by SCM (RSS) Livability | May 23rd, 2013 3:00pm CDT | No Comments
We’re approaching the third annual Bikesploitation – yes, it’s all about bikes – that will take place May 24-26. It’s one of Memphis’ most unique events and best of all, it’s free. This year it’s at Crosstown Arts at 422 and 430 N. Cleveland Avenue. Add it to your calendars because you won’t want to [...]
by SCM (RSS) Livability, Neighborhoods | May 21st, 2013 1:13pm CDT | No Comments
Congratulations to Binghampton Development Corporation and Historic Broad Business Association, which has received a $350,000 grant from ArtPlace for the Broad Avenue Water Tower Depot. It’s an exciting testament to the power of guerilla creative placemaking. According to ArtPlace, “Binghampton Development Corporation and Historic Broad Business Association will transform an active warehouse loading dock on [...]
by SCM (RSS) Livability | May 20th, 2013 3:16pm CDT | 1 Comment
From MinnPost: “Stop talking about your weather. People get that it’s cold here.” The command came from Katherine Loflin, a placemaking expert. Her audience, a batch of business leaders gathered together by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Hennepin Theatre Trust, giggled uncomfortably. The lousy weather, after all, has been the main topic [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Downtown Revitalization, Livability, Parks and Greening | May 10th, 2013 12:29am CDT | 1 Comment
Jeff Speck is a city planner and architectural designer who, through writing, lectures, and built work, advocates internationally for smart growth and sustainable design. As Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 through 2007, he oversaw the Mayors’ Institute on City Design and created the Governors’ Institute on Community Design, [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Downtown Revitalization, Livability, Transportation | May 3rd, 2013 12:43am CDT | 4 Comments
This is the month when we all get to see what a better Riverside Drive could look like – two lanes of traffic driving slower on a safer street with more parking than presently exists in the two parking lots marring Tom Lee Park. In fact, the ugly parking lots could be moved completely out [...]
by SCM (RSS) Economic Development, Livability | May 1st, 2013 3:19pm CDT | No Comments
From CEOs for Cities: We wrote yesterday about the wake-up call that Memphis economic development officials should be getting from recent rankings that show Memphis struggling a long way from upside of economic indicators. Today’s post by CEOs for Cities on its blog should be another alarm for us to hear. Here it is: Photo [...]
by SCM (RSS) Economic Development, Livability, Planning and Urban Design | April 25th, 2013 3:00pm CDT | No Comments
From SustainableCitiesCollective: Ever wish there was a single graphic that effectively summarized the benefits of buying local? Well, scroll down below, because this is what you were waiting for, thanks to the folks at CustomMade. You can download the full size image or embed it into your site by visiting Why Buying Local is Worth Every [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Livability, Parks and Greening, Planning and Urban Design | April 24th, 2013 12:58am CDT | No Comments
The following was a guest post on the blog of the Mid-South Regional Greenprinting plan: There are few things in American life that we can approach with a “build it and they will come” attitude. Greenlines and bike lanes are two exceptions. That was a message delivered by city planner and architectural designer Jeff Speck in [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Livability, Trends and Issues | April 22nd, 2013 12:41am CDT | 2 Comments
More and more, Memphis is becoming a city with a green ethos. It’s encouraging that people and organizations from all parts of the community have joined in this movement and remarkable progress has been made in only six years. Unfortunately, an organization that should be leading this movement – Agricenter International – is once again [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Downtown Revitalization, Livability | April 12th, 2013 12:24am CDT | 13 Comments
While we are disappointed in the poor design decisions that have marked Beale Street Landing as of late, we want to make it clear that we aren’t interested in joining those who look for any reason to dismiss and vilify the project in its entirety (none of these applies to the commenters to our recent [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Downtown Revitalization, Livability, Parks and Greening | March 20th, 2013 12:11am CDT | 9 Comments
Nationally-known planner, architectural designer, author, and New Urbanist co-creator Jeff Speck laid out six simple ideas Monday night for the Memphis riverfront, but those simple ideas could transform it. He managed to weave a new fabric from the 25 years of studies that have been written about the riverfront – 19 were listed in his [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Livability, Neighborhoods | March 4th, 2013 12:30am CDT | Comments Off
Most cities have routes through them that allow drivers to convince themselves that all is well. In post-Katrina New Orleans, driving St. Charles Avenue or Magazine Street to the French Quarter, it was possible to imagine that the Big Easy was doing just fine – as long as you didn’t veer toward lower ground. Here, [...]
