Why We Need Multiple Homes: Are There Any (Starving) Artists in Dallas?

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Remember that post about it being too darn expensive for starving artists to live in NYC, so they are moving to Berlin and, well we’d hope, here to Dallas because our cost of living is allegedly so much cheaper? Well my dear (and quite brilliant) friend, Samantha Shaddock, who has a new (and fabulous) blog called Dallas Woman, says uh uh,  living in NYC is really not all that expensive and worth what you get:

A couple of weeks ago I spoke to a woman who, like me, moved to Dallas from New York this summer. She asserts that it’s actually cheaper in many ways to live in New York than it is to live here. She had a large corner unit in Harlem that cost a modest $1,000 (on par with “artist” lofts in Deep Ellum and less than what my husband and I pay for our duplex, which is nowhere near the train station), and because she had no car, she had no car payments, auto insurance, tags, inspection, gas, etc. draining her bank account. Not only that, but the sales tax in Dallas is almost as rude a surprise as the city and state taxes in New York. You can certainly find cheap rent in Dallas, but you inevitably sacrifice hipness or convenience (or both) in doing so. My feeling is that most artists aren’t willing to make the former sacrifice, but maybe I’m mistaken.”

I think she’s right. And that is one of many, many reasons why I have created this blog. First of all, you can never, ever compare life in NYC to Dallas. Every time I come home from NYC I (a) wish I would have stayed there (b) feel intellectually and artistically more energized and (c) have about a hundred new ideas about everything. Case in point: the woman I saw walking around Central Park with a boa constrictor wrapped around her neck.

But then, I am also (a) tired — NYC is draining, (b) filthy and check for bedbugs (c) a bit claustrophobic. Sometimes you just have to have those wide, open spaces to breathe. That is why I think the perfect life is to have BOTH — a pied a terre in NYC and a home — ranchette, duplex, whatever — here in Dallas.

Even better: split ownership and costs of the pied with other people, a private shared ownership arrangement drawn up by an attorney. After all, if you work you are not going to be there all the time. Another option is a fractional ownership residence such as The Phillips Club, where I have stayed and would seriously consider buying — studios start at $175,000 and the location near Lincoln Center/Time Warner could not be more perfect. If you own something in NYC, you are going to go there and saturate yourself in the culture. (Force me!) Then you’ll come back to Dallas and work and breathe.

As for the artists, I digress. Surely they cannot yet afford dual home ownership, much as my son with his little $1500 a month studio on the Upper East Side could not — though he wants me to find him a home in Dallas to lease out as an investment. So if you are young and artistic, why not live there and partake of the richness? Samantha is correct: my son saves on auto expenses. He takes the subway, taxis, and walks. He even took the train to Maine, but it was not a positive experience. (Our nation is totally retarded when it comes to rail transportation. We ought to just hire the Swiss and give them carte blanche to do it.) When he wants a car they rent a ZipCar. That saves money on fuel, insurance, auto repairs. And it’s one less possession to worry about.

What will it take to have a great art community in Dallas? Great artists for them to hang with. I propose we offer them a second home here — not permanent, but seasonal. We need a fractional ownership art development maybe in Deep Ellum, or the Design District, that caters to artists from everywhere, offering them  space, studio, sky and shelter. I am so loving this idea… can someone please just pony up a few mill to get this going?

Candy Evans

Candy Evans

10 Comments

  1. Karen Eubank/Eubank Staging & Redesign on November 24, 2010 at 8:11 am

    Interesting post Candy, as usual! This reminds me that back in the roaring 80's and well into the 90's there were several photographers with apartments in NY and homes in Dallas. This was back when the NY powers that be wouldn't even look at you if you did not have a NY address. So if you wanted NY work, you had a NY apartment. Now the way the often starving photographers did this was to share that cost with like minded industry professionals: models, make-up artists, wardrobe stylists etc. This was generally an "under the table" arrangement but it worked beautifully. I know a photojournalist who keeps an apartment in Paris right now. He rents it out to tourists through an agency when he doesn't need to be in Europe for work. I think people need to understand you don't have to be a gazillionaire to have a second home. They are often a very prudent investment if your work takes you to a particular city often!



  2. Karen Eubank/Eubank Staging & Redesign on November 24, 2010 at 8:11 am

    Interesting post Candy, as usual! This reminds me that back in the roaring 80's and well into the 90's there were several photographers with apartments in NY and homes in Dallas. This was back when the NY powers that be wouldn't even look at you if you did not have a NY address. So if you wanted NY work, you had a NY apartment. Now the way the often starving photographers did this was to share that cost with like minded industry professionals: models, make-up artists, wardrobe stylists etc. This was generally an "under the table" arrangement but it worked beautifully. I know a photojournalist who keeps an apartment in Paris right now. He rents it out to tourists through an agency when he doesn't need to be in Europe for work. I think people need to understand you don't have to be a gazillionaire to have a second home. They are often a very prudent investment if your work takes you to a particular city often!



  3. Candy Evans on November 24, 2010 at 10:06 am

    Karen, so right. In fact the average second home ranges about $85,000!



  4. Candy Evans on November 24, 2010 at 10:06 am

    Karen, so right. In fact the average second home ranges about $85,000!



  5. Candy Evans on November 24, 2010 at 10:06 am

    Karen, so right. In fact the average second home ranges about $85,000!



  6. Samantha on November 24, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    I love this idea, too, and I'd be curious to see whether any of Dallas' philanthropists and heavy-hitting arts patrons might help fund such a project. In the meantime — and this is something I neglected to mention in my post — Dallas businesses might consider adding more artist-in-residence programs (like the one at the Fairmont Hotel, for example).



  7. Samantha on November 24, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    I love this idea, too, and I'd be curious to see whether any of Dallas' philanthropists and heavy-hitting arts patrons might help fund such a project. In the meantime — and this is something I neglected to mention in my post — Dallas businesses might consider adding more artist-in-residence programs (like the one at the Fairmont Hotel, for example).



  8. Samantha on November 24, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    I love this idea, too, and I'd be curious to see whether any of Dallas' philanthropists and heavy-hitting arts patrons might help fund such a project. In the meantime — and this is something I neglected to mention in my post — Dallas businesses might consider adding more artist-in-residence programs (like the one at the Fairmont Hotel, for example).



  9. Candy Evans on November 24, 2010 at 10:28 pm

    What artist-in-residence program? Tell me more. How very cool!



  10. Candy Evans on November 24, 2010 at 10:28 pm

    What artist-in-residence program? Tell me more. How very cool!