Making it Less Miserable

For me, yesterday's theme was "Making Memphis a Better Place to Live."

After giving a speech at the Naval Base on the environment for Women's History Month with the Wolf River Conservancy's education director Cathy Justis, I went to Second Presbyterian for the Leadership Academy's Memphis 101 session.

County mayor A C Wharton said one of the area's main challenges was we have "too much government for too few people," a reference to our dual-headed system.

Wharton said he had recently met with a minister in Singapore and asked if the country didn't want an office in the middle of the United States to go with their current offices on either coast. The minister was interested and wanted to know how to make it happen. Wharton said he could sign immediately, but they'd have to also get the city on board.

"His attitude was, 'I'm busy.' Why can't we just take care of it now?" said Wharton. "If we could get rid of that, we could do business ... Our government is, as I see it, the ice on the wings of our plane to success."

Wharton also said he felt the county should be responsible for both funding the schools (as two separate systems) and the health department, budget items that the two governments have been squabbling over recently, among others.

"We've brought in experts to see how much our share of the Pyramid is worth, so we can see how much money to take out of our left pocket and put in our right pocket, so we make sure we don't cheat ourselves," Wharton said.

Also, I found this interesting: former chamber pres told the group that Norfolk Southern is apparently double-tracking (so they can have trains traveling in both directions) from here to Dallas. Just a little logistics/transportation info for you.

After Memphis 101, I hit up the Next American City URBANEXUS event at the Stax Museum. Panelists John Weeden of UrbanArt, New Path's Cardell Orrin, LaunchMemphis' Eric Mathews and Stax's Tim Sampson, among others, each gave a four-minute presentation about their organizations and civic engagement.

Before the standing room only crowd, many of whom were fairly young, the panelists told what they were doing — painting murals, helping entrepreuners, envigorating the political process — to make Memphis a better place to live.

I think it's interesting that so many people are invested in making Memphis better. We obviously acknowledge that we have deficiencies (no thanks to all the lists) but instead of leaving, there are so many people who want to stay and fight. (Fight might not be the right word, but you know what I mean.)

And I think if we could figure out what makes them want to stay and fight, then I think THAT — whatever it is — is what we should build a brand around.

Because, really, if people are interested in staying, despite the problems with crime and eduation, there is obviously a very powerful lure here. But what is it?

Pizza and Planners: What Could Be Better?

The Coalition for Livable Communities is hosting the second in its Pizza with Planners series tonight, this time with a focus on area transportation planning.

"In this session, Kimley-Horn transportation consultants will explain Memphis’ Long Range Transportation Plan and review current transportation options/opportunities. Learn how you can give feedback to the different kinds of plans throughout the process. Learn how implementation decisions are made. Hear from the citizen activists on Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Committee (BPAC) of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Find out who makes the decisions about what gets implemented.

— Explore the concept of “complete streets” including public transit, bike lanes, pedestrian friendly crossing & sidewalks.

— What does a sustainable road system look like and how does that compare to what we have now?

— How does vehicle speed, road width, and road type effect a neighborhood.

— Explain basic concept of “connectivity” and the relationship between roads and development trends.

— Glossary of transportation terms: TIP, connector, arterial, collector, etc.

— Who designs the roads? How do plans response to and influence the needs of the city? [ed: and how many of us haven't been stuck on the road somewhere — cough, Union Ave., cough, cough — and thought, who the heck designed this? ]

—When/what is the most effective way to influence the process to ensure neighborhood friendly streets?

— How can citizens accomplish a specific goal? Who to call to fix a sign, add a median or cross walk."

All important information, I'd say.

In the first session of pizza with planners, residents learned about neighborhood planning and zoning.

At the time, CLC program director Sarah Newstok had this to say about the series:

""It's both a means to allow [DPD] to have access to the neighborhood and to give citizens the tools to make their neighborhoods better places," Newstok said. "[We want] to give people the skills to be active participants in the planning process — when to go to a meeting, what meetings they should be looking for."

The event starts at 5:30 p.m. tonight. It's free, but a reservation is required. I don't know if it's too late to RSVP, but the number is 725-8370 if you wish to do so.

Future topics include planning boards and commissions, public transit, the Sustainable Shelby vision, and economic development.

How We Live, Boomer-Style

The Memphis branch of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank is sponsoring an interesting symposium on October 28th entitled, "What Now? Baby Boomers and Communities Face New Realties." (To register — it's free — go here.)

From the brochure: "This symposium will focus on the current economic crisis and how it has changed the future for boomers. It will look at the implication for community development — such as housing, transportation, land use, and health care — in general and for the Memphis are in particular."

Sandy Timmerman, assistant vice president of the Retirement Strategies Group for MetLife; Sandy Markwood, president of the national Association of Area Agencies on Aging; Ken Reardon, director of U of M's graduate program in city and regional planning; and Kathryn Coulter, chief development officer of the Aging Commission of the Mid-South, will speak.

Event organizers encourage housing officials, transportion planners, park and recreation officials, real estate developers and professionals, and civic leaders to attend.

In other (more personal) news, my office is extremely loud today. What's up, folks? Where are all the indoor voices?