NYC Nailing It With Affordable Artist Accommodation

New York City’s starving artists have found their new saviour in Mayor Bill de Blasio. In a bid to maintain the city’s valuable creative culture, Mayor de Blasio has announced a plan to build thousands of affordable housing units specifically for low-income artists and musicians.

Working artists earning less than $47,000 will be eligible to apply for brand new, low-cost accommodation. According to the plan, 150 units will be built each year for 10 years, making a total of 1,500 new apartments, as well as 500 designated working space units.

Mayor de Blasio says the plan is about giving something back to the artists and performers who first made the city great. “We know that New York is the city it is today in part because of the contributions from generations of artistic visionaries who at one point struggled to make ends meet,” de Blasio said.

Illinois, California and Colorado are amongst the US states quickly catching on to the benefits of Artist-In-Residence programs – happy artists produce better art, and better art makes for a happier society.

Although Australia is yet to see a similar political promise, performance venues like The Foundry in Brisbane are now providing a temporary accommodation space for performers. However, as Aussies everywhere struggle to deal with the ever-rising cost of living, creating affordable  permanent living arrangements for artists isn’t looking like a priority.