Thursday, July 22, 2010
Cities City Confidence
Posted by Mary Cashiola on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 3:37 PM
It was storytime at the Center City Commission's annual luncheon, today at the Peabody Hotel.
Former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin told attendees about "The Little Engine That Could," relating it to how "small and insignificant" Atlanta started.
- Shirley Franklin
Franklin said the first step was knowing who you are as a city, knowing your history, and knowing what works for you and what doesn't.
"In order to be successful, you have to brand yourself. You have to decide who you want to be," she said.
She also urged city leaders to think in the long-term, because the successes of today are built on the decisions made several generations ago.
"How will cities be successful, not in the next two or three years, but the next 50 or 100 years?"
For me, the lesson that Memphis can learn from Atlanta is about self-confidence, maybe even about moxie, chutzpah, cojones.
I mean, they won the 1996 Olympics — the ones that Athens really wanted because it was the modern games' 100th anniversary — at a time when they were considered a long-shot. But they tried for it anyway.
Take Franklin herself. Before she became mayor, Franklin had been Atlanta's CAO and City Manager, but she had never run for office. She was also a woman — and no woman had ever been mayor of Atlanta before. She was the first black woman to become mayor of a major Southern city.
It's hard to say "have confidence" to a city that doesn't. And as someone in the media, I'm often accused of hurting Memphis' self-image.
But I've seen some things recently that suggest the city is slowly moving in the right direction. Maybe we just have to remember to think we can.
Comments (12)
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If we all clap louder, that's bound to work. Because we're good enough, we're smart enough, and doggone it, people like us.
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just what makes that lil ole ant, think he'll move that rubber tree plant? All together, now....
Atlanta has always (at least in the past 20 or so years) had two things Memphis doesn't: more large corporations (Coke, CNN, Delta, etc.) and more in-migration. The corporations have a vested interest in the welfare of the city, and so do everything in their power to promote it. What we need, in other words, is 5 more AutoZones (or maybe just a couple more Pinnacles or Medtronics).
More in-migration means more fresh perspectives on a city, more of a can-do attitude not mired in the "it can't happen here" mentality Memphis suffers from because it's mostly home-grown.
I don't want Memphis to be like Atlanta, but I wouldn't mind it being more like, let's say, Raleigh, or even Pittsburgh, insofar of making the most of its assets and moving forward instead of being stuck in the past.
I do believe, by the way, that what happens on August 5th will either give Memphis a major push forward, or relegate it, for many years to come, to the scrap heap of American cities.
Well, regarding the mayor of Atlanta,
the woman does have something you twinks don't.
Balls.
But hey, you keep posting among the four of you and convincing yourselves that anyone cares or listens to you. The only thing people listen to with regards to you guys is the sound of my hand bitchslapping you over and over and over.
Okay Marty, this is where you and your girlfriend Neon Drag Queen go back to talking about my penis.
Marty, be honest, did you buy your TV at DILDAY?
I COULDN'T RESIST THIS ONE.................. MARTY SAYS...............
Pittsburgh? Have you ever even been to Pittsburgh? I spent many years there selling to medical and research institutions, watching Steeler-Browns football, eating Pyrohy in Carnegie, playing polkas in Webster hall and Rock n Roll at Rose Bud.
PITTSBURGH? Dude, if you lived in Pittsburgh you would have died from a heart attack OR been hung and buried in the Allegheny foothills. PITTSBURGH?
You mean the town that demolished multiple historical buildings on SIX city blocks to build PPG Place? You, Chooch and West would have crapped your pants.
You mean the town that DEMOLISHED a perfectly good Three Rivers football stadium, while it was younger than 60% of the other active NFL stadiums to build Hienze Field? USING TAX MONEY OMG! ! ! ! !
You mean the city that abandoned the perfectly good Civic Arena in order to build the Hockey team a BRAND NEW Multimillion dollar "HACKEY"stadium? OMG using public funding AGAIN ! ! ! ! ! ! !
You mean the city that supports coal fired power plants of Penn Power, Allegheny Power and AES cogen, and also mines coal? The city that actually governs to keep these places running and employing it's citizens? The city that covets the Bettis Nuclear Lab? OMG.
Oh yes, and what about the horrible Chemical plants like PPG and Ashland/Valvoline?
You mean the Community of neighboring Mkeesport that totally demolished the Historic Overton Square-like Lysle Boulevard to put up things like CVS and Subway stores? And made it a success?
You want to be like those Western Penna Slavs who demolish eyesores like the 108 year old Braddock building with out even batting an eye?
AH, you admire the Pittsburgh Landmarks Society WHO UNLIKE JUNE WEST ACTUALLY RAISE LOCAL INVESTMENT to save things like I believe its called the 170 tavern in the North End?
AH YES the town that spent MILLIONS of public dollars creating a beautiful riverfont...... that is only used during football in the fall on Saturdays and Sundays, and of course during the annual Regatta. Otherwise, as the RDC accurately reported, it is mostly abandoned.
You don't know WTF you are talking about dude. Pittsburgh survived the demise of the Steel Mills because they didn't cherish and fondle the past. They attracted investment, made huge concessions in taxes, wages and benefits.
They are much more successful at preserving worthwhile buildings because they don't chase businesses away. They understand the value of a man going to work and paying taxes. They also don't blackmail others into paying for nonsense.
Of all the ridiculous things you have ever posted, this was by far the biggest bag of feces. Everything Pittsburgh is about, you loathe. Oh yeah, except the success.
And if people think this couldn't get any better, you ice the cake with this turd..............
:insofar of making the most of its assets and moving forward instead of being stuck in the past:
Yes Marty, Yes, after watching you powder June West's buttocks for all the readers to see, you REALLY have a lot of credibility about not being stuck in the past.
You blast the Atlanta mayor, yet if you go back and do your research, idiot critics like you blasted PPG Place, Three Rivres, then Hienz, the new hockey stadium and more, Each and every time the new construction was done with the corny " build it and they will come" spirit.
Corny or not, Pittsburgh is successful because of the exact spirit you morons are slamming.
Pathetic!
TV: you're wrong, about every single thing you said (as usual), but as I've told you, I have no interest in wasting any more time or effort on you. Twist that any way you like, and thanks for playing.
That's right Tommy, compare a crappy CVS storefront to an arena. Your genius is showing.
http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/html/h…
Even Pittsburgh has rules FKD.
Memphis has an issue of "knowing who it is"... it gets fooled by its gross population numbers. it thinks, wow, a metro of 1.3 million (or whatever the current number is) should have "fill in the blank" amenities because other metros of that size have them. but unfortunately, a material portion of the population is caught in the cycle of generational poverty (of course, start your own conversation on root causes/solutions). so the real population that participates and contributes is much smaller. Memphis should be measuring itself against metros of roughly 600k (estimate?). Then Memphis will get a more realistic picture of what it is... and what it isn't.
I never said Pittsburgh doesn't have rules, but they don't chase everything away for some historical kookiness.
Again, you guys would have crapped your pants if Memphis tore down a perfectly good football stadium to build a new one. let alone all the other stuff.
Great comeback , though.......... "no, your're wrong.
Good grief.
unblinkingeye................ excellent, excellent post.
What bothers me is that our government keeps spending and spending money it doesn't have. When does it stop? Forget the debate over whether or not social spending is effective, how can anyone be okay with debt?
The city is a mess and so is our nation, and yet politicians keep introducing legislation to make government bigger and bigger. Memphis trying to model itself after bigger, more heavily industrialized cities is a sure fire way to go even deeper into debt.
Until people become more personally responsible our government will contue heading toward the point of no return. We drive too close to each other and skyrocket insurance rates, police requirements and road delays and repairs. We litter like there is no tomorrow and expect someone else to pick it up. ( See the grounds after Obama's Inaugural address). We spend entirely too much money pampering criminals instead of making jails a living hell deterrent, and we waste money educating the dumbest, most unrooly of our children.
This " whatever" and "it's all good" culture is by far the worst ever.
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