The narrator of "The Last Leaf" offers several reasons why artists chose to live in Greenwich Village. The story was written more than a hundred years ago, in 1907, and at that time rents were cheap in that neighborhood. Most artists struggled and made very little money when they were starting out—and even late into their careers—so low rents were very appealing to them.
A second reason was that the neighborhood was very charming to the artistic eye. It was "quaint," with Dutch attics and eighteenth-century gables. Further, the way the streets and squares twisted and made odd angles meant that an impoverished artist could easily evade a bill collector coming to get paid for a canvas or paint.
As O'Henry describes it, Greenwich Village became a magnet for artists, and soon enough of them lived their for it to become an artists' colony.
Why did artists choose to live in Greenwich Village?
"The Last Leaf" was published...
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in 1907 and reflects life in New York City at that time. O'Henry's narrator, at the beginning of the story, gives several reasons why artists choose to live in Greenwich Village, which are as follows:
First, because the streets around Washington Square in Greenwich village are winding and irregular it is easy for impoverished artists, to lose, confuse, and so avoid meeting up with bill collectors. As the narrator puts it:
the streets have run crazy and broken themselves into small strips called "places." These "places" make strange angles and curves. One street crosses itself a time or two. An artist once discovered a valuable possibility in this street. Suppose a collector with a bill for paints, paper and canvas should, in traversing this route, suddenly meet himself coming back, without a cent having been paid on account!
Second, the picturesque gables are attractive to artists, and the attic windows that let in light from the north are good for painting. As the narrator states:
So, to quaint old Greenwich Village the art people soon came prowling, hunting for north windows and eighteenth-century gables and Dutch attics.
Third, the rents are cheap.
Of course, because the artists live in close quarters, it is easier for disease to spread, such as the pneumonia that strikes Johnsy.