Peekskill has zoned part of its downtown area as a special artists' district.

Or you can go to a city like Peekskill, which is aspiring very rapidly to be successful with its artists' district.

A decade ago, Peekskill declared a four-block area an artists' district.

Two Trees, the project's developer, is promoting Dumbo as an artists' district.

Along with the revitalization of this artists' district, many new families and individuals started moving into the neighborhood and fixing up the old houses.

The uniqueness of this emerging artists' district in a former mill village business district began to attract citywide attention.

The mural is a facet of Peekskill's commitment to its artists' district, an effort to revitalize this once thriving business hub by turning it into an arts center.

Mr. DiBart's enthusiasm on behalf of the artists' district and the Peekskill business improvement district is clearly shared by both veteran and new merchants.

All three are examples of artists' districts discovered and then commercialized, but all three are in very different stages of the process, SoHo being the most advanced.

The Southern California Institute of Architecture has relocated from Marina del Rey to a railroad freight building in the artists' district in east Downtown.

The mastermind behind Peekskill's artists' district was Ralph DiBart, a planning and development consultant who recently became executive director of the New Rochelle Business Improvement District.

While Peekskill officially made its downtown an artists' district, Yonkers has formed an informal coalition of government officials, business owners and arts patrons to nurture a cultural growth spurt that is well under way.

Dr. Rapkin, who has studied SoHo, among other artists' districts, predicted that the artists in Peekskill will bolster the local economy, particularly by luring buyers and browsers of art into town and providing an instant market for new service businesses.

A hotel offering good value is Hotel Graf Stadion (5 Buchfeldgasse; 425284, doubles with shower and breakfast $79 to $86), old-fashioned, on a quiet street in Vienna's Josefstadt, an artists' district with many good restaurants and theaters nearby.

To achieve those goals, he will work with the district's board, the city's Office of Planning and Development, which helps new businesses obtain low-interest loans, and with Ralph DiBart, a consultant hired by the city several years ago to establish the artists' district.

Two, Ms. Courreges and Nick Mottern, a carpenter who opened a natural food co-op and a performance space in the artists' district, decided to go to jail rather than "participate in an economy that prevents free speech," as Ms. Courreges said.