A Factory Town Reborn: The Cultural Pittsfield Initiative and the Economic Revitalization of Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Formerly a bustling manufacturing and cultural hub, Pittsfield, the government seat of Berkshire County, MA, had slowly become the blight of an otherwise thriving cultural and wellness destination.  Many locals point to the departure of General Electric Company (GE) and the massive unemployment created in its wake as the cause of the city's downfall.  It may have been easy to blame the city's misfortunes on the closing of the GE plant; however, Pittsfield's decline started decades before as a result of changing economic and social tides, caused by the relocation of industry to the South and abroad.  Pittsfield was not alone; the effects of this transition were felt in struggling mill and factory towns through the Northeast.  However, in the last five years, after embracing a plan of culturally-driven redevelopment for its downtown, Pittsfield has experienced a cultural, social, and economic resurgence and is now a model of successful "small city" revitalization.  This paper analyzes the effectiveness and sustainability of the city's current economic and cultural development programs by comparing its previous failed efforts and to other similar models of culturally-driven urban renewal.  This analysis will not only illustrate how one city managed to come back from the brink of economic ruin, but will offer lessons to other small cities and urban communities throughout the country about how to approach their own redevelopment.