This is continued from our two previous posts this week.

After a recent post, Wake-up Calls for Economic Growth Demand Action, we received the following question from a reader, and because it is one receive fairly regularly, we asked a few friends of ours to answer it.  Here’s the question and it’s followed by the recommendations :

I’ve read several similar articles recently about Memphis, and it has made me want to do more to get involved.  I’m a transplant to Memphis from the Mid West, and am a fairly highly educated (MBA) professional.  I moved to Memphis out of college for a job, then out of Memphis for work, and chose to seek a job back that brought me back to Memphis.  I’d like to get involved and look into how we can make Memphis a city that attracts more young, educated professionals, but I have no idea where to start.  What are the best ways to get involved in moving the city forward?

Jared Bulluck, Leadership Memphis:

There are many ways to get involved in this city, but you have to be ready to show up and be social.  In our Memphis world you have numerous of organizations that try to attract young professionals to get involved and stay involved; Leadership Memphis, New Memphis Institute, MULYP, The YP Collaborative, etc.  These organizations really help you find what you would like to get involved in.

What these organizations will show you are the different things that Memphis is doing to attract young professionals from economic development to volunteer organizations.  But, the way young professionals really connect are in the neighborhoods.  To me there are 3 significant neighborhoods that come to mind when talking about YP’s, Cooper-Young district, South Main District, and Overton Square.  Here you will find young people from all over the city getting together and having a good time.

Occasionally the YP’s will get together and have what I call “pop up events” from poker nights, small concerts, 5k’s, fundraisers, and your always classic themed parties.  This is where the YP’s really mix and mingle and get to know one another.  By getting out and showing up to any situation you will find who and what type of people you are looking for.  It may take some time, but once you have found what you are looking for Memphis can be a really great place to live, work, and play.

Sarah Ray, former head of White House’s Strong Cities, Strong Communities initiative in Memphis:

I love that people are asking the question of how to get involved. What I would recommend are:

1) go out more in Memphis: help keep the city vibrant by spending money within its borders, visiting non-chain restaurants, local stores, concerts, etc.

2) participate in the political process: send your thoughts and ideas to City Council, go to community meetings, find out who your neighborhood organizations are, join a religious community, or some other way to connect to a group of people doing social justice work (Mid-South Peace & Justice Network, Church of the River, BRIDGES, etc),

3) volunteer: there are so many good organizations that need volunteers to keep their programs running. The Memphis Urban Debate League, after school tutoring programs, Bridge Builders, MIFA, Latino Memphis, I could go on, can use the help and giving back is a way to make sure the next generation of Memphians succeeds.

Zach Hoyt, University of Iowa graduate and Des Moines transplant and University of Memphis Law School student:

1)      Prioritize

a. Think of what may have given you doubts about moving to Memphis again.  Look for others working on the same problems and try to build off of that before starting yet another effort that might be working in the same space as another group.

b. At the same time, do not limit yourself to what is already being done.  Memphis is doing better, but clearly has a long ways to go.  It seems reasonable to infer that many of the efforts to improve the city have been ineffective, or at least less effective than they could be.  If you have an idea, get it out there and try to make it happen.  You’ll be surprised how easy it is and how many people might have been having the same idea but were unwilling to act on it.

c. In my opinion, the most important things we can do to improve the city long-term are investing in inner-city re-development, improving public education, and investing in local entrepreneurs.  The most important things we can do to attract talent in the short-term are to improve on organic national PR (think of how NOLA is portrayed and prominently represented in the media), financially support the people who already make Memphis great (artists, musicians, local businesses, etc,) and to be active, engaged citizens (politically and otherwise).

2)      Research

a. Learn about the history of the city, the region, and the state.  Look at what has been tried before, what worked, what failed, and why.  A great starting point for 20th Century Memphis history is Memphis and the Paradox of Place by Wanda Rushing.

b. Don’t limit your perspective to Memphis.  Learn from the lessons of other cities that have struggled with similar problems.

3)      Appreciate

a. Don’t take for granted the things you love about Memphis.  Appreciate that in many ways it is already an amazing city.  It has problems, but it is not simply a broken place that needs to be fixed – it is a fantastic place that needs help living up to its potential.

b. Keep rankings in perspective.  Driven by media reports, we fixate on rankings of various things.  It is important to know where we stand on these metrics and what can be improved.  However, keep in mind that: 1) the absolute difference between some of these rankings is often relatively low, and 2) the metrics used (especially the composite rankings,) are often very poorly constructed – their purpose is to sell magazines, not to accurately evaluate cities.

4)      Maintain

a. Memphis does have very real problems. Long term problems that people have been struggling with for decades.  The more you get involved, the more you will be reminded of these problems.  One of Memphis’ problems is the failure of our leaders to solve our long term problems.  Being stymied by red tape, the good old boys network, and stupid decisions by leaders will frustrate you.  Don’t become jaded.  Don’t give up.  If you want to make a difference, you have to outlast those who are comfortable in the status quo.

b. Never forget that things can happen relatively quickly and that long term trends do not have a stranglehold on the future.  Memphis has struggled with a high crime rate since the 1980’s, but it has not been alone in these struggles.  Between 1998 and 2000, the violent crime rate in Memphis and Nashville were very similar (on average 4.8% higher in Memphis).  By 2006, that difference grew to 36% and it has stayed close to that ever since – a combination of Nashville’s crime rates dropping and Memphis’ increasing or remaining stagnant.  Similarly, for many decades Memphis was the dominant city in Tennessee (based on population and economic output).  In 1990, Memphis had a slightly greater population than Nashville (1.07M to 1.05M).  Twenty years later, Nashville’s population has grown by 60% (now 1.67M) whereas Memphis has only grown by 24% (now 1.32M).

  1. This leads to one final point: be objective.  The popular narrative is that the Memphis population has stagnated for the past 20 years.  While we have not grown as fast as Nashville, if you look at the census data you will that Memphis’ growth rate was close to the median of all metros (25.6%).  We may be behind Nashville, but we have grown faster than San Diego, San Francisco, Chattanooga, San Jose, New York City, Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Louisville, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and many, many other cities.