Steve Ross, over at the Vibinc blog, offers up his list of 10 things to make Memphis stronger, and as usual, he hits the nail on the head. Steve is always thoughtful and perceptive, so we apologize to him for posting this en toto rather than a link, but we don’t want to risk losing anyone as they click through.
Here’s Steve:
This is my 700th post. I started blogging for real in December of 2006. In the time since, I’ve written on a whole lot more than I ever imagined, transitioning from mostly national politics, to a kind of local advocacy that I’m really happy with, and proud of.
When I moved here 7 years ago, I thought Memphis would be a stopping off place on my way somewhere else. I was certain that within a few years I would find an opportunity elsewhere and find myself on the west coast.
After a few years I bought a home and decided to settle down. I couldn’t be happier about that decision. I have a beautiful girlfriend who has enriched my life. Our daughter is an amazing little girl that both baffles me and brings a great deal of joy into my life. I’ve made friends here, in a way I never thought I would.
Memphis wasn’t my first choice, but over the years it has become my city of choice. I can honestly say that I want nothing more for my city than to make it a city of choice for other people to come to, live, work, raise a family and ultimately retire.
That said, Memphis has some particular challenges. Addressing those challenges can seem daunting. I know from both my research, and my work in creative focused businesses that people have a hard time visualizing change. They long for it, because we all want something better, but understanding what change might really look like, and the path to effectuate that change is difficult for many folks to conceptualize.
At the end of my previous post I said this:
In the end, it is the way it is because we allow it to be, either through inaction, of lack of information or just not giving a damn. If we don’t start thinking and talking about ways to change it, many of the issues facing this City will never be resolved…and that’s really sad to me.
No one can change our city alone…we have to start changing it together.
For my 700th post, I wanted to talk about things that I believe will make Memphis better for all Memphians, and the 800,000 people in the area who rely on Memphis for their survival. The truth of the matter is, we can’t make Memphis better to their exclusion, no matter what we do. So rather than trying to punish them, we should work to better our city. That work, if successful, will cause them challenge their assumptions about us. Here are 10 things I believe we should do to get that ball rolling.
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1. Accountability – Government must be more accountable for its actions. That means that problems cannot be shuffled off until the last second. The way budget issues have been handled over the past several years demands reform. Both the Administration and the City Council behave as if they had no idea there would be problems, even though many of these problems are structural and have been known for some time. Government must be willing to be honest with the people even when it is not politically popular so we can all work together for an equitable solution.
Furthermore, both the Administration and the City Council have to work harder to take and enforce accountability for their actions. While there may not be the same kind of checks and balances in City Government that there are in State or Federal government, the City Council must do more to ensure the public is informed and aware of the actions of the Administration, and vise-versa. By holding each other accountable, these two bodies who ultimately represent all of us can better serve us.
2. Transparency – Transparency has become a buzz word meaning nothing. Elected officials use the word transparency all the time, but don’t actually engage in transparency enough for it to be effective. There are several things that transparency is, and is not. Transparency is not making sure that everyone knows what’s going on, it’s making that information available for discovery. However, far too often the information is hidden away in a byzantine manner making the discovery of that information not only unlikely, but impossible. The city should work to make information flow more freely. This applies to the administration and its divisions and the City Council, including implementing a better system for vote and issue tracking and policy changes.
3. Efficiency – Efficiency is a word that can mean many different things. Workers may see the word efficiency as tantamount to layoffs. Business leaders view efficiency as lowered liability in the form of taxes or additional revenue streams. In reality, efficiency is using what you have to its greatest potential. Because of the lack of accountability and transparency in city government, there is no real way to calculate its efficiency. Without real and independent calculations, people are left to their own perceptions of how well or poorly government is operating. By conducting both independent and internal audits of the 17 City divisions, both policy makers and the public can be better informed about the efficiency of government operations, and seek ways to make that government more efficient to ensure we as citizens are getting the maximum bang for our tax bucks.