by SCM (RSS) Downtown Revitalization, Livability | February 1st, 2013 3:08pm CDT | 1 Comment
It’s a shame that the Center City Commission could never get its “Light It Up” project off the ground. From Neal Peirce: PHILADELPHIA – Paris has historically been the world’s celebrated “City of Light.” New York glitters in the dark, its Times Square literally drenched in light. Nighttime scenes glitter from London to San Francisco [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Downtown Revitalization, Livability, Planning and Urban Design | February 1st, 2013 12:55am CDT | 9 Comments
To paraphrase a downtown leader, do you know of a “real” city whose Main Street looks like ours? Do you know of a “real” city that leaves plywood patches to Main Street for more than a decade to the point that the wood repairs start decaying? Do you know of a “real” city that would [...]
by SCM (RSS) Livability | January 31st, 2013 3:00pm CDT | 1 Comment
From Sustainable Cities Collective: Lean. Guerilla. Incremental. Vernacular. Tactical. These are all words Andrés Duany used to describe the “new, new urbanism” at the CNU-FL Statewide meeting this past week at the University of Miami. A founder, and arguably the most influential member of the Congress of the New Urbanism, the room fell silent as [...]
by SCM (RSS) Livability, Parks and Greening | January 28th, 2013 3:00pm CDT | Comments Off
From Next City: Last November, the Philadelphia City Council approved a $2.67 million increase to funding for the Department of Parks and Recreation. The decision was roundly cheered by residents and the advocacy groups that had long pushed for the cash infusion. “This has been unprecedented for many years, it’s a excellent start. This will [...]
by SCM (RSS) Livability, Transportation | January 22nd, 2013 3:00pm CDT | Comments Off
From Governing: Nothing ruins a public transportation rider’s day quite like waiting around for a train or bus that never shows up. Turns out that if it happens enough, riders will start giving up on transit, according to a new report. University of California, Berkeley researchers examined exactly what effect a transit system’s unreliability has on [...]
by SCM (RSS) Livability, Transportation | January 21st, 2013 3:00pm CDT | Comments Off
From Better! Cities & Towns blog: While on an individual level it is clear that today’s transportation agencies are filled with people who are professional and want to do the right thing, the institutional inertia is carrying them in wayward directions. We’re Pennsylvania bound this weekend with Curbside Chats beginning on Monday morning. I’m very [...]
by SCM (RSS) Livability, Planning and Urban Design | December 31st, 2012 11:28am CDT | Comments Off
From Planetizen – Memphis was spotlighted in the year’s wrap-up of Tactical Urbanism success stories: Thanks to this website and the Urban Times, 2012 began and ended with Tactical Urbanism being named one of the top planning trends of 2012. Clearly, the rapid rise of parklets, pavement to plaza success stories, and sanctioned build a better block projects are pushing this [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Economic Development, Livability, Transportation | December 21st, 2012 12:47am CDT | 6 Comments
The national Sierra Club has rightfully identified I-269 as one of the 50 worst transportation projects in the U.S. The Sierra club explanation for why I-269 has a negative impact on the future of Memphis echoed many concerns heard here. Here’s an earlier post about this unnecessary highway: I-269 will unquestionably take a toll on [...]
by SCM (RSS) Downtown Revitalization, Livability | December 18th, 2012 3:00pm CDT | Comments Off
Jeff Speck’s new book, Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time, is worth a read for its acerbic wit, alone. The author fits a remarkable collection of data and anecdotal evidence from his long career in urban design (which included a four-year stint at the helm of the National Endowment [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) City of Memphis Government, Livability, Planning and Urban Design, Transportation | December 18th, 2012 12:15am CDT | 5 Comments
Unfortunately, it seems that concerns about Elvis Presley Boulevard “improvements” were well-placed. As it stands, the $43 million, three-mile project is marginally better than when it was first announced, but it still fails to deliver its place-making potential because in the end, it still ended up being about cars rather than about creating a livable [...]
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.
