Now here is a great idea:
Artists and architects are buying foreclosed homes in Detroit for as little as $100. In St. Louis, artists are moving into vacant retail spaces in a shopping mall, turning stores that stood empty for more than a year into studios and event spaces for rents of $100 a month. Artspace Projects Inc., a national nonprofit development corporation, plans to create 35 live/work spaces for artists on vacant property in Hamilton, Ohio, after converting an empty car factory and an adjacent lot in Buffalo, N.Y., into 60 artists’ lofts last year.
The article goes on to say a lot about Cleveland in this regard. Yes, Cleveland. I’m very pleased to read about young artists from New York City buying their own homes in Cleveland for less than 10 grand apiece and making something happen for themselves. It’s inspiring, that’s what it is.
This kind of thinking has always been behind my periodic fascination with the small towns of rural America, in particular the availability of long-abandoned commercial spaces in the downtown areas. There’s just something about all that unused brick-and-mortar that excites me, even more so than the empty farmhouses that dot the plains. This country is full of perfectly serviceable homes and storefronts standing vacant. If there were only more mobility possible — say with an investment in national health care as a right (not tied to a particular job), a new homestead act, free public broadband, etc. — people would find new places to live, and we could open up so much opportunity. There’s so much STUFF in this country, you’d think we could find a better way to use it.
I’m not concerned so much with “stuff” now, though. It’s rather more in the opposite direction, quality vs. quantity: will I wake up in the morning, can I still hear the birds sing, and will the rest of my life be filled with the peace of true understanding, and so on? Fate and “up to me” issues, mostly.
But if you’re young, dear God, don’t try to live the way your parents did. You don’t need three bedrooms, although a roof is nice. Get the hell outa Dodge and stir things up. Leave! Adapt! Believe in yourself! Have fun! The bottom line is, do I have shelter and enough to eat. Everything else is optional. EVERYTHING! There are no rules!!! Just keep it simple: get that first bit down, no matter how, and you can get creative with the rest.
I’m so tired of “can’t.” I know our troubles are more learned than real.
Possibly related posts:
- Dead Landlord Jokes
- Things I Could Worry About (Dead Birds Edition) [Revised]
- Dead Cars, New Vibe, Paranoia [revised]
- Day of the Dead
- My Landlord Isn't Dead
