Providing Cheap Places to Live for Artists

Local civic organizers and supporters of the arts are working with a national nonprofit organization called Artspace to foster the arts scene in El Paso.

So what's Artspace? - it's a concept for El Paso, and also a concept that has worked in 2 dozen places around the U.S - the idea of affordable live/work space for artists.

Why is affordable Housing for Artists Important?

“We want to use the arts as an economic development tool,” Cummings says, “but we’re not treating the artists as dispensable.” The artists get the great, cheap places to live and work. The surrounding neighborhood becomes a trendy place with new shops, bars and restaurants that draw tourists and other residents. It’s a win-win … however, Cummings stresses this is a make-it-or-break-it opportunity for El Paso.

You can check out the rest of the discussion  over at

'What's Up'

Cheap Places to live near Westminster

For my U.K. readers I picked this up off the net. It seems Sir Christopher Kelly has some recommendations as MPs’complain over changes.

Sir Kelly thinks it's a "Bad day for homeowners" as an MP doesn't need to move into rental accommodation until 2015. Any capital gains on a home sold today til 2015 need to be paid back. Suposedly there is going to be some kind of agency to over see rent payments that MPs make on 2nd homes. But this could be more expensive than making a mortgage payment for some. MPs who rent now end up paying less than MPs who own a mortgage. Of course there are still plenty of cheap places to live near Westminster or of course they could always move to Sheffield! (As I noted in a previous post it's one of the cheapest places to live in England)