The Loft Lifestyle

As recorded in Sharon Zukin's now classic Loft Living, the idea that raw building space designed for manufacturing and storage could become a sign of upscale trendy living got its start in an area of lower Manhattan that, by the 1960s, many viewed as an industrial wasteland.

Proponents of Manhattan redevelopment hoped to replace manufacturing that remained on the island with what they considered to be more valuable real estate devoted to business services. Few people saw the value of preserving some 500 cast iron buildings designed for production that was increasingly moving to the urban periphery.

The low rent of these buildings along with their undivided space, high ceilings and large windows made them quite attractive to artists for studios. Although artists had been living in these lofts since the 1930s, it was in the 1960s their presence became prominent. Due to concerns over fire hazards, many artists faced eviction and in response organized to win the legal right to reside in SoHo lofts.

Artist's appreciation for buildings previously considered arcane structures for a declining manufacturing sector helped led to widespread support for their preservation and helped create the loft aesthetic. The New York Times, architecture magazines and other media began to celebrate this aesthetic and soon wealthy professionals replaced working artists as the primary consumers of loft space.

Consequently, although SoHo still carries the cache of an artist's unorthodox lifestyle, in reality few artists can now afford rents for a studio apartment that average above 2000 a month.