CREATIVE CITY NEWSLETTER: APRIL 2002

ISSUE 5: BRANDING AND MARKETING

ISSUE IN FOCUS: Marketing and Branding
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Community Development
CREATIVE CORNER: Car Sharing
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: Shelby County and Memphis, TN
CULTURE BUILDS COMMUNITIES: NRC Training
CULTURE BUILDS COMMUNITIES: Creative Cities In the News
White Oak Report


CULTURE BUILDS COMMUNITIES: CREATIVE CITIES IN THE NEWS

When you think of Memphis what is the first word that comes to your mind? It is most likely: music. In fact, Memphis is known as the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock 'n roll. Legends such as W.C. Handy, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison all began their musical careers in downtown Memphis. Their influence lives on in the Beale Street Historic District - a must-see for any Memphis tourist, while the King of Rock 'n Roll, Elvis Presley has had his life forever embodied in nearby Graceland.

Memphis has done much to create a tourist-friendly market for their musical heritage. In an effort to get the word out about Memphis as a tourist destination, the City of Memphis has joined forces with Carol Coletta and her "Smart City" talkshow. Memphis has enlisted Carnegie Mellon Professor, Richard Florida and a team of consultants, including Coletta & Company to investigate how Memphis can promote itself as a talent magnet and tourism destination.

In furtherance of this effort there has recently been a focus on Soulsville, USA, part of inner-city Memphis that spawned the soul music of the 1970s. The city is revitalizing this area with the help of funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Specific projects include: the reconstruction of the Stax Records Building, the construction of a music academy at LeMoyne-Owen College, a music museum, a music academy for school-aged children, and a 500-seat performing arts center.

An interesting and very beneficial side project taken on by the UrbanArt Commission is to create welcoming gateways into the community. The Commission is relying on artists to turn railroad trestles and overpasses that hang over the roads leading into the city into beautiful works of art that will reflect the revitalization within and serve as a source of community pride.

While community pride is of course an indispensable goal, Memphis also has "bigger" goals. Shelby County and the City of Memphis are part of a regional effort to bring communities located adjacent to one another across state borders into the 21st century by creating a coalition. Memphis and Shelby County's location so near the borders of its neighboring states make it an ideal place to join forces to pursue regional goals.

Mayor of Shelby County, Jim Rout, pioneered this idea, and in 1999 the Governor's Alliance for Regional Excellence was formed by the governors of Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. More recently, however, this alliance released a book this past summer, the Memphis Region Sourcebook, setting up goals for growth not only in specific cities, but for the entire region. The old saying that two heads are better than one is certainly pertinent here as three states are better than one in diversifying the market and creating an environment to expand and develop the workforce.

This coalition is a very savvy business move for all three governors, as the Memphis region boasts a very well-developed collection of institutions of higher learning and hospitals such as St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. With cooperation between the many institutions, the Memphis region is a ripe breeding ground for the new bio-med industry to take hold. Several prominent businesses such as FedEx and AutoZone are also headquartered in the Memphis region, bringing marketplace credibility to the area.

Lest all of this talk about business leads you to believe that Memphis is all work and no play, remember that it is also home to The Pyramid, the arena taller than even the pyramids in Egypt; Shelby Farms, the largest urban park in the US; the Memphis in May International Festival, which celebrates a different country each year; and the International Barbeque Championship. Memphis and Shelby County contain a good mix of work and play that would be agreeable to anyone.

Contributed by Kristen Carter at Partners for Livable Communities. Kristen was an extern at Partners and is currently finishing her undergraduate degree in American Government at the University of Virginia.

See what else is going on in Mempis...
 
Talent Magnet Program
The city of Memphis has teamed up with Carnegie Mellon professor, Richard Florida, to explore the relationship between creativity and economic development. Their goal is to identify what it takes for a city to be a magnet for talent. Richard Florida has revealed in his latest book, The Rise of the Creative Class, that cities that are good for artists are also good for high-tech workers. By targeting talent and not companies, an area can expex t economic development to result. Read their final report on Carol Coletta's website.

Initiative to Index "Civic Infrastructure"
Mayor Willie W. Herenton and Mayor Jim Rout announced a new initiative aimed at measuring the "civic infrastructure" of the Memphis metropolitan area within Shelby County. The term "civic infrastructure" describes the skills and strategies used by communities such as those that encompass Memphis and Shelby County to come together and solve problems. The tools that the Mayors and other influential communities leaders have selected is the National Civic League's Civic Index. In their remarks, both Mayors emphasized that the findings of this important and timely initiative will be critical to the success of existing as well as future planning efforts that seek increased citizen participation.