Many Rust Belt communities have tried to use art galleries, theaters,  cheap studio space for artists, and more to revitalize downtowns and drive growth.

It looks like Wheeling, West Virginia is the lastest, as this New York Times article explains.

“So can an old factory city find the key to revitalizing its downtown?

I think so,” said Luis Rico-Gutierrez, director of the Remaking Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. ‘But it is more a matter of attitudes than a matter of scales or money. They need to understand that culture is as important as steel was.’”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/us/06wheeling.html?emc=eta1

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