SF is becoming a cultural wasteland for local art. Music, dance, theater, comedy, the visual arts -- all have been hugely impacted by the lack of affordable commercial space and housing. I was just at 77 Geary right before Xmas -- it was one of the more commercial spaces, but nice to have around none the less.

NYC in the 70s was reportedly dirty and dangerous, but working class "arts" thrived on the cheap rents.

New York City was on the verge of bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, and President Ford's decision to deny financial assistance to the city seemed like its death-knell. Eventually, the city was bailed out, and by a combined effort of politicians, unions, and civic leaders the city began a long slow road to recovery. When Ed Koch was elected mayor in 1977, on of the first things he did was to have the city government adopt proper accounting practices. The construction of the World Trade Center was helping to revitalize the financial district. After the destruction of so many landmarks for urban renewal projects, preservation of buildings and neighborhoods became a priority. Thus, the cast-iron facades of the buildings in SoHo were recognized as an architectural treasure, and the district became officially protected from change.

The name "SoHo" is actually a city planner's acronym for "South of Houston Street". Bounded by Houston St. on the north, Broadway on the east, Canal St. on the South, and West Broadway on the west, this run-down industrial area was poised for a renaissance. Starting in the 1960s, landlords desperate for rental income began to rent floors to artists hungry for space to do their work. The vast spaces and high ceilings were perfect for large paintings, sculpture, and performance pieces. But living in these lofts was totally illegal, violating building and fire codes. Some artists had elaborate setups that would hide their kitchen or bed in case of a fire inspector's visit. Soon there were so many artists living in lofts that city had to do something, initially certifying who was an artist and who wasn't. This system gave way to a revision of the fire codes so that artists could be considered as "light manufacturing" and their lofts could be legally occupied. Where artists go, galleries follow, and they in turn are followed by bars and restaurants to serve artists and gallery-goers. A few boutiques opened and the slow rebirth of the cast-iron district was underway.


Even before this economic rebound, however, there was a different kind of prosperity. This prosperity was the wealth of creativity and freedom flourishing amidst the dilapidated buildings and mean streets of downtown Manhattan. Art, music, theatre, dance, and cinema had a chance to blossom in this environment. It wasn't limited to SoHo, as the groundbreaking movements of the Beatniks in Greenwich Village and the Hippies of the East Village shows. But SoHo was the New Bohemia, and living the life of an artist was the reason to be there. New York City had a vital art scene for many years, with the abstract expressionists of the 1950s and the pop artists of the 1960s. Pop art continued to be strong into the 1970s, and it spawned photo-realistic painting. Artists who were doing "happenings" and "event\ now were being called performance artists. Since the barriers of what is art had been broken by these pioneers, younger artists, many of them fresh university graduates, felt free to try even newer and bolder things.


http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0402/at_intro.html