ARTS AND CRAFT - IMPLEMENTING AN ARTS-BASED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY IN ACONTROLLED GROWTH COUNTY

This study examines the partnership between local growth machines and the arts. Specifically, it focuses on the nine-year struggle over the construction of a performing arts/hotel resort complex on a large trac t of central California coastal property. Through interviews with key persons connected with the project, and through analyses of campaign l iterature and other archival sources, this case study attempts to prov ide empirical evidence for the thesis that construction of arts facili ties in commercial real estate projects is used to blunt opposition to development. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of r ecent work on the arts/growth machine alliance, neighborhood mobilizat ion against development, and the symbolic politics of land-use dispute s.