Mountain View in Motion

What is an arts & cultural district?

Why in Mountain View?

How long will it take?

Who is involved?

What can I do?

Master Plan
Overview Booklet
General Brochure

(510 kb)

	Mountain View in the Sun: A festival of Art and Culture 7/12/05
	ADN: Bright New View 7/27/03
	Press: Don't Worry, Be Arty 8/7/03

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More than ninety cities in the United States have planned or implemented a cultural district – positioning the arts at the center of urban revitalization efforts. A cultural district is a well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area of a city in which a high concentration of cultural facilities serves as the anchor of attraction. Cultural districts inhabit communities as small as Riverhead, New York (population 8,814) and as large as New York City (7.3 million). Cultural districts boost urban revitalization in many ways:

Beautify and animate cities
Provide employment
Attract residents and tourists to the city
Complement adjacent businesses
Enhance property values
Expand the tax base
Contribute to a creative, innovative environment

Art Park created by artist Margret Hugi-Lewis, neighborhood residents and children.

No two cultural districts are exactly alike; each reflects its city’s unique environment, history of land use, urban growth and cultural development.

The impact of cultural districts is measurable: the arts attract residents and tourists who also support adjacent businesses such as restaurants, lodging, retail and parking. The presence of the arts also enhances property values, the profitability of surrounding businesses and the region’s tax base.

ARTS & CULTURAL DISTRICTS

NATIONAL ECONOMIC
IMPACT OF THE ARTS

$134 billion in total economic activity
$53.2 billion by nonprofit arts organizations
$80.8 billion spending by arts audiences
4.9 million full-time equivalent jobs
$89.4 billion resident household income generated
$6.6 billion local government revenue generated
$7.3 billion state government revenue generated

ALASKA ECONOMIC
IMPACT OF THE ARTS

$41 million in total economic activity
$20.8 million by nonprofit arts organizations
$22.6 million spending by arts audiences
1,119 full-time equivalent jobs
$27 million resident household income generated
$1.6 million local government revenue generated
$2.4 million state government revenue generated

*Source: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts Organizations and Their Audiences by Americans for the Arts, 2002

PITTSBURGH CULTURAL DISTRICT

The number of events in the Pittsburgh Cultural District increased from 250 in 1986 to nearly 600 in 1994, with audiences doubling to more than one million annually. In its first decade of operation, the district generated $33 million in public investment and $63 million in private and philanthropic funds, which in turn triggered $115 million in commercial activity. Tax revenues in the district from real estate and performances increased from $7.9 million in 1986 to $19.1 million in1994.

TUSCON ARTS DISTRICT

Three years after establishing the Tucson Arts District, 26 of the 112 businesses in the arts district were new, 54% had increased their sales volume, and 53% made renovations, with an average cost of $105,000 each. Within four years, the retail vacancy rate declined by 50% and city sales tax revenues in the arts district increased 11.7%, compared with a citywide increase of 7.4%.