photo: Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times
The home page of today’s New York Times website features a story on Gloucester’s big debate about what to do with our waterfront (see story here).
Mayor Kirk is quoted a number of times promoting her vision of our port supporting both fishing and marine science, saying some of the $150 million Congress might appropriate should be used for “Programs that might attract those other uses that allow you to maintain a smaller fleet, and maintain an infrastructure for that fleet, and sit side by side.”
Everybody who’s seriously working on attracting marine science to Gloucester knows we need more than a port. We also need a thriving cultural economy in order to attract the workers that power marine science. Most of these workers are young, single PhDs who work very long hours and want to go out after work — and on weekends — for food, drink and music. They want to feel surrounded by culture. These people think they want to live in Cambridge. What they may not know is that Gloucester has a burgeoning cultural economy. Just look at all the live music available this weekend — and it’s supposed to be the dead of winter!
We’ve got momentum. But in order to grow a sustainable economy for Gloucester’s long-term, we have to grow our cultural economy a lot more. That’s where you come in. Think of Gloucester FIRST when planning what to do at night and on weekends. Not sure where to eat? Check out this HUGE list of restaurants. Check the live music schedule. You’ll likely find music for every taste. Want to enrich your life and the lives of your kids? Check out this impressive list of galleries, studios, museums, theatres, etc. Think you need to drive to the mall? STOP! Check this out and think again.
The secret to growing our cultural economy without losing our soul is to honor our past and embrace our future. That’s precisely what Fred Bodin does. His store honors our past by helping to keep the core of our history and culture alive. And now, he’s taken to filming the future. Here he is filming Jon Butcher with Dave Brown, Dave Mattacks and Wolf Ginandes at Jalapenos on Tuesday singing Sam Cooke’s classic Change is Gonna Come — how perfect it that! Boston rock star Jon Butcher moved to Gloucester. Let’s get out and support his decision, prove him right, boost our cultural economy and — most importantly — have a blast doing it!
Good Morning Gloucester 
Don’t know if it’s my computer, and interwebthingy problem or what but all the gloucesterma.com links appear dead….
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Temporary problem with their server. All fixed now. Thanks for the heads up!
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Outstanding result. Happy to see if fixed so quickly. Nothing more frustrating than dead linky’s..
Whoever jumped on it derserves a cyber pat on the back.
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Thanks. Luckily I happened to be at the computer and able to log in to the servers at Techevolution in Lynn (http://www.techevolution.com/) and fix it quickly. Plus Techevolution’s owner was in his office and his support team answered my questions right away. This is the kind of service you get when you choose local companies and build a relationship with them.
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Thank you for all the wonderful promoting of our lovely city that the two of you do; it is an amazing place with LOTS to do. If anyone says they’re bored here, they are just not paying attention. Keep up the good work; I enjoy reading what you write and getting excited about all of the fun to be had around here. Cheers, Cindy H.
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Thanks, Cindy, for your kind words. One thing I love about GMG is the opportunity it affords to remind us all that we live in the best place on Earth!
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Almost went to that gig. Thanks for bringin it home Fred!
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That was a tough night to choose. Runaround was at Minglewood playing a benefit for the YMCA Teens Rebuild New Orleans trip and Henley Douglas, Jr. was at Rhumb Line. How do you choose?
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Great post on the topic. And I love how you put it back on us to support the cultural life we want to see here on Cape Ann so that all the existing resources we have develop in ways that honor the past while living in the very exciting present. (Whew! That was a long sentence.) Thanks for all you do to keep the momentum going!
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You got it. All of us have the power not only to support Cape Ann’s cultural life, but to help it grow as well. We don’t support locals out of any sense of guilt or responsibility. Honestly, we do so because it’s much more fun — and convenient too.
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We all need to support local restaurants, shops, and other businesses in the off season. It is devastating for many of these establishments to have little income, and the same monthly expenses to pay during this time of the year. Go out of your way to patronize your favorite places. If you don’t, they may not be here next year. I’ve seen it happen too many times.
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Good point, Fred. Vickie and I were at passports with some friends the day before NEMO and we were all saying how glad we are that it’s open during the winter. All the restaurants and shops that stay open year round deserve our special thanks — and our business.
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