4. Restructuring – There are two areas of our government that need to be studied: Appointed Boards and Commissions and the lay out of City Divisions.
The City of Memphis website lists three pages of city or city/county boards and commissions. I challenge you to try and name them and what function they serve without the benefit of that link. Memphis needs to restructure both the duties and number of these appointed boards the relationship between them, the City Council and the Administration. Many things happen in these meetings that few if any people outside of the room actually know about. This is a drag on accountability, transparency, and efficiency. By streamlining the number of boards and commissions, the city can better help serve the public interest by dismantling a structure that no one truly understands and replace it with one that is more accountable, transparent, and ultimately efficient for the people of Memphis.
Much like the Boards and Commission, the City of Memphis has 17 divisions with 17 directors, and additional administrative staff to support the functions of those divisions. Quite honestly, this is simply unmanageable. It is nearly impossible to figure out what each does without doing a great deal of poking around, that most folks aren’t willing or don’t have time to do. This makes our government less transparent and creates unnecessary barriers to public information. By reforming the division structure, you may not gain much efficiency, but you can help remake a structure that has become a hive of micro-missions that are hard to navigate, and hopefully restore the people’s connection to the ultimate mission of these divisions.
5. Opportunity – One of the roles of government is to create an environment where its citizens can thrive both in their personal and professional lives. For thousands of Memphians, their professional lives are the small businesses they own or are employed by. Small, locally owned businesses are the lifeblood of any city. The health of those businesses is key to ensuring long-term growth and sustainability. While Memphis has a vibrant community of small businesses, few of them have any real interaction with the city outside of administrative contact mostly dealing with licensing and zoning issues. The city should reach out and work to forge partnerships with these businesses by providing assistance with the RFP/RFQ process and by creating a database of businesses to send notifications of these business opportunities. This keeps our tax dollars in Memphis and ensures our tax dollars are put to the most productive use possible. While certainly, there are areas that local businesses may not be able to service at this time, by communicating the needs of government to business, and setting forth a mechanism for those businesses to help meet those needs, businesses will adapt and expand to include those areas which helps us keep more of our tax dollars in our city and strengthens our local business community.
6. Inclusiveness – Cities that build walls or other barriers cannot grow. It costs too much to expand because too many people have too much invested in this old infrastructure of exclusion. This is not only true of the walled cities of medieval times but also the cities of today. While the barriers may not be bricks and mortar, the investment in terms of conventional wisdom and custom remains.
Memphis has several constituencies who, for more reasons than I can name, are relegated to the margins. In order to be a truly strong city, Memphis must reach out to these groups and work to provide the assistance necessary to remove the boot of want, poverty, and prejudice from their necks. We can’t say on one hand, we want to be a vibrant, inclusive city, and on the other hand work to further marginalize these people. They are people after all, and deserve our respect and assistance. While the city may not have the funds to correct these problems, it can set the tone and create opportunities to address them.
7. Quality of Life – Safe, secure, and healthy neighborhoods are one of the strongest features of a vibrant city. Great neighborhoods are to cities as the baseball field is to the movie Field of Dreams… if you build them, they will come. This is shown over and over again in cities across this country. Policy initiatives, driven with an intentional eye on creating or maintaining a great place to live, attracts people to places they might have otherwise not considered.
In order to build and maintain great neighborhoods in Memphis, we have to be more diligent and intentional with code enforcement, zoning and other land use decisions. We have to stop merely building for now, damn the consequences later. We have to stop allowing property owners to sit by while their properties crumble. We have to keep our eyes forward, and ensure that the decisions we make today won’t negatively impact the great neighborhoods we already have, and we have to make sure they’re making neighborhoods that need help better.
In addition, we have to make sure that all our neighborhoods have equality of access to city services. From fire and police coverage to mass transit, when one area is left unserved, it negatively impacts all others. This will require a comprehensive re-evaluation of many city services, something that focusing on greater efficiency will bring with it.
