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32 n e w h a v e n B I Z | J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 9 n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m Arts & Culture residential downtown energized by new demographic groups of people suddenly willing and even eager to call it home. ese include the empty-nesters and retirees attracted to a walkable city close to first-class health cen- ters. ("People our age envision a longer and active retirement than our parents did," notes DeStefa- no.) en there are young people associated with heath, science, technology and start-up fields. And they may not all want the same thing with regard to their leisure-time activities. New Haven already enjoyed an enviable legacy of world-class arts institutions that had endured and even thrived over many decades: the Shubert eatre, Yale Reper- tory eatre and Yale Cabaret, the Yale University Art Gallery and British Art Center, the New Ha- ven Symphony Orchestra, Long Wharf eatre and many others. "Experiences" is the new oper- ative word for leisure time, says Baggetta. "Many young people feel that even the word 'culture' is too highbrow a word," he argues. "'Entertainment' is better, and it still works for other institutions." For example, "A museum can be entertainment; music can be entertainment; theater can be en- tertainment. But these people are looking for special experiences in all those places," Baggetta says. But some "experiences" proved to be a less-than-ideal fit for a Continued from previous page city in the throes of an unplanned though hardly unwelcome renaissance. In the early 2000s, Crown Street at night time was a bois- terous boulevard of boozing and brawling, dominated by a few fly-by-night clubs breeding public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Later in the decade some of the worst offenders shuttered their doors, Baggetta says — some by design, but there was also a shi in the economy following the economic meltdown of 2008. What replaced many of the clubs were yoga and crossfit stu- dios, coffeehouses and chic boîtes. Also building one venue at a time was a thriving music scene which already included Cafe Nine, BAR, Firehouse 12, Toad's Place, College Street Music Hall and not-so-distant Lyric Hall, as well as events, festivals and places such as restaurants offering live musical entertainment, too. A focus group for Market New Haven revealed that music is one of the leading identifiers for New Haven. "is isn't like, 'Let's build a science center or a convention center or a baseball park,'" says DeStefano. "ose end up being very transient uses, and be careful if you hang your hook on that. What works is what is authentic — and that means there needs to be density of activity — and that it's sustainable. In the case of New Haven, the whole is more than the sum of its parts — which are interdependent and which resonate," he adds. Market New Haven's Worcester repeats its newest and perhaps most trenchant slogan: "New Haven: We've Got It All." But Andy Wolf eschews brand- ing and catchphrases to describe the city. "Mayor Toni Harp sums it up succinctly in two words: New Ha- ven," Wolf says. "Everyone is on the branding train, but at the end of the day it's not about sloganeer- ing. It's really about the diversity of offerings that this City Hall team has pushed-pushed-pushed to create our story — both within the state and nationally." n Outside of major metro areas, few cities have a still-thriving downtown performing arts space to equal the legendary Birthplace of the Nation's Greatest Hits — New Haven's Shubert Theatre.