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KCRW's Lisa Napoli did a ride-along through the downtown Arts District recently with resident photographer Melissa Richardson Banks. The point was to have Banks point out parcel by parcel how the district is changing — a transformation they peg to the opening of Wurstkuche, the popular sausage and beer spot at 3rd Street and Traction Avenue. From the story:
There was a time, not very long ago, when this was an area most people went out of their way to avoid. Then, in 2008, the sausage place came in, and suddenly the Arts District became a destination. One after another, storefronts and warehouses transformed. The area grew from 1,500 to 6,000 residents in just the last seven years, Banks said, and only a tiny fraction is working artists.
On Santa Fe, just south of Bread Lounge and Stumptown and just north of the warehouse recently announced as the new location of the private club called Soho House, I pointed out a bride posing for a camera. “Oh that happens all the time here,” she told me. “People love to have their engagement photos taken in front of graffiti. It’s very popular.” Banks pointed out this strip isn’t even technically in the Arts District, but, rather, Arts District adjacent. So great is the cache of staking a post downtown.
Here's the audio:
