tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post2761903627525000881..comments2024-03-01T07:43:16.529-06:00Comments on Smart City Memphis: Future Economic Growth Plans Build On Lessons From The PastUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-4702659953097074532008-04-23T09:45:00.000-05:002008-04-23T09:45:00.000-05:00I waited for you to complete your thread with this...I waited for you to complete your thread with this most recent post to comment. I find the alarm most poinent but a little late. As I see it the high water mark of Memphis was the day that the FedEx Forum opened its doors. I knew then what I know now, Memphis cannot sustain growth like other MSAs can, and the local business climate is hostile to the radical changes it needs to make to overcome this. <BR/><BR/>I find the politeness of southern nature somewhat to blame, coming from a local upbringing, my family had a hard time discussing the really bad things going on. Three years ago I had friends and family losing their jobs downtown because of corporations moving away, the CA and MBJ reported little of it. I found myself ranting up and down to my former employer about how things had to change, we had to look at trends and adjust. They were glad that I made the effort but my work was in vain. I eventually relocated to the Northwest rather than watch my career stagnate.<BR/><BR/>I like what I hear from Memphis blogs, but I think Memphis needs some brutal honesty from its media outlets before something can be done. I think in the end Memphis has to stop comparing itself to cities it will never be and find its own unique identity or brand. I see a much smaller focused city looking to cement business for the long term.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-19595535574680204332008-04-22T14:39:00.000-05:002008-04-22T14:39:00.000-05:00Have you ever spent any time in Youngstown? As on...Have you ever spent any time in Youngstown? As one who spent several years in the area while in my early 20's, there is no there, there. Youngstown, unfortunately, is and was the epitome of the rust belt. There is no opportunity for job creation in today's sense and to say they have social clubs and culture, well if you call a six pack of Schlitz, pickled eggs and a game of Pinochle culture, then I guess they have it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-14815775228703077602008-04-22T13:12:00.000-05:002008-04-22T13:12:00.000-05:00Luck of place is more than locational, i.e. the in...Luck of place is more than locational, i.e. the intangibles of social capital,but location can solve a lot of problems. Atlanta still has luck of place because of the leadership and culture that Memphis doesn't seem to have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-37264606233838178972008-04-22T11:52:00.000-05:002008-04-22T11:52:00.000-05:00Read the study. It's not as simple as what MSA yo...Read the study. It's not as simple as what MSA you're in. Also, there's never been a place with worse location than Atlanta. It's not as simple as luck of place. The intangibles are just as important as the tangibles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-66269122230020938922008-04-22T11:45:00.000-05:002008-04-22T11:45:00.000-05:00Just guessing, but Youngstown is part of a metropo...Just guessing, but Youngstown is part of a metropolitan area (Yougstown-Warren) that is next to the metropolitan area of Cleveland-Akron, and neither of these MSAs, separate or together, produce much economic development synergy. On the other hand Allentown is an extension of Philadelphia's Bucks County in the Leghigh Valley that is being filled with a lot of social capital from Philly's exurbanites. Economic development planning and success has a lot to do with the luck of place not any forced creation of social capital. Atlanta has it, Memphis doesn't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com