Who Wants to Live Close to the Arts?

Location, location, location. That's what some people look for when choosing a place to live. They want to live in a location convenient to arts and cultural events, according to a study by the National Endowment for the Arts.

But how many feel this way? To find out, the NEA added supplemental questions to the Census Bureau's 2015 American Housing Survey. For most Americans (62 percent), living near arts and cultural events is not important, according to the survey's results. But for 38 percent, it is.

In the 15 metropolitan areas included in the 2015 American Housing Survey, this is the percentage of households who say it is important for them to live close to arts and cultural events...

Percent saying it is important to live convenient to arts and cultural events, by metro area
57% in San Francisco
53% in Los Angeles
50% in New York
49% in Washington, DC
46% in Seattle
45% in Boston
44% in Chicago
43% in Atlanta
41% in Dallas
41% in Philadelphia
40% in Miami
40% in Phoenix
36% in Detroit
35% in Houston
33% in Riverside-San Bernardino

Among people living in nonmetropolitan areas, only 25 percent say living close to arts and cultural events is important to them.

Source: The National Endowment for the Arts, The Arts in Neighborhood Choice