How art may revitalize the city of Chester
The artist Henri Matisse once said, “Creativity takes courage.” That observation came to mind after I toured the cultural corridor and art district brewing in downtown Chester. The leaders behind the effort to revitalize Chester by attracting artists and other creatives are also demonstrative of innovative thinking and leadership. I applaud their hopes for Chester. Grassroots efforts such as this can help change the trajectory of Chester.
I am the president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The bank has long been a partner with local communities seeking to revitalize their economies. The Community Development and Regional Outreach department at the Philadelphia Fed brings together development experts, researchers, and lenders to support these efforts. The bank’s Economic Growth & Mobility Project seeks ways to create equal access to economic mobility and strengthen local economies.
Chester has been struggling for a long time. In 2016, 36.9 percent of the city’s residents lived in poverty, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. At the end of 2017, the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent. What is new are the first steps being taken by city stakeholders is to create a cultural corridor in downtown Chester in order to revitalize a portion of the downtown and create a shift in the local economy from one built on industry to one able to grow and strengthen thanks to the creative sector. The goal is to create a safe, livable, and vibrant neighborhood for both artists and other residents alike.
On April 5, I and other Philadelphia Fed officials toured the development efforts in Chester. We met with officials of Widener University, which has become an anchor institution for Chester. Walking along the 500 block of the Avenue of the States, we visited small businesses and artist studios. We met with Devon Walls, a local entrepreneur and artist who owns and operates MJ Freed Theatre and Brothers Restaurant and Juice Bar. Devon envisions a district with studios, artist housing, a theatre, and community arts programs. He compared the revitalization in Chester to the one that happened in Philly’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. “Artists make stuff safe,” he said. “But it takes people in power to give artists a chance.”
Is Devon’s hope for a new Chester just a pipe dream? Research done by Federal Reserve economists and others say no. For too long, the mention of economic activity conjured up visions of smokestacks and assembly lines, but the U.S. economy now is less a producer of goods and more a creator of ideas and knowledge. Art is clearly an ideas-andknowledge sector.
A city’s reinvention with the help of the creative sector depends upon what economists call “agglomeration.” That is, economic opportunities exist when a critical mass of likeminded workers live and work in one geographic space. In northern California, for instance, computer programmers and tech experts agglomerated to create Silicon Valley.
Proximity allows for the easy exchange of ideas and inspirations. The concentration of talent brings benefits to these knowledge workers. A study conducted by a New York Fed researcher and another economist showed that when the population of artists doubles in an area, the average earnings per worker increased by seven percent. That income gain can then be spent to support local businesses, shops, and restaurants.
A community does not have to be large, like New York or Los Angeles, to tap into the arts’ economic potential. The tiny town of Colquitt, Ga., has reinvented its economy by performing a play based on local residents’ true stories. A community development colleague at the St. Louis Fed reported that Colquitt, with a population of just 1,600, attracts 55,000 visitors annually bringing “millions of dollars into a community that was dying.”
My visit to Chester was part of the Philadelphia Fed’s support to communities that are renewing themselves. Indeed, our Community Development department hosts a biennial conference centered on ideas and pathways to reinvent economies. Other events and research focus on strategies that support community development and housing affordability – challenges also faced in Chester.
It has been said that art can change minds. The efforts happening in Chester show it can also change communities.