Culture Builds Towns
Why culture matters and why, (a legitimate question) do investors not understand this?
I sit in a charming small town cafe in the middle of the country in Oklahoma. If I am a fly on the wall, I’ve been a fly for a couple years now. Sitting quietly in my corner, watching the slow development of condominiums being built. I’ve watched businesses come and go within that short stint of time. Next door was once a unique barbecue place, replaced by a franchise I’ve never heard of and one I’ve never seen anyone enter, (update literally two weeks later- they closed and gutted the place). The exciting news within the year was that a McDonald’s, an Arby’s, a Scooter’s, and a Chick Fil A would move in. The calvary has arrived. The copy and paste has come in to inject familiar brands into a budding town. This is good news if the same four a mere mile away was too far of a drive. I understand the economics of it all. Money first and then those artsy needy types can move in. Unfortunately for the economics department, this is all backwards. Unfortunately for the citizens, they get the stale cafeteria settings of a rest stop they never asked for. When they sell their homes, the description can say, “Just down the street from three McDonald’s! Your quaint oasis awaits you.” The truth is, that culture is the foundation of any town or city. Ignore this at your own peril.
People move for culture. A few years ago when I was pondering moving my family across the country from Seattle to Tulsa, there was a fight for Tesla headquarters to move. The battle between Tulsa and Austin was on. Ultimately, Austin wrestled away the chance for Tulsa and Tesla, (such an unfortunate missed opportunity) to combine names and welcome a booming economic boost. Someone smarter than I could break down the numbers, tax breaks, and technological footprint. Perhaps Tulsa was not yet prepared with the proper infrastructure but I’d ignore all of that for a simple truth. Does a company like Tesla want to come in and build out a place for its engineers from all over the world to enjoy? Or do they instead desire to plug and play? The choice between Austin and Tulsa would come to the fact that Austin had the culture. They had the cultural infrastructure. They had the bars, the comedy, the culinary delights, and the music scene. They had the cafes and the buzz. You can convince any business person why it would make sense to move to a cheaper city. It is the literally the reason I had moved but I am an artist… I have done this my whole life. I have seen this my whole life. Artists make places hip and then here come those with money to simply inject itself and out price the ones who had made it expensive. They did not see the potential. They did not look at the old brick warehouses and think, “This could be an entire city of light.” At least, they were not the first to do so. There was foundation laid. No, they saw the city of light. They did not see what it could be. It had been built for them to come in and conquer- and very well. That’s good as far as I’m concerned. They did not look at Tulsa and see the potential. They saw Austin and saw a city ready to be lived in. You can convince the higher brass to save more money. You wouldn’t be able to convince the engineers that in 20 years time, this will be an incredible place to live.
For the past few years, I have pitched my start up centered around the need for artists to be found. My thesis is simple. Artists are the ones who develop culture. Culture is the infrastructure for building. People do not brag about how many franchises they have. To reuse the illustration in the opening paragraph, they do not post this within their description when selling their home. They do not write this in their city tourism section. “Come to our town to see 800 of your favorite well known chains!” Their pitch is not in what you can find anywhere else. Their pitch is what sets them apart. Combining arts with tech would seem then like a no brainer especially when I had hustled to acquire over 500 local users. The interest was proven. The concept built out at my own cost. Yet it never made sense to investors because they do not see the dollar signs. They instead invest in concepts that need resources to be made into a viable product. “Who cares about artists? Artists are not businessmen. They are the last piece of the puzzle. They are for when the non profits move in and give them a little stage in the corner. They are relegated towards government grants. Let the people’s taxes fund those silly artsy fartsy people who remain broke. Culture is the interior design. It’s paint on the walls and a few light fixtures.” Wrong. So wrong it hurts.
The proof is not in the theory of what will bring in money. The proof is in what the citizens say about their city. It is in the Zillow descriptions and the tourism site images. The investors are constantly trying to bring talent into their cities by pitching the culture of their city and then reject the culture makers. They want to see a return and don’t think a tech platform that allows local artists access to visibility will give them that. Then their pitch is that their city is worthy of being moved to because of its unique culture. Perhaps it’s time we redefine the value structure between those who use the arts for their pitch whilst shoving away its importance as secondary. Culture is the primary. Artists transform the culture of its people into a beautiful interaction. If we are the primary part of the pitch, then yes… we are the primary part of the equation.