8. Building Equity – Equity has two primary definitions. It can mean fair and impartial, and it can relate to value. In this sense, building equity means both. We have a great many stakeholders in this community. In order to be truly strong, we work in a fair and impartial manner with those stakeholders to help bring value to our community.
For too long the interests of some have been held hostage by the interests of others. Life does not have to be a zero sum game. While the city can’t afford to be all things to all people, it can help shepherd a process that ensures we all benefit by bringing stakeholders together to work for solutions to issues they both face. Boats don’t sink when the water rises, they rise with it. By addressing our many stakeholders in a fair and impartial way that brings value to our city, we can all benefit.
9. Core Growth – For decades our city’s core, the areas inside and around the Parkways have been suffering. While some neighborhoods have managed to thrive, others have been left to fend for themselves, leaving blighted and poor living conditions. It is important for our city that all our neighborhoods, regardless of wealth be maintained and treated with the same respect. It is also important for the efficient use of city services that we drive population to our city core. All city services, from police and fire protection, to sanitation and mass transit can become more efficient if our population is less dispersed.
But people won’t just move because we want them to, we have to give them a mission, and the tools to implement that mission. Implementing a comprehensive homesteading program to help build up neighborhoods in and around our city’s core can help drive population, and the businesses that serve them back inside the Parkways.
While doing this, we must also be cognizant of the investment in infrastructure that we have made outside the 240 loop. Any homesteading program cannot be implemented to the exclusion of another neighborhood. Further, there may be areas that would benefit more from a re-development that may or may not include homesteading. The City must look at ways to use the land that has been left vacant by our 30 year eastward expansion, and seek solutions to bring people and businesses back into the city core and work intentionally to ensure that the kind of blight seen in many of these areas never re-emerges.
At the same time, we have to be cautious that we not spur another great migration. We have to grow smart and look for more areas of great potential to help rebuild our core and strengthen our revenue streams both in the form of property taxes, sales taxes and infrastructure investments.
10. Unity – “No one can change our city alone…we have to start changing it together.” That’s how I ended my last post, and that’s how I’ll end this one. We can’t do this alone, or at the exclusion of anyone. We have to do this together, as Memphis, as a city that understands the depth of our challenges and is willing to fight and work together to address those challenges. It will be frustrating, and it will require all of us to make some sacrifices. But if you’re not willing to make sacrifices, then you’re not bought in in the first place.
I am willing to fight to make the city I love better. I’m willing to sacrifice. I hope you are too.
Thanks for choosing us, Steve. We love ya!
Friend, people have been proclaiming this stuff back to when I first moved to the Memphis area –
It’s good stuff, but this city hasn’t “really” kept pace with a number of other cities, even in the South. If people actually bought in to what you clearly stated, there would be enormous, obvious proof of this city rocketing forward.
Memphis, at least since I’ve been here, has not rocketed anywhere ! NOT REALLY – Has there been movement ? yes, at a goddam snail’s pace when compared to other southern cities in the region, and a few cities in the SW/W.
Memphis seems stuck in a timewarp by comparison sorry to admit- and it has nothing really to do with government
But I will admit, the bigger the government, the smaller the individual. The solutions for Memphis lie more in rebuking racism, which is practically everywhere in Memphis’ head, character, and lifestyle within the community en toto.
Memphis has failed. Memphis has not fully gotten its racist house in order- both black and white. It only pretends that it has – when clearly to any newcomer, transplant or visitor will tell you in a NY second.
Deal with it-deal with the honest truth. Most whites in Memphis are still running away from black people who dominate the landscape – but they like to deny it – deep down, they don’t accept, like or approve of blacks in Memphis power structure, or economic growth – many resent it when they are with like company in the neighborhoods of Germantown, Olive Branch MIssissippi, Chickasaw Oaks and the parts of now Gentrified Midtown/DT where they have run blacks out of the neighborhood….lol
Blacks have developed meanwhile a false sense of entitlement and decision making authority, and some dish out a personal dose of retribution–because they CAN.
