Place Vibrancy and its Measurement: Construct Development, Scale Development, and Field Study of its Relationship to Planning Interventions for Three Villages in the Town of Montague, Massachusetts

The process of using arts and culture to change the physical and social character of places has been defined as ‘creative placemaking’. Creative placemaking granting agencies originally considered constructing ‘livability’ and ‘vibrancy’ indicators to characterize the outcomes of their programs. However, the research community critiqued these indicators, which were considered too nebulous, and efforts to develop them were halted. Other researchers have sought to measure place vibrancy in other contexts. This study revives the initial line of inquiry for using ‘vibrancy’ as a measure of creative placemaking effectiveness and of revitalization efforts more generally. Here, place vibrancy is proposed as a construct that can be measured through creation, review, and testing of scales regarding resident and visitor attitudes toward vibrancy. Literature searches, expert reviews, focus groups, and interviews have been conducted to define the construct of place vibrancy, and results were coded in relation to seventeen themes: forward-looking governance, local ownership of media, education, infrastructure, natural beauty, social capital, well-being, arts and culture, gathering places, pedestrians, unique and historic architecture, cleanliness, strong economy, safety, diversity, buzz, and moderate tourism. Scales were constructed for each theme. With the scales, baseline place vibrancy was measured in three villages in the town of Montague, Massachusetts, which are undergoing varying degrees of cultural intervention: Turners Falls (TF), Millers Falls (MF), and Montague Center (MC). Turners Falls has received cultural funding over the last 10 years, MF is about to received planning attention, including cultural interventions, and MC will not receive any new planning or funding in the near future. The hypotheses were that baseline place vibrancy levels would be higher for TF than MF or MC, and that MF will show the greatest increase over time. The scales were administered as a hand‑delivered paper survey to a census-based sample of households in each village. Baseline place vibrancy was found to be statistically significantly higher in TF than in MF but not in MC, thus problematizing the first hypothesis. Later assessments will be made yearly for the next three years to test changes in place vibrancy for MF relative to TF and MC

Place Vibrancy and Its Measurement: Construct Development, Scale Development, and Relationship to Tourism

Arts and culture (AC) serve multiple roles in society. Over the last 10 to 15 years, the process of using AC to achieve community development goals has been labelled as creative placemaking. Creative placemaking programmers originally considered the broad concepts of livability and vibrancy to the goals of the programs and began developing indicators to measure them. However, thought leaders considered these endpoints to be too nebulous, and grantmakers responded to the criticisms by halting efforts to develop overall indicators. Other researchers have begun to use place vibrancy as a variable in other contexts. This set of studies is an extension of the initial line of inquiry for using vibrancy as a measure of creative placemaking. I propose that place vibrancy is a construct that can be measured through a psychometric scale, which might serve as an indicator for economic development efforts, such as tourism

Impacts of Arts Centers on Communities

The arts and culture have been shown to foster economic development by attracting workers and businesses in the knowledge industry, spur tourism, and improve the housing market. However, regardless of whether the arts and culture have a positive impact on financial capital, they can potentially impact other forms of capital in the community. Small- to mid-sized community based arts centers are effective in drawing people together due to their participatory nature. Recent studies credit community art spaces with enhancing social interaction as well as revitalizing economies. The widely used Community Capital Framework (CCF) is an analytical tool used to observe and critique the relationships among various types of community assets: social, human, financial, creative, built, natural, and political. This study used the CCF to observe the impacts of arts centers and their programs on the various capitals in their surrounding communities. The results demonstrated impacts of arts centers and their programs on social, environmental, and business assets, particularly in the financial, social, cultural, and human capitals, thereby serving as a means to examine sustainability. The results of this study can be used by community leaders as a starting point when discussing the costs and benefits of investing in a new arts center.  M.S

Impacts of Arts Centers on Communities

The arts and culture have been shown to foster economic development by attracting workers and businesses in the knowledge industry, spur tourism, and improve the housing market. However, regardless of whether the arts and culture have a positive impact on financial capital, they can potentially impact other forms of capital in the community. Small- to mid-sized community based arts centers are effective in drawing people together due to their participatory nature. Recent studies credit community art spaces with enhancing social interaction as well as revitalizing economies. The widely used Community Capital Framework (CCF) is an analytical tool used to observe and critique the relationships among various types of community assets: social, human, financial, creative, built, natural, and political. This study used the CCF to observe the impacts of arts centers and their programs on the various capitals in their surrounding communities. The results demonstrated impacts of arts centers and their programs on social, environmental, and business assets, particularly in the financial, social, cultural, and human capitals, thereby serving as a means to examine sustainability. The results of this study can be used by community leaders as a starting point when discussing the costs and benefits of investing in a new arts center