I’ve been serving on the City of Seattle’s Cultural Overlay District Advisory Committee (CODAC) for the past year and I’m excited about what we’ve accomplished so far. In all I’ve encountered through researching cultural policy, attending conferences, talking with peers – the policy development Seattle is working on right now with the CODAC is at the cutting edge nationally. To push this forward, hone in on the true possibilities, and seize on the alignment we have now among public officials, neighborhood stakeholders, organizations and arts advocates … it will take a village. I’ll be writing more about the CODAC and participating in community discussions in the coming months so wanted to start by sharing some background.
Climate: As we face economic development challenges, now more than ever, public support for culture is expanding to reflect the deep interdependence of arts & entertainment (from professional to amateur), local business, built environment and everyday neighborhood culture. In his February 16 article, Is this any time to increase arts funding?, David Brewster reflects on this current climate:
In his 2008 book, How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights, [Obama adviser and former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, Bill Ivey] argues for shifting funding from major institutions to the “expressive life” of communities and the more indigenous American cultural forms. This is dramatic stuff, for it would mean less emphasis on fine-arts institutions such as museums and more on getting money to where culture actually happens. Here’s how Andras Szanto puts it in a fascinating article in The Art Newspaper:
“Ivey is hardly alone in pushing beyond traditional notions of high culture. He represents a new school of arts-policy thinking that places value on hitherto underappreciated, amateur, community-based, digitally-mediated, often commercial arts—the kind of creative pursuits, in short, which most Americans enjoy. This broadening of perspective would constitute the biggest shift in policy since the implementation of large-scale cultural support in the post-war era.”
While I don’t think community arts and major institutions should be placed at odds (in fact they feed each other), CODAC has been driven by this same tide of interest in finding new ways to support America’s many cultures on their own terms. Through CODAC, Seattle is looking for ways to support physical space for the fluid, everyday, community-based arts that have driven the character of neighborhoods like Central Area, Georgetown and Capitol Hill.
What: CODAC is an advisory committee created by Seattle City Council with the lead sponsorship of Councilmembers Nick Licata and Sally Clark. Council created CODAC in response to a series of events establishing growing consensus that new land use planning and policy tools can help neighborhoods successfully retain and develop beloved local cultural amenities. (Watch a film of the culminating rally / special meeting of City Council and read the Seattle Times article leading for it.)
Why: Cultural Overlay Districts can help the city achieve its economic development, social services, & smart growth goals. We all value places of assembly. Places to hang out, express, organize and define ourselves. Increasingly, business owners, developers, property/land owners recognize the value of these places while Cities recognize their multiple public benefits. At the same time, these places are coming under considerable pressure related to rising property values.
Culturally relevant community spaces are a critical ingredient in successful urban density. Cultural infrastructure, affordable housing, open space and social services, are all key strategies that help mitigate the impacts of gentrification on existing residents in our urban neighborhoods. Through projects like Living Cities, an urban development funding partnership established by 19 of the world’s largest foundations, and the “Sustainable Communities Initiative,” a joint project of the federal HUD and DOT that has set a goal of seeing “every major metropolitan area in the country conduct integrated housing, transportation, and land use planning and investment in the next four years,” we are seeing that districts are increasingly recognized as a particularly effective scale for coordinated community infrastructure development and revitalization.
The CODAC’s district-based regulatory, zoning and financing recommendations can be a model for local governments throughout our region who are increasingly looking to cultural spaces to serve as critical anchors in their own sustainable economic development and land use planning. CODAC proposes innovations that systemically account for the value the creative industries drive in neighborhoods, giving cultural infrastructure advocates an empowered seat at the table of regional planning and development.
Outcome: There are many ways to support local culture at a policy level that should continue to be pursued. CODAC’s mandate is specifically to look at creating a program available to any neighborhood during the neighborhood planning process. The program would allow establishing a district in your neighborhood to incentivize and concentrate attractive amenities of the neighborhood’s choosing. On Capitol Hill, for example, it could mean placing an arts & entertainment overlay district on Broadway to lead revitalization and meet the community’s demands for maintaining Capitol Hill’s legacy as an accessible place for fringe arts & entertainment.
The CODAC’s proposal includes the formation of cultural districts, the expansion of incentive zoning to encompass cultural uses, and the creation of a city position to facilitate cultural development. Seattle is a national leader in this work.
Currently: CODAC is charged with making recommendations to the City in April 2009 that will be the basis of legislation.
Challenges & Opportunities: What is the niche / value-added of the CODAC project to other existing policies and organizing? How will this fit with the neighborhood planning process? There’s so much action and planning surrounding light rail station areas…
How can we grow the capacity to ensure these new CODAC tools can be put to use right away?
What challenges and opportunities do you see?
