The rent is too damn high. Especially for our creatives. And creativity is big business here. Asheville's non-profit arts + culture sector is an estimated $68 million industry in Buncombe County + supports 2,233 full-time jobs.

What's the cost of creativity?

Median household income: $43,000/year
Median cost of rent in 2015: $866 /mo.
Renters over buyers: over 52%
Median home price: up 88% from 2000 to 2015

Living in Asheville is more expensive than the national average, but the average hourly wage for the U.S. is $22.39 when adjusted for cost of living, as opposed to just over $20 for Asheville. In fact, we come in higher than Knoxville, Durham, and Savannah.

SoHo effect is essentially artist-led gentrification, many times in former manufacturing districts. (Bookmark this feature all about the SoHo Effect).

Now, the city is trying to do more to keep its creative soul + help the artists of our community. 👏 A.k.a., avoiding the SoHo effect. 💯

Nurturing Artists
Last month, the city launched Keep AVL Creative, aimed at “keeping space for [artists] in Asheville,” with the non-profit organization Artspace (which partners with cities to create affordable live-work space for artists).

Last March, Artspace gathered data from a focus group of artists to study issues of affordability and work space in the city. Here's what they found...

Changes in Asheville’s growth + the effects of that growth have increasingly pushed artists, who chose the city for its initially lower cost of living, out of town.
Work space + housing is being lost to the short-term rental market, as well as to rising rents.

Around a third of artists in the focus group made the majority of their income from their art.

The initial study focused on the River Arts District because, as stated in the finding, “The popularity of Asheville as an arts destination, has driven the RAD in particular, to grow and change over time.”

And the Survey Says…

Asheville would benefit from a mixed-use space where artists could live and work.

This space would best serve artists’ needs if:

Rent were at or below $750 a month (for live/work space)
Rent were at $450 or below for private studio space
Non-residential space is at $1.00 or less per square foot
Other housing and workspace options, including micro-housing with access to shared creative space + condos, were researched and offered
Live/work space were available to area residents qualifying at80-120% of area median income

➡️ Now, Artspace has entered phase two of its study here, and they’re asking for your participation.

Through March 26, creatives can take their (anonymous) survey at keepavlcreative.com. The goal? To get even more creative input around this idea.

Bonus: Completion of the survey makes you eligible to win $250 in creative supplies from an Asheville retailer of your choice. Because your time is valuable, right? 👏

While Artspace created the survey with the city, AVL will own the data, so even if Artspace doesn’t come on board, other organizations will be able to use the information to facilitate projects that would create live/work spaces for artists here. The survey, which takes about 15 minutes, asks for information like income, rent, and your wish list for studio space.

Bonus: Completion of the survey makes you eligible to win $250 in creative supplies from an Asheville retailer of your choice. Because your time is valuable, right? 👏

Shout out to the Minneapolis-based non-profit Artspace, which is working with the Center for Craft, the Chamber, members of City Council, and other organizations in Asheville

Two surveys are up now on the site, and you might be eligible for both.

The first is for individuals who identify as creatives
The second is for people associated with creative businesses and organizations.

And here’s the deal: You don’t need to be making money from your art.

You just need to identify yourself as a creative (in pretty much any way). And you don’t need to live in the city limits: The survey also asks about where you live now, and whether you have ever lived in Asheville.

Behind the project

Artspace Consulting is a non-profit real estate developer. They’ve worked in cities like Reno, NV, Memphis, TN, and New York City to build affordable live/work space for artists. In Asheville, they’ve teamed up with the Chamber, Council, the Center for Craft, UNCA, + several other organizations for the project.

Space is the place

The City and ArtSpace have scouted potential locations for an envisioned space, and the site of the former the Ice House (at 91 Riverside Dr. in the River Arts District) is one option. City Council voted to have it torn down in 2013. Another potential area for the development is a 5.6-acre area on Bartlett St., at the south end of the RAD.

The construction would include around 80 units of affordable housing.

Want to read the full report? Click here.