EVERETT — City staff are working with local creative businesses and organizations as they seek to earn a creative district designation for Everett from the state of Washington.
Creative districts are places that encompass a contiguous geographic area, have a clearly defined creative economy and are a site of a concentration of artistic or cultural activities, the Washington State Arts Commission’s certification guidelines read. Once approved by the commission, the districts are intended to attract visitors, grow jobs in the creative sector and “develop the long-term future of the area in a proactive and sustainable way,” a state document reads.
The Washington Legislature established the creative district program in 2017. In 2019, the state designated its first creative district, located in the downtown area of Edmonds.
If the state designates part of Everett as a creative district, it would give the city a new sign advertising the district on I-5 and open the doors to tens of thousands of dollars in possible grant funding. But the process of creating the application can be its own benefit to the city, said Tyler Chism, Everett’s placemaking program manager, in a May 14 interview.
“Part of it is to attract folks from outside of Everett to come here and be creative,” Chism said. “But maybe more importantly, it’s sort of to grow from within, take what we have and build from it, which is the most advanced manufacturing workforce in the world and a creative identity that is in our civic DNA.”
Requirements for applying for the designation include creating a strategic plan where the city must outline performance indicators as to how it would grow the creative economy. That plan is still a work in progress but will show the effort is “an economic development initiative at its heart,” Chism said.
Also in progress is deciding on a location for the district. The creative district must be a walkable, human-scale neighborhood with a mix of culture, businesses and housing, requirements say. Because of those guidelines, downtown Everett is a likely choice, but a final decision is yet to be made, Chism said.
When looking through the criteria required for a creative district designation, it seemed like a natural fit for Everett because of its current arts scene, said the city’s economic development director, Dan Eernissee, in a May 14 interview.
“The actual process of getting a creative district was a positive one,” Eernissee said. “There’s a desire for the city to really be a convener of creatives and get them talking to each other.”
Everett launched a survey to gather feedback from community members to guide the application process. The city is also meeting with an advisory board, including organizations like the Schack Arts Center, the Downtown Everett Association and Funko to guide the creative district process.
“I think what’s really neat about that group is that everyone cares deeply about Everett,” said Kari Quaas, a project manager at the city. “Everyone’s doing something slightly different, but to have all those people in the room who are focused on making Everett better, it gives us an opportunity to highlight what we already have and amplify it.”
There are 18 other creative districts located across the state. If Everett’s application is approved, the designation would last for five years.
City staff stressed that community feedback will drive the direction of the creative district application process. The government is playing a role to help facilitate this effort, Chism said, but it doesn’t want to take the lead. It wants the artists, musicians and everyone else in Everett’s creative economy to guide it instead.
“You don’t want us leading creative efforts,” Chism said. “The creative community needs to sort of lead and shape that. But what we can do is formalize and basically put a flag in the sand that says we’re bullish on the creative economy here, you can make it here. Come to Everett and make it.”
The city hopes to complete its application by November. Its survey is available online: everettwa.typeform.com/CD2025.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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