Artist Relocation Programs

Here is a site with resources, links, videos, and more on Artist Reloction Programs throughout the United States: http://www.squidoo.com/artistsrelocation

I spent quite a bit of time last night going over the site and links. A number of things come to mind.

First, is climate. I notice that almost all of these cities are outside of the snowbelt. I wonder if that will be a factor?

Second, the video on Paducah (the mother of all ARPs) does not get specific on costs, but does state that they've spent "tens of millions" of dollars on their program in the past seven years. They also claim to get a return of $14 for every $1 spent, but again, provide no concrete facts or figures. Paducah has approximately 1/3 the population of Racine. Can we expect to pay three times as much? And get three times the retrun?

Third, and most troubling to me, is where are the African-Americans in all of this? I saw not one black face nor read one reference to people of color in any of the above materials. Racine's black population is sizable, much of it indigent, and is located in the areas most in need of revitalization. Do they have any role in Racine's Artist Relocation Program? Or do they just conveniently vaporize when the artists come to town?