Los Angeles's arts and culture community is the only one of eight indicators "significantly enhanc[ing] human development" in the region, a new report claims.

The Goldhirsh Foundation's recently released "LA2050 Report" examines the overall health of Los Angeles by looking at eight indicators, including education, housing, and public safety.

The report found LA County is home to twice as many arts organizations per capita as New York City and has the highest concentration of working artists anywhere in the nation.  There are 9.54 "artist jobs" per 1,000 people in LA, higher than New York (7.24), San Francisco (7.2), and Chicago (3.15). 

The report expresses some wonder at this success, as LA lags far behind most other metropolitan areas in the amount of public funding available to support arts and culture activities in the region.  The City of Los Angeles invests just $1.70 in arts and culture per resident, while San Francisco and Chicago invest about $14 and $16 per resident respectively.  Additionally, LA's public art expenditures of $9.62 million are below the national average.

The LA2050 Report is available free from LA2050.org.