This Week On Smart City: Neighborhood Change

Marty Sumner is the Chief of Staff of the High Point North Carolina Police Department. A decade ago, street-level drug dealing and criminal activity were rife on the streets on High Point North Carolina. The police force was both ineffectual and it had alienated the community. Major Sumner’s ground-breaking technique for getting drug-dealers off the streets has reduced violent crime and won the department a 2007 Harvard Innovations award.

And we’ll speak with Julia Kim. She’s the Executive Director of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail. Her organization is striving to take an unused elevated train line on the west side of Chicago and turn it into a three-mile long park and walkway. We’ll talk to her about using this unconventional green space to connect neighborhoods.

Smart City is a syndicated, weekly hour-long public radio talk show that takes an in-depth look at urban life: the people, places, ideas and trends that affect us all. Host Carol Coletta, president and CEO of CEOs for Cities, talks with national and international public policy experts, economists, business leaders, artists, developers, planners and others on the pulse of city life for a penetrating discussion on urban issues.

Smart City is broadcast at 6 a.m. Saturday and Sundays on WKNO-FM, but it is also webcast and podcast. For the webcast, times for the broadcast in other cities and to sign up for the podcast, visit our website.