by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 30th, 2007 10:44pm CDT | Comments Off
It’s a given that regions are the competitive units for the global economy, but while Memphis still struggles to come to grips with what this really means, a new reality is unfolding to complicate our competitiveness even more. It’s the age of the megapolitans — super-regions strung together by economies, commuting patterns, culture and demographic [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 28th, 2007 8:58pm CDT | Comments Off
Two new reports are out from CEOs for Cities, and their authors are with us this week to discuss their findings. Charles Leadbeater, who consults worldwide on innovation strategy, suggests that cities now face problems more like clouds than clocks that cannot be solved with traditional, top-down approaches. Charles has advised companies, cities and governments [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 28th, 2007 1:25pm CDT | Comments Off
The conversation about what small advantages in Memphis can become major economic advantages is continuing, and so we want to post recent comments here to make sure you’re keeping up (and can contribute): Jon said… Memphis also has a great radio station — www.AllMemphisMusic.com Gregg said… I meant to post this and time got away. [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 28th, 2007 12:01am CDT | Comments Off
Cities – including Memphis – are sitting on assets that can be leased to pay for crumbling infrastructure, to improve maintenance and to improve bond ratings. At least that’s the opinion of Dana Levenson, former Chief Financial Officer for the City of Chicago and architect of the leases of the Chicago Skyway and the city-owned [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 26th, 2007 10:18pm CDT | Comments Off
Little more than a week ago, we submitted a “question of the week” based on Harvard University economist Edward L. Glaeser’s 43-page paper, “Urban Colossus: Why Is New York America’s Largest City.” In it, he made a seminal point about the economy of cities — urban economies are shaped by small advantages that over time [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 25th, 2007 11:27pm CDT | Comments Off
It’s not often that Memphis has the chance to be a trend setter, but one of the least understood proposals before the Memphis Charter Commission would give us just such a chance. It’s Instant Runoff Voting, a proposal submitted to the Commission by Shelby County Commissioner Steve Mulroy, whose solidly liberal credentials should allay concerns [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 23rd, 2007 4:05pm CDT | Comments Off
The reelection of Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton moves with an inevitability these days that belies the need that exists for a serious discussion about the future of our city. If nothing shakes up the campaign for mayor, he will take the oath of office in January for the fifth time as chief elected leader [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 21st, 2007 11:13am CDT | Comments Off
The Bear Revolution is upon us. So says Jonathan Taplin, a long-time innovator in the entertainment field and Adjunct Professor at the Annenberg School of Communication where his areas of specialization are in International Communication Management and the field of digital media entertainment. ees cities and states rising in power, with California leading the way, [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 20th, 2007 4:26pm CDT | Comments Off
We can only be grateful that Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton believes that his legacy is based on downtown Memphis. With four decades of experience in the downtown core, we’ve never seen it with more trash, more poorly maintained and more in need of desperate attention. We can only imagine what it would look like [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 20th, 2007 4:21pm CDT | Comments Off
Federal officials sent former Tennessee Senator John Ford an emphatic message yesterday, and they postmarked it Anthony, Texas. That’s where one of the state’s former power brokers will serve his five and half year term for corruption, and while over the past 18 months, the federal government has sent him messages to cooperate, there’s not [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 20th, 2007 4:17pm CDT | Comments Off
I had a heretical thought last night. After work, I drove to Nashville to attend a Dylan concert at the Ryman. Over the 41 years that I’ve been attending these regular rituals of aging, I’ve learned the one constant is there is no constant. One night is awful and the next night is incredible. Last [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 18th, 2007 5:59pm CDT | Comments Off
How much more confirmation do we need that Memphis is poor and undereducated? Now, what to do about it? 1) Aggressive availability of birth control – not abstinence lessons which don’t work. Focus on women, not men. Focus on long-term contraception, not on condoms or daily pills. 2) Pre-natal care 3) Maternity ward visits 4) [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 18th, 2007 10:51am CDT | Comments Off
Our question of the week (asked last Thursday but still open for your comment), is: Knowing that small advantages can become huge economic advantage, what should Memphis be keying on? Several answers so far focus on creativity. In light of this, we found this post on on the CEOs For Cities blog to be especially [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 16th, 2007 11:15pm CDT | Comments Off
It could be called the Memphis Surcharge. It’s the extra taxes Memphians pay as a result of the disproportionate percentage of children who live here. It’s largely the reason that the tax rate in Memphis and Shelby County is so much higher than Nashville/Davidson County. The DifferenceWhile it might not look like much of a [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 14th, 2007 11:53am CDT | Comments Off
Our topic this week is urban innovation but on two very different subjects. In his forthcoming book, Engaging Art: The Next Great Transformation of America’s Cultural Life, Steven Tepper calls on urban and arts leaders to make sweeping changes in the way they build cultural vitality for our cities. Steven advocates a shift from art [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 12th, 2007 10:09pm CDT | Comments Off
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a “question of the week,” and since it’s been awhile, we apologize for giving this exercise such an inaccurate name. Nevertheless, we have enjoyed the conversations and insights that have come from these questions, so we’ve got another one for you. Recently, Memphis Fast Forward unveiled the latest economic [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 11th, 2007 10:42pm CDT | Comments Off
We were reminded last night while we so rarely watch local TV news. The three leading newscasts in Memphis reported on the City Council endorsements and fundraising by longtime Democratic activist Karl Schledwitz as if it was real news. To us, it sounds like something we need more of – involved citizens – and it’s [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 9th, 2007 10:30pm CDT | Comments Off
The continuing schoolyard bickering between the Shelby County Board of Commissioners and Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Curtis Person would make for a mildly interesting sitcom except for the fact that tens of thousands of children hang in the balance. So far, however, neither side has done much to earn the respect of the public [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 7th, 2007 6:04pm CDT | Comments Off
We’ve made no secret of the fact that we are big fans of Christopher Reyes and Sarah Fleming at Live From Memphis, and how they have been our city’s outpost in the digital world, largely unappreciated but nevertheless setting the standard for Memphis. So, we were pleased this week to get Volume 1 of the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 7th, 2007 3:20pm CDT | Comments Off
Rarely do we get a good news story about teenagers. But this week is different. Teens in Memphis, many living in public housing, spent the summer mapping their neighborhood and its assets. And even they were surprised by what they learned. We’ll talk to Dr. Charlie Santo from the University of Memphis who designed and [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 6th, 2007 9:53pm CDT | Comments Off
We were proud to see our colleague and friend, Carol Coletta, quoted again today in the New York Times in its coverage of what young jobseekers want. In answering the question – you’ve already read it here frequently: they are motivated in where to live than what they do, the newspaper relied on the “Young [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | September 6th, 2007 9:08pm CDT | Comments Off
Here’s a city department that immediately attracted our attention – Office of Strategic Customer Services. Unfortunately, it’s in the city government for Dallas and not our City Hall, but it manages a program that seems like an idea whose time has come – mystery shoppers for city services. In the Texas city, volunteers are recruited [...]
by Bill Day. Memphian Bill Day is two-time winner of the RFK Journalism Award in Cartooning. His cartoons are syndicated internationally by Cagle Cartoons. Cartoons Archive →
Photograph by Amie Vanderford
This ongoing series of photographs is intended to show the daily lives of these single mothers in order to invoke recognition of their similarities to all mothers, along with understanding and empathy from the viewer of the strengths that these single mothers possess within the challenging situations they face. My hope is that newfound empathy with these mothers’ lives will give people some pause before they condemn single mothers when discussing issues such as welfare and other politically charged hot buttons.
