The music scene in Cambridge, Mass., once known as the "Pit"a place where "skaters, freaks, radicals, lefties, boomboxersabove all, artists" could find a home.
But as the cost of living goes up, the artists who once defined the city can no longer afford to create there, and the once-thriving arts scene is now being threatened by gentrification, the Boston Globe reports.
According to the Atlantic, the median rent in Cambridge is $3,500, $1,500 above the national median.
Since 2011, there have been a number of arts spaces closed or relocated altogether, including the last major music and arts studio space, EMF Studios.
And many of the once-thriving arts spaces are now home to free-agent buskers, Free Little Libraries, and record stores, all of which are struggling to survive thanks in part to the rising cost of rent.
The Cambridge City Council voted last week to try to preserve the city's once-thriving arts scene by offering tax incentives to developers who build affordable housing.
But the effort hasn't been enough to save the once-thriving arts scene, the Globe reports.
According to the Atlantic, the council voted against offering tax incentives to developers who build affordable housing Read the Entire Article
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When Hannah Davis traveled to China to teach English, she noticed how Chinese workers and farmers were often sporting olive green army-style shoes. Those shoes served as her inspiration to create her own social enterprise, Bangs Shoes.