How Good Is D.C. to Artists, Musicians, and Writers?

In case you missed it last week, Matt Yglesias wrote a provocative piece for Slate arguing that while Washington, D.C., is thriving, it's not all that terrific for artists. In particular, he singles out young artists at the formative stage in their careers, writing that “if you're a semi-employed artist or guitar player it's much more expensive than Philadelphia or Baltimore and still smaller and less interesting than New York City, which has less than one-third our murder rate.”

Washington's City Paper’s Ryan Little disagreed, arguing that D.C. tops these other cities because it offers cheap venues, a strong sense of community and a high availability of grants. Little also mentions the accessibility to other major markets, and to a tightly linked community.