The city remains bifurcated – and has been ever since I’ve bought a house here – fortunately it’s not my only choice, now, or in the midterm, or the future.
Memphis has been said to have “potential” for way too long , and that’s a fact. Hell, Detroit “has potential” too, and so does Oakland, and so does East St. Louis, and so does Jackson Mississippi.
Memphis squandered valuable time, time that can not be reclaimed.
Frankly, if you’re a professional in your primetime years (say anything over 38..and certainly if you’re 40 lol) you’re expending valuable energy, time and effort on something that may not be solved in your working lifetime. If you’re a professional (or non-professional) in your twenties who is attempting to build your career in a progressive, dynamic, fair, non-discriminatory, enlighten
enlightened city, then there are much better choices of location than a Memphis Tennessee.
Memphis may indeed become competitive in the future for sure, but as we speak, Memphis continues to fail more than it succeeds when compared to several other cities.
If you reject that notion about Memphis’ comparative ranking, then you, like many others are dumb, deaf and blind as to the crux of negatives about Memphis, TN.
kniggets,
I respectfully disagree. Memphis’ problems are routinely exaggerated by people like yourself relative to other cities. To hear some Memphian’s tell it, you’d think we’re the only city in the world with lingering racism, where murders happen, with inefficient government, and political structures that inhibit progress. The same issues exist in every city in our country. Heck, in the world.
There is a cultural shift occurring among the young ushering in a new lens through which cities should be evaluated. Being a successful city is no longer measured simply by economics, population figures or crime stats. Cities are measured on their “livability.” “Sustainable” cities will have an edge over cities that aren’t. Cities with culture and history are more fulfilling and attractive. Memphis isn’t horribly situated according to Generation Y – many of whom, given the opportunity, would eschew places like Charlotte or Dallas, for yes, your beloved city of Memphis. Listen to them talk about Memphis, see what you discover.
Forbes recently published a doomsday list of the 10 fastest-dying cities in America. Guess what city wasn’t on that list? Not that not being on that list is a victory, but reading your post, and generally listening to the way some people speak about our city, I tend to think more than a few people would be surprised. Or perhaps, after being informed, make a sarcastic remark I might describe as “so Memphis” of them.
But the list is illustrative for another reason as well. The number one city on Forbes’ list was New Orleans. Remarkable, because New Orleans is considered one of the sexiest, most dreamlike destinations for Generation Y to vacation in and relocate to. How can that be, if it’s the “dyingest” city in America? Well, it has nothing to do with total population figures and it has nothing to do with traditional economic analysis of the health of a city. Other factors are coming into play that make New Orleans particularly attractive to a new generation less interested in how much their middle manager boss thinks they deserve to be paid, and more interested in quality of life.
What Memphis needs to do now is turn itself over to the desires of the young. They’re the future. If Memphis has failed, it’s not the young who have failed it. But it’s possible the older generation inhibits their ability to make Memphis their city of choice. We might be witnessing signs of it with the Madison Avenue bike lanes debate – the wishes of the neighborhood residents and the young couldn’t be more clear, but will the administration be bold enough to embrace progress despite the fears of long-time business owners? It would be a shame to frustrate those working for the progress of their city (those who truly have a choice of where to live, mind you) and sacrifice the quality of life measures that can propel Memphis into the future for the health of a dry cleaners.
Turn Memphis over to the “desires of the young ” ?????
No competent city should do that in entirety. Generation Y, i.e. many of them in Memphis TN can’t compose a domplex sentence, and have other poor skills .
Youth in Memphis TN does not bring “smarts” ! just look around at some of these bozos.
Youth in Memphis does not bring wisdom either. It is plain to see that Memphis TN has made some very unwise choices in the past and in the recent past.
Nope, I firmly diagree. Most young Memphians are not very well educated, traveled or exposed. They certainly have not matured.
If Generation Y’ers think New Orleans is some super great city, then they too are fairly narrow in what they seek, notwithstanding having a “good time” drinking, partying and acting a damn fool.
Nope, they in Memphis are not wise enough to be “handed the keys to the bus”. Of course everyone should participate, but true education, awareness, and wisdom is not automatically bestowed upon “any” Generation Y’er. That seems easy enough to understand.
If Memphis’ future is left up to some of these undereducated clowns, then Memphis will continue to be a second or third rate city when compared to many others.
As for Memphis TN not being on Forbes list of America’s fastest dying cities, that seems to be an indirect, left-handed ‘compliment’. I hope however you are not confusing that list with one that one done by NEWSWEEK.
NEWSWEEK judged New Orleans as America’s #1 fastest dying city.
Other surveys done by entities such as Money Mag places cities like palm Coast Florida, Myrtle Beach SC, St George Utah, snd AUSTIN TEXAS in their top ten fastest growing. Other sources cite number one fastest growing cities in MS, CO, NS.
Other census data describes the Charlotte region as truly one of the fastest growing areas in the nation. West TN was not mentioned. Memphis lost population to other counties and an entirely other state.
As for rankings of #1 – Olive Branch MISSISSIPPI, and the ranking of #1 – Palm Coast FLORIDA viz desirability and many other factors, I think many more knowledgeable and experienced people might really choose or rank Palm Coast over any city in Mississippi USA any day. Knowing both places well, there is no doubt in my mind which city is the better overall envrionment.
Re:nashHead
I’m afraid you’re horribly misinformed about Generation Y and especially those among them in our city working hard, right now, for progress. I would direct you to a study done by MPACT Memphis on who these people are and what motivates them – the first of its kind on a city level in the country.
http://issuu.com/contemporarymedia/docs/voiceofmpactslideshow?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Fcolor%2Flayout.xml&backgroundColor=CCCCCC&showFlipBtn=true%20%3Chttp://issuu.com/contemporarymedia/docs/voiceofmpactslideshow?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Fcolor%2Flayout.xml&backgroundColor=CCCCCC&showFlipBtn=true%3E
Your response to me is also littered with value statements that Generation Y roundly rejects and I would challenge you to look back with a new, critical lens and the negativity you just wrote, and consider that those younger than flat out reject many of your most basic assumptions about life. Your New Orleans comments, especially, reveals your own narrow-mindedness. Your comments, in fact, are reflective of what is truly a stark generational contrast. Indeed, you illustrate my point more clearly than I might have alone that people like you really, really don’t “get it.”
Precisely because of people like you, the keys should be handed over. You are completely out of touch with the future Memphis should be striving for to make itself a city of choice and move forward into the future. However, Gen Y doesn’t deserve the keys, you say? The Baby Boomers are a panacea of wisdom, work ethic and virtuosity?
Generation Y is the most educated generation in American history. Women in Generation Y enjoy more equality and have achieved more relative to their peers than in any generation in human history. Gen Y is the most diverse in our history and demonstrates, resoundingly, less racism and bigoted attitudes than their elders – Generation Y doesn’t just expect diversity, they seek it out purposely. I could go on, about what the data says, and anecdotally what under- or unemployed college graduates are doing across the nation, right now, to make an impact on their neighborhoods and communities, but you have the internet and a search engine. I suggest you look up some basic market studies on who Generation Y is and what motivates them. Instead of discussing Gen Y abstractly, though, it’s much more salient to focus on those in our city – those illiterates who can’t put together a sentence, “party” all the time (how old are you, anyway – this sounds like a comment that might have been made at a 1956 suburban wives bunko party – as if it’s a sinful embarrassment that people might life), bozos and clowns you referred to.
In Memphis, right now, there are top-of-their-class Rhodes students volunteering their time to work all summer at places like Urban Farms and other social enterprises. Young Memphians have played critical leadership roles on much of the progress made on everything from bike advocacy, to sustainable food efforts, urban farming initiatives and innovative economic development programs. Our farmer’s markets are crowded by the young, volunteering, selling, organizing, marketing. Young artists are being recognized internationally – Amy LaVere just drew close to 4,000 people to the Shell for the release of her new album, which is already being hailed as one of the best of the year. Young Memphians are lined up running non-profits, starting their own companies, putting together economic development initiatives in under-served, depressed neighborhoods. If you open your eyes at all and look at the good springing up in our city, you’re sure to see a Gen Y Memphian playing a critical role in some aspect of whatever group or organization you find.
As for being able to form a “complex” sentence – well, I’d suggest comparing what you wrote to what I’ve written, and then reflect of whether you should be so hard on my generation after all.
“No competent city should do that in entirety. Generation Y, i.e. many of them in Memphis TN can’t compose a domplex sentence, and have other poor skills”.
Really? Anon/sheckel- you are perhaps the least qualified individual to critique the grammar of anyone. Just try and read some of your posts and the way in which you slaughter the English language on a daily basis. However, I have no desire to see you correct your grammatical errors. Any lay reader is likely to simply ignore your posts seeing as they prove almost impossible to read thanks to the many spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and complete misuse of punctuation.
You are also displaying a true ignorance of the manner in which a metropolitan area functions and interconnects in your lame attempt at census analysis. I would go on, but so many here have pointed out your inept attempts at using facts or data or denying their existence that it makes it almost pointless to continue doing so.
I’m not from Memphis. My husband and I certainly travel to Memphis, and I know a lot of people there. I live in a very nice coastal city. A few of us have been lurking/reading several forums//blogs about Memphis TN. Some of the posters here seem to be perturbed with other posters’ opinions, and preoccupied with character assassination of other posters (with respect to odd comments about grammar, and punctuation).I’m an outsider, but I will say that if the rest of Memphis TN and the region were as educated (seemingly) as some of the professorial personalities on this website, Memphis TN would have more positives to show for it. Every time I’m in Memphis TN, I don’t see that much awareness and progressiveness that a few of you are suggesting. I’m sure that pockets of excellence and forward-thinking exists, but I don’t believe that it is as pervasive as a few of you would like to brag about. Focusing on any poster’s grammar does nothing to support your own thoughts. I few of us here, after reading several posts, think focusing on grammar, syntax and punctuation is silly for any participant on a blog/forum on the internet. It’s the internet, not a course in writing.
I like some things about Memphis, and we have some lovely friends who live in the suburbs. Both my husband and I know Memphis well (mostly in the medical community). We would not likely ever choose to move to Memphis based on what we have experienced personally. I would not choose to have children grow up there either. That’s a personal choice, not a slam on posters who choose to move to, or remain in Memphis, TN. It does not meet our own standards, lifestyle, and preferences. That’s a person’s own choice. That sort of point of view, should not draw fire from those who are absolutely in love with Memphis, TN, and choose to live there. Lots of people don’t particularly like where we live. Some of our friends don’t like our heat, the hurricanes, the snowbirds, the traffic etc. So what. That’s fine with my husband and I. We don’t take it personally because we’re not hired promoters for our town so we aren’t offended by any kind of criticism, whether it’s deserved or not.
Second verse, same as the first. Another tip anon avenue:
Your use of the more formal “Memphis, TN” in nearly every post is a dead giveaway along with the oft repeated grammatical errors.
I live in Nashville- is it okay if I write Nashville TN ?? or must I omit the “TN” ??
what a useless and weird comment about a post !
Shekel, you need serious mental help, as well as help with syntax. As urbanut pointed out, it’s just slightly humorous for someone who consistently butchers the English language in posts to also criticize black Memphians for lack of language skills. By the way, have you formulated an answer to the question of why you purported to be a rabbi and a United States Marine in previous posts? No? Nada? No idea?
Just about everybody in the southeast already knows that Memphis is not looked at as being in the same state as Nashville. All you have to do is travel around the south and get their reactions about visiting or living in Memphis. You don’t have to go that far either, just fly to Nashville and ask around
“You don’t have to go that far either, just fly to Nashville and ask around”
Why go to Nashville when we have you to tell us what “everybody” thinks?