislating locking people into place (for example, having to commute 10 miles across sf like one of my friends does due to rent control "lock" in). I would rather rents be dropped by matching demand. It's working in Seattle, it's working in Portland. Building housing to match the influx of people moving into all cities (there are more people today than when they were built), in combination with moderate rent control and strict tenant protection is the only way out of this mess.
  - abalone 8y ago
    > It’s working in Seattle... Not for artists it’s not. “in spite of decades of indisputably strong development, Seattle’s share of cost-burdened renters has barely budged.” “...by overbuilding housing for the wealthy, Seattle has achieved some short-term improvement in affordability for the middle class, at the expense of substantial displacement and continued upward pressure on the most vulnerable. In this, it is similar to California as a whole, with the state’s 300,000-unit surplus for above-moderate income earners, in spite of Seattle’s proportionally superior housing production. As the city considers a greater emphasis on inclusionary zoning, even supporters of robust development have begun to question some of the core assumptions of supply-side models.”[1] [1] Seattle, a Cautionary Tale for Supply-Side Housing Advocates https://knock-la.com/seattle-a-cautionary-tale-for-supply-side-housing-advocates-5b4ca5ed6d02 https://knock-la.com/seattle-a-cautionary-tale-for-supply